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Joel Osteen: How Do People Grow Deeper in Your Church? What’s the Biggest Misconception about You?
Recently, the Southern Illinoisan had the opportunity to interview Joel Osteen and ask him some pretty good questions, like: You have said you are not a theologian and your sermons are not deep in theology. So how do people who come to your church get deeper into the Word of God? and What is the biggest misconception you think people have of you? It's an interesting interview I thought you might be interested in reading.
Question: How did you find your niche, that of offering hope?
Answer: It was just who I am. When I started ministering, that is just what came out of me. It feels natural. I’m at my best when I’m giving people hope and encouragement.
Q. Have you always had an upbeat outlook?
A. I grew up positive. I smiled in my baby pictures. When I played ball, I always told my teammates we could beat this team, even if they were bigger. The world needs more happy people. Everybody has difficulties. But we are supposed to be examples for the Lord.
Q. How do you think God prepared you for ministry?
A. God prepared me during those 17 years I edited my father’s sermons (as producer of the late John Osteen’s television program). I would hear them several times. I was getting the stories and Scriptures in me.
Growing up a preacher’s kid, that’s all I’ve known. That had a big part in it, the seed my parents sowed into me and my (five) brothers and sisters and the integrity I saw in my father and the steadfastness.
Q. You have said you are not a theologian and your sermons are not deep in theology. So how do people who come to your church get deeper into the Word of God?
A. I believe God has a plan for each one of us. I wasn’t trained in seminary; I was trained by my father. (Osteen attended one year at Oral Roberts University before leaving to work with his father.) I put a lot of effort into my sermons. Wednesdays through Saturdays I’m getting ready for Sunday.
At the church, Wednesday nights we have Bible study lessons. Plus we have a whole list of classes and seminars. We have a New Beginnings class for people who make decisions for Christ. God didn’t make all of us alike. What I’m called to do is teach people how to live their everyday lives. When we can make the Bible practical; we can help people live abundant lives.
Q. What do you think attracts people to come to hear you at the church and when you come to places like Kansas City?
A. The message is positive and hopeful and relevant. It speaks to the everyday person. You don’t have to come from a religious background. There are a lot of negative things trying to pull people down. I talk about things that can help us in our everyday lives. I make it simple. When I started ministering, I said I want to make sure that the guys I play ball with can understand me, so I try to talk in everyday terms. I don’t assume that everyone is familiar with the Bible stories.
Q. What is the biggest misconception you think people have of you?
A. Perhaps they don’t realize how many people come to know the Lord through my ministry. Everywhere we go, people stand up to receive Christ or re-commit their lives to Christ. People may think that this ministry is not deep enough. But we are reaching new people. A lot of e-mails come in from people who say they had not been in church before they came.
Q. What is your next big ministry goal?
A. I would like to find ways to reach more people. I’m working on getting the program translated into more languages. The overseas outreach is growing. My books have been translated into 30 languages. The first book, “Your Best Life Now,” sold a million copies in Korea. Every week people attend services from other countries. Some tell me they fly in just to attend.
Q. What is a typical week for you?
A. Mondays and Tuesdays I try to take off. Wednesdays I read and study and pray. I have a stack of notes for potential sermons. I get a theme, and once I feel good about a simple thought, I read and find stories on that. I get up real early and write my sermon on Thursdays. Fridays I finish writing it and take three hours to go over it. I really get it down in me. Saturday I study it for several hours and finish getting it down in me. I have a real good memory. I rest Saturday afternoon before the Saturday night service, and I also preach two Sunday morning services. Sunday afternoon I edit the sermon for the television broadcast. I’m just used to doing that. That’s how I started.
YOUR RESPONSE: What do you think of the interview? Anything stand out to you?
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I'm Todd Rhoades... the MMI guy. I'm also on the team at Leadership Network (although that doesn't mean that they endorse everything I write here). In my past life, I was the founder and developer of a website named ChurchStaffing.com.
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Post Your Comments:I am not necessarily a ‘fan’ of Joel Osteen. Nor do I agree with some of his ‘prosperity’ theology. But, truth be told I have only watched his television ministry a couple of times and have never read any of his books. So admittedly, I am at a disadvantage as I seek to respond to this post.
