The Smiling Preacher

Nearly everyone in the western hemisphere has seen the charming face of The Smiling Preacher.  His recognizable grin and melodic voice are icons themselves. It has become almost impossible to ignore the pastor/motivational speaker/guru as his church services air regularly on cable/satellite television, his best-selling self-help book is EVERYWHERE, he was dubbed one of the 20 most intriguing people of 2006 by Barbara Walters, and almost everyone in the evangelical blogsphere has posted on this phenomenon, as I am calling him. So we can't help from asking, who is this guy? Who is Joel Osteen?

1. He is a happy individual. In a recently televised service, Joel recounted feelings he had while his father (the former orthodox pastor of Lakewood, where Joel is now pastor) was battling cancer.  Though I do not doubt the legitimacy of Joel's feelings in this time, I do have problems with how Joel described this time. It was as if the dark wasn't really that dark. The gloom wasn't that gloomy. The despair was more like, "well this sucks, but ultimately everyone still wins with my dad's death, because God has a sovereign cosmic plan that brings good in every circumstance." But read through any text written out of Israel's slavery in Egypt or their Babylonian captivity and you get the impression that Israel is the loser in this situation.  And in the Egypt they had done nothing to deserve the suffering. The question was then, does God care? Does he even notice the plight of this bottom-dwelling people? The answer is yes, and he will deliver them in his time. And the question we OUGHT to ask in times where good people suffer at the hands of others or seemingly at the hand of God is the same. We should still ask, we should still cry out, "Do you care?" rather than deny the legitimacy of our suffering and the horrible nature of what we're going through. And so I question how authentic a pastor or anyone is when they only dwell on happy feelings or the overall good of a situation rather than obvious evil and grief that stares us in the face.

2. He is a guru; he is a preacher for the masses.  In a sense, Joel Osteen takes the stereotype of the American protestant preacher/know-it-all and uses it to his advantage.  It seems like the American preacher carries something quite amazing into the pulpit: omniscience. God knows all, and apparently so do his messengers. And because knowledge is power, preachers possess an amazing authority over their congregations. Joel exploits this.  He has the answer not only to your spiritual problems, but your relational, economic, and social problems as well. And the answer is the same for every person and every problem: just believe and will yourself to the life God wants for you (which is synonymous with the pain-free, material-rich life you want). If this is not a message of self-actualization, I’m not sure what it is. For Joel, God has put your destiny in your hands. You control if you succeed or fail, which hinges on whether you allow the negative influences to weigh you down, or whether you choose to rise above them yourself. Wait, rise above them myself? I thought Jesus was responsible for raising us up? Not for Joel. Apparently the miracles where Jesus told the lame to get up and walk should be attributed to the lame. Jesus was telling them the power was inside them and they could overcome any physical or spiritual crisis through sheer will power.

It’s not hard to see, then, why Joel appeals to the masses. By treating the problems of people as simple stepping stones and telling them everything they want is dangling on the tree right above them, Joel sells a product that is too hard to pass up. And as the saying goes, if it sounds too good to be true it probably is. When I say “masses”, I mean primarily the uneducated, but there is also a strong contingency of educated folk that have bought into his message. Why are these two groups jumping on the Joel-train? I believe it’s because neither group has been shown a thorough portrait of the God revealed in the Bible (which is an indictment on evangelical leaders). In this way, both groups are uneducated, ignorant, and at a disadvantage. By way of comparison, we know that the uneducated are the biggest victims of the immediate effects of the lottery, because they purchase many tickets hoping to end their present suffering while not realizing their chances of winning are infinitesimal.  I believe those buying into Joel’s message are just as uninformed about the Bible as the uneducated are about their chances of winning the lottery. What makes matters worse is that because preachers are considered “experts”, those who have perhaps heard of a God different than Joel’s, will go against their conscience by telling themselves, “he’s an expert; how can I go wrong by listening to the expert?” And the guru/expert continues to work his magic over the spellbound crowd. 

3. He’s not only the president and CEO, he’s also a client. The parts of the show (I mean service) that I enjoyed the most were when Joel described times when he and his wife did not have much, but they were optimistic about what God wanted to do in their lives. To use Joel’s words, they “waited expectantly.” For Joel, this meant they made plans as if things were going to change. (Aside: I especially enjoyed the application that husbands should make plans for their 25^th and 50^th wedding anniversaries now, rather than waiting to see if they marriage worked out. And by plans he meant picking a destination, hotel, etc.) And as God would have it (tongue-in-cheek), things did work out for Joel and Mrs. Joel. So, he is a living testimony of this miracle drug. The problem is that everyone does not grow up the son of a Pastor of a church with thousands of members. Everyone does not possess the skills of leadership, marketing, and public speaking. Everyone does not walk accidentally into a pastorate of a large, growing church. So, it’s misleading to claim that everyone can have the same measures of success by doing the same “things” Joel did. It’s also misleading to say everyone can have the same types of success that Joel has had in the way of wealth, fame, or prestige. The rags-to-riches stories, or the average Joe-to-well-known pastor stories are simply isolated stories in American history. They are not the story of the majority of Americans. Though we all want to believe that we can pull ourselves up by the bootstraps, we know there are insurmountable obstacles that truly stand in our way at times.

