Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. - Psalm 115: 3 (ESV)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L-l22eKZaYM
Usually when I do a sermon review I go through the entire sermon, line by line to present the overall problems as they may relate to what the Bible actually says. In a typical Joel Osteen 25 minute sermon there are usually four pages of gross error and the link above is no exception. This is a bad sermon beloved. It is based on bad theology. It is sold to people who do not know any better and are plunged further into the abyss. For today however I will try to keep it shorter because the errors are the same typical word faith errors that are in every sermon Osteen preaches. It is painfully obvious that Joel does not approach the Bible to hear what God might have to say. Instead he starts with a feel good premise and then he strip mines the Bible to find any verses that he can pass off as supporting his premise. The premise for this week is that we must "activate our faith" by believing and confessing that today is the day for whatever I want. Healing, deliverance, conceiving a child, promotion at work, selling a house; these are just a few of the examples he offers up. That by believing today is the day we somehow move the hand of God into action on our behalf. Here are two direct quotes from this sermon that highlight how horrifically unbiblical this sermon and Joel Osteen are:
"If you are not looking for God's goodness then even though God is longing to bless you, He'll back off and put His blessings on hold."
" God wants to be good to you but He is waiting for you to start looking for His goodness."
Perhaps these quotes seem innocuous to you. They are far from it. I think most of us know someone who walked away from the faith because what they thought God was going to do never came to pass. In other words, the answer to their prayers was "no." They did not get that promotion. They did not conceive that child. That sick relative did pass away. I can almost guarantee that in many of these cases the individual was taught Osteen theology. They were taught this nonsense that you see in these quotes. As ordinary year after ordinary year piled up they just walked away because the fairy godmother God they were sold never left the tooth money under the pillow as they had been promised. The worst part is that because they were also told by the charlatan that they were saved they wrongly conclude in many instances that their salvation is secure when in reality they do not know God.
What do these two quotes reveal about the theology of Joel Osteen? Who is God in this teaching? The answer is we are. That is the end result of word faith heresy. Sure God is always portrayed as "good" but only in as much as He desires to give us what we want. He is our cosmic blessing dispenser. He is just longing to bless us. He wants to so bad but He is really not in control. We are. According to the first quote God wants to do something badly but cannot until we do something first. How utterly blasphemous. In this scenario God is not sovereign, He is helpless. You control God in this teaching.
The second quote is similar and just as bad. Once again, God wants to be good to us but He can't yet because we have not started looking for His goodness. How absurd. The key verse today should serve as a reminder of who is in charge. God is in the heavens. He does all that He pleases. Not all that pleases us. Not everything we ask for. The world is His. The creation, including us, is His. The plan is His. Yet I can hear the Osteen admirers even now. What's the big deal? He just is encouraging people to have faith for today. There is a stark difference beloved between having faith in God and having faith that we control God. Let me quickly highlight the largest problems with teaching this error.
1) It creates false expectations - seriously think for a moment what is taught here. That God is just waiting to give us whatever blessing it may be that we seek. Some are just related to prosperity like a new house or promotion. Others offered up though are quite serious, such as health, conceiving a child or breaking an addiction. Now Joel is careful to say that we still may have to wait a long period of time but clearly states that "what if" the reason we are not seeing the breakthrough is that we are not "expecting it today." We are impatient people by nature. We expect what we want yesterday. This error teaches us that the answer will always be yes, the only question is when and that when is directly related to what we believe. That leads us to the second problem.
2) It does not entertain the possibility that God can say "no" - as the key verse clearly teaches God does as He pleases. Not as we declare, decree, believe, or desire. Sometimes the answer is "no." True faith beloved is in realizing the answer of "no" is just as much a blessing as "yes." Perhaps that person we want to marry will lead us away from the faith. Perhaps that promotion will set us on a course to leave our church. Nothing might be a stronger test of our faith then losing a loved one or facing our own mortality. In the Osteen theology faith's only outcome is what we want when true faith is in accepting what God wants. Which leads us to point number three.
3) It sets people up for disappointment - I can look back on my life and some of the things I thought I wanted and with the benefit of hindsight and biblical faith see the hand of God protecting me. The other false underpinning of this teaching is that everything we want must somehow be good and thus God really wants to give it to us or bring it to pass. The reality is the opposite quite often. We can be our own worst enemy beloved. Remember our heart is desperately wicked and our flesh desires only one thing - sin. There is often a very good chance that what we want is not only outside of the sovereign plan of God but downright wrong and harmful for us. Yet this teaching props up the notion that our secret desires are what God wants to give us too, if we would only activate Him somehow to pour out His blessings. That brings us to the final point.
4) It focuses people on the temporal and not the eternal - as with all word faith teachings and prosperity gospel preachers, the focus of blessing is on what we do not have instead of what we do have. The focus is on what God wants to do in the future instead of what He has already done on the cross. Look at the things Joel preaches as our desires and you will see they all value this life, not the eternal life that is to come. Where are the prayers for stronger faith to boldly proclaim the Gospel? Where are the prayers for our unsaved family members? This teaching is backwards to what Jesus said following Him meant:
Then Jesus told his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. For what will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and forfeits his soul? Or what shall a man give in return for his soul? - Matthew 16: 24-26 (ESV)
Osteen theology exalts self, not denies it. It usurps God's throne as we now control Him. It is a dangerous teaching that is leading untold numbers onto the broad path that leads to destruction. It may have the appearance of being harmless but it is far from it. It is raising up a generation of earthly minded carnal goats who believe themselves to be sheep. Who believe that they can control God. Who believe they are God.
Rev. Anthony.