That being said, I do appreciate his seeming honesty, sense of purpose and calling, and can absolutely identify with the desire he has to help people come to know and grow in Jesus Christ. I also understand his desire to encourage people who get so broken and beaten down in this world with a compelling message of Christ’s hope and healing.
It seems easy to poke holes in each of our ministries and personalities. I see that often as we read about and talk about other Christian pastors (especially the mega pastors who may be the only ones we get to hear about...and the fallen - and no they are not one and the same) and Christian leaders.
However, I am disappointed that we don’t express more joy and wonder at the process (not just the destination) that God is using to draw people to Himself through the ministries of pastors like Joel and us. God perfectly uses what we so imperfectly offer.
And...what we can’t argue with is that people seem to be hungry for a word of hope from God.
Let’s just pray that we continue to biblically give them one. So,for today (and with limited information), way to go Joel. Keep up the good work.
James:
“It seems easy to poke holes in each of our ministries and personalities. I see that often as we read about and talk about other Christian pastors (especially the mega pastors who may be the only ones we get to hear about...and the fallen - and no they are not one and the same) and Christian leaders. “
You’re right. If we dissect something to the Nth degree, we will eventually find some flaw or problem with every Christian or pastor. After all, we are imperfect beings living in a fallen world.
However, there are those preachers who are so off-base that we have to stand up and say something about them. Joel Osteen is one of those people. He omits large portions of the Gospel message, misinterprets or misapplies Scripture regularly, and is helping people on their way to Hell.
Although like you said, he has, “honesty, sense of purpose and calling, and can absolutely identify with the desire he has to help people come to know and grow in Jesus Christ,” that doesn’t matter one bit if he is wrong in his theology and preaching. Effort does not equate with being right with God. He can be the most earnest and energetic person towards his faith, but if he has the wrong understanding of Jesus Christ and God, it doesn’t matter how zealous he is.
Even though Joel may have gotten some points correct in his Q&A;, that doesn’t change his position as a false teacher.
--
CS
Don’t think I would label him a heretic, as much as I dislike the prosperity stuff…
but I do wonder how people who don’t know me in this community see me, and our church. We are viewed with disdain (undeserved imho) by many.
Having been a guy who grew up in the church and found out that life isn’t all that peachy all the time, Joel has a knack at rubbing me the wrong way. Some of the most faithful people I know aren’t financially prosperous. Some of the most faithful people I’ve read about, never got beyond the gutter. Some of the most faithful people I’ve caught wind of lived miserable lives.
As a pastor, my greatest fear, absolutely the greatest, is that people with a minimal understanding about God would go to a church and receive the wrong impression about God and never come back to Him. It’s my greatest fear because I come across people all the time who have been burned by church people--the very people who are to promote the peace of Jesus Christ to the world.
So when people like Joel Osteen, with their prosperity gospel message and the “everything will be wonderful for you if you just have faith” message, become extremely popular, I fear the people they will turn AWAY from Christ because of the things they don’t keep as much attention on in order to succeed at their own goals.
Perhaps this is a harsh judgment on Osteen’s ministry, but it’s a deep concern.
I appreciate Joel’s honest comments in the interview, but I couldn’t help but saying to myself the whole time I read it, “He can’t even see the harm he’s causing!”
Points well made and well taken.
“I smiled in my baby pictures. “
Gas?
I think Osteen is causing great great damage.
I think his lack of concern about doctrine and teaching the Word of God, and his obvious slant toward prosperity, is sending people the wrong way (and maybe even to hell).
I got in a nice chat on a blog over this topic. His followers couldnt even give correct Biblical interpretation, They didnt know their Bible at all, except for a few health and prosperity verses plucked out of context.
Health and wealth, blab it and grab it is alive and well in this ministry.
How do these kind of teachers even explain the poor or downtrodden in other countries, who are often some of the greatest of saints?
I wish all those numbers of people would rush to our Bible teaching churches, to hear the Word of God.
The whole Word of God.......
The Dali Lama is a peace loving, kind and gentle soul who wants nothing more that to teach people how to get along better with one another. But he has not put his faith and trust in Jesus as Lord and Savior nor has he repented towards God. He can teach all the nice things he wants and have everyone agree that “his heart is in the right place” but still be headed to eternal judgment in hell. He is no closer to preaching the Gospel than Joel Olsteen but Joel has the distinction of being one who believes he is leading them to Christ. It truly frightens me to say that so many are deceived in that church...and arguably the nicest guy in America is leading them in that deception.