Though I’ve shown how Joel is a one-dimensional figure that focuses only on the good half of the story, the good feelings, the good lesson in each situation, and that he is a guru/preacher for the masses because he possesses a spell-bounding authority over educated and uneducated people, and that he claims to be living proof of his message even though his story is one of extremely favorable circumstances, I also want to point out that I think his general message is faulty and costly. His message is faulty in a few ways. First, it is unorthodox. As Boenhoeffer realized, the cost of discipleship means that when Christ calls us, he bids us to come and die. That means we die to our selfish ambitions, our agenda for our lives, and our efforts to purchase salvation by our works. Osteen leaves out this very critical aspect called “discipleship” in his teaching. Though he utters the word, it has a very different meaning for him. He is also unorthodox in his Christology. Christ is not the center of Joel’s theology. In fact, I’m not sure where he fits in. Perhaps he is essential to securing our way to heaven, but heaven is just another benefit in addition to the ones we have on earth as his followers. Besides being unorthodox, Joel’s message is also bad psychologically and philosophically. What kind of clinical counselor asks you to only dwell on good memories or feelings? The counselor knows that deep hurt and deep pain require deep therapy. By moving on to the future without dealing with the past, the person is set up for one giant meltdown and years of trauma when things don’t work out. Also, what kind of self-respecting person allows another person to tell them why their lives are messed up without first critically examining their own experiences? Philosophically, Joel is a reductionist, meaning he reduces the problem, though it shouldn’t be reduced. It’s as simple as saying, “you have two options” when you really have ten, and then explaining how one of the two options isn’t going to work out. That’s bad.

Finally, Joel’s message is costly. I’m not talking about the monetary cost of buying his book and tapes or giving to his ministry. Rather, I mean that those who believe the message are buying into something. They put their feelings, ambitions, and plans into Joel’s message. When they realize that this message will not help them cope with their problems, that it doesn’t work for everybody, that God really doesn’t want to take away all the pain and give them more money instead, they will become emotionally, psychologically, and spiritually bankrupt. And we as Christian leaders must be ready to lift them up, to put something back into them. Until then, we get say that his message is faulty and costly, but we must wait until they see this for themselves.

Karma

Yesterday was a snow day. Yesterday was a slow day. And I had some time to ponder. What did I ponder about? Karma. Here are some of the thoughts I had. As usual, my mind came up with questions which I tried to answer, but in the end, I'm not sure how right I am. Let me know what you think.

• How does it work?
• The causal relationship
• Good deeds → good karma. Bad deeds → bad karma (The Principle). When people talk about karma they usually give the previous formula. However, in practice, people generally reason from the effect (whatever bad or good is currently going on) back to the cause. They say, "I'm having this kind of karma. Therefore, I must have had these types of deeds." So we give the following forumula.
• Good karma → good deeds. Bad karma → bad deeds. (The Practice) Because these two formulas are not contradictory, we can combine them to form the following formula to get a sufficient formula.
• Therefore: Good karma ↔ good deeds. Bad karma ↔ bad deeds.
• A plausible principle?
• In general, karma seems to make sense (if we’re not alone, or there are universal principles governing human affairs; if we’re alone, everything is just coincidence).
• On the surface, karma seems plausible and fair. I’m sure whoever originally articulated the concept was trying to make sense of the good and bad circumstances in our lives; they must correspond to our actions (after all, our actions are causes which produce effects or consequences). Suppose my finances are not real great; I recall that I did cheat that person in the market last week; thus, I’m repaid for my misdeed in bad karma.)
• The problem comes when I have too much good or too much bad, that is, when the karma seems disproportionate to my deeds. (Cf. Grey’s Anatomy where George believes he’s getting way more than his share). The solution some will give is that karma is inextricably tied to reincarnation, which means that the bad I suffer or the good I enjoy in this life is based on my actions from a previous life…which brings up the next question.
• A fair (just) principle?
• I would like to say that karma does not seem fair, because of my belief that each person should be judged for what they do in this life. This belief stems from 2 sources: scripture and memory.
• The Bible is clear that each person is to die once, and then they are judged. There are no do-overs, second chances, or multiple rounds.
• All that I remember is from this life. I have no memory of a previous life. In western philosophy, there is usually a dualism between mind and body. If my body dies, perhaps my mind (or spirit, if you want to call it that) continues to live on somewhere in a disembodied state. So, I conclude that given my mind is what makes me me and it is now in this new body, if I was reincarnated, surely some left-over memories or trace from my previous life would survive. But since there are no left-over memories, I must not have been reincarnated (or my mind is not what makes me, me). People who believe in reincarnation choose the second option (your mind is not you).

Despite my beliefs, karma seems to be fair, given reincarnation. Whatever it is that makes you who you are (not a mind, but something else) continues on in each body you take up. And you are given what you deserve. The disproportionate karma is explained by your previous lives. I think I have shown that karma is plausible and just on its own terms. Some problems arise when one tries to mesh a western belief or point of view with the concepts of reincarnation and karma. Before moving on, I want to point to but not solve two other problems I have with the concept of karma as I understand it.