Katrina:
Excellent post! He is a great speaker, and he and his wife make a great couple, but none of that matters if he’s wrong on the Gospel.
--
CS
Not gonna lie. i didn’t read the whole thing. Just skimmed it. So this may be an unfair assesment, admittedly.
But when I skimmed it, there was only one red flag for me. The misconception. People don’t realize how many people have come to Christ through MY ministry.
That makes me nervous. While Joel may not be my preference, I don’t think he’s a heretic and whether I agree with everything he says or not, God is using him. So I have no desire to bask him or any other Christian leader for that matter. We have too many people who do that already.
But I note it because I do see a number of big personalities that I think tend to start to rely on too much of themselves, and while I seem to be a bit nitpicky with the verbage, perhaps it leaks out at times through little phrases like this.
I hope that’s not the case. I think a lot of us in successful ministries, I say us keeping in mind that success shows up in ways other than numbers, need to be reminded that we need to be careful about boasting, and at times it can be a fine line between boasting in our own accomplishments and boasting in God at work.
Truth is, I’m not always sure where that line is either.
Not a huge fan of him but I respect him. I’ve shared what concerns I have in a prior blog post on my site so I won’t do that here. It was interesting to hear what he had to say about his church and his sermon prep.
I share all the concerns about the “prosperity” gospel.
Jesus himself lived a pretty poverty filled life. Paul was in and out of jail (wrongly accussed albeit) most of his life.
When you look at all the sacrifices and hardships our Lord and other key figures in the Bible went through, not to mention the faithful saints and martyrs throughout history, including in the majority world today - the prosperity hersey becomes really offensive.
Having said all that - I do appreciate Joel’s honesty. And I have met sincere, wonderful, theologically grounded Christians who came to Christ through the ministry God does through Joel. Just goes to show you that God can use us, mistakes and all. I’m grateful for that everyday because I make my share.
Most of my best ministry happens by mistake (or is it the Holy Spirit! 
)
LLS: “Health and wealth, blab it and grab it is alive and well in this ministry.”
And yet people still refer to the organization of this snake oil salesman as a “ministry.”
Ricky, good point. Change my word choice to organization.......
Not sure how many posters here are pastors, but I wonder if the fact that Joel is not seminary trained, inherited a large thriving ministry, has developed a message that people respond to, has a large TV ministry and a best selling book has caused some to be jealous. Is this why there is all the Joel hate?
You know I have grown up in many churches (both small and large congregations). Both Calvinistic and Armenian, and I have seen the positives and negatives in each. I am a leader in our Baptist church, I am a licensed minister, I have served and done the best with God has given me.
Notice that I used the “I” word a lot. Does this mean people have not been blessed of God through me? Do I have a chip on my should. Just because Joel used the word “My” ministry. We want to just throw stones.
I have seen and have been a part of ministry that has been edited for TV. Of a 30 min show you may be editing out 45 min of stuff. And you try to highlight the best that you can. You get the info out that seems important to sharing the message. I can always poke fun, or poke holes in the information that is shared. How many of you have actually attended a service that is “aired for TV.” I also do video editing for the Nuclear Power Plant that I work for. It is a very consuming process and that is for internal things only. I have also been in services where God is really moving yet to watch those same services on Tape. It is not comprehensible to those that watch the tape that were not there.
All I am saying is if you haven’t been to a service (not just Lakeview) but any one who videos the service. You are making assumptions that may be missing the point.
Christ is the Hope of Glory. This is the most difficult part of the Osteen machine. A man is not able to give another man hope except in circumstantial and abbreviated stints. The hope of Christ is eternal, ever-lasting and never-ending. This is rarely ever stated by people that object to Osteen. Joel Osteen, motivational speakers, or anyone else does not have the ability to give hope. Hope is found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Colossians 1:28 spells out this hope and no man can give you hope. Being a followers of Christ causes you to others-focused and not self-focused. Pagan religions focus is inward and selfish. This is the other major aspect of the Osteen machine. Did you notice in the Gospels that Jesus never had to teach the people to focus on themselves? How were the Law and Prophets summed up? Was it to love ourselves or love the Lord your God? Was it desire things for yourself or to love others as yourself? It would be nice for Osteen to answer those questions.
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