§         It seems that there could be an argument against the rationality of karma in that animals may not have a sense of right and wrong: if I were an animal in a previous life how could I knowingly commit bad deeds w/o a knowledge of “bad”? )

§         What about genocidal karma? It seems that there are some groups of people that have horrible things happening to them as one group. Is this because they existed as a group before (as a school of fish?) and did some horrible things?

• Christian karma
• There are those out there that believe in a “Christian karma.” To these individuals there is some a type of Christian theology that resembles some rudimentary aspects of karma. Since Christians do not believe in reincarnation and because Christians do believe in a personal God who wills things to happen (and so they do), this version of karma is at the outset very different than an eastern conception of karma.
• There is at least one strong connection I can see between the concept of “karma” and Christian theology. The Bible teaches that at The Judgment men will be recompensed for the deeds and misdeeds they have done in this life. And these deeds have some bearing on their eternal state. Those who have faith and “did the will of the Father” as Jesus says or lived a life of “demonstrated obedience” as medieval theologians might have said, enter into heaven. The others enter into hell. In short, our deeds and our faith determine what (or more correctly where) we will be in the next life.
• Another connection might be what is called “reaping what you sow.” This principle says that you get out what you put in. So, one might say, “If I sow bad deeds, I will reap bad things; if I sow good deeds, I will reap good things.” The way this principle departs from karma is that each deed does not have a corresponding effect. What the Bible seems to be getting at with “reaping what you sow” is that making good, wise, upright choices will produce a life that is good and vice versa. It’s not that every seed sown (each deed) has a specific fruit or weed attached to it.

Baptist Resolutions

The day after the Centennial Reunion is probably a day of reflection for most Baptist pastors around the state of Oklahoma. I'm sure many pastors are reminiscing about the great things that happened at the BGCO annual convention on Monday and Tuesday. There was the usual election of officers, the passing of resolutions, the preaching of baptist sermons, and the great booths where many different ministries displayed their services. And there was the wonderful Centennial Reunion last night where a nationally-renown singer performed, a Will Rogers impersonator told the history of Oklahoma Baptists, and the singing churchmen and women led the audience in praise. I have to say I was very proud at different points in the evening to be an oklahoma southern baptist. Through the cooperative program, many different ministries that are rooted in Oklahoma soil have done a lot of good in the world. From the Baptist Homes for children to the International Mission Board, from OBU to Disaster Relief efforts in New York, the Gulf Coast, Tsunami devastated area, etc., from the local churches to the North American Mission board, there has been much fruit in the world as a result of Oklahomans who worship in Southern Baptist churches.  Nonetheless, I also had a general feeling that we were much to proud of ourselves.  If we are simply a tool which God uses to do his work, why do we seem to take most of the credit? If we replaced the words "oklahoma baptists" with the words "God's tools" in the program last night perhaps we would have realized more fully who is truly responsible for the great fruit that we see.  Just a thought.

Aside from the Centennial Reunion, the rest of the convention was rather bland. No one preached anything controversial or "edgy" and the resolutions which were passed were very mild, too mild. (There was also little comment or discussion in the bsuiness session; only one questioned was raised). In a time when justice is not always sought by our presidential leaders and other leaders around the world, I hoped for something more. No, I'm not saying we need to be controversial for the sake of being controversial or drawing attention to ourselves, but for the sake of drawing attention to certain individuals that are crying out for help.  Therefore, I propose 10 more resolutions, each of which I believe is biblical, pertinent, and should be emphasized in Baptist churches.

Resolution 001: God's word is more than "inerrant" and "infallible".

Resolution 002: God's work in the world is greater than the cooperative program and the agencies the CP helps fund.

Resolution 003: God's wisdom is far beyond any set of "Baptist" (or otherwise) distinctives we can formulate and comprehend (see Executive Treasurer's address which included 6 Baptist distinctives)

Resolution 004: God's will is that we offer grace, mercy, and any other benefit we have received from God (material or otherwise) to every individual, even those outside of a "traditional family unit". (See Resolution passed 11/14/06 by BGCO which calls on every organization, association, or agency  to withhold Family Benefits to those who do not constitute a "traditional family unit" defined as mother, father, and children with the exception of single parent homes; see also research which shows over 50% of Americans considers themselves NOT living in family units!)

Resolution 005: God's world-wide church includes more people than we would let in. (Followers of Calvin know that it's God's elect - those whom he's chosen - that are apart of the Kingdom. What right do we have to say that someone is or is not apart?)

Resolution 006: That as the Christmas season approaches, we preach the true gospel that salvation from God comes as a free gift that cannot be earned or bought as opposed to the false gospel that happiness, love, and reconciliation with God or man can be bought with money.

Resolution 007: That as Thanksgiving approaches we remember and pray for those without food, that all of us might one day sit and feast at the LORD's table (Isaiah 25:6).

Resolution 008: That as each day passes the blood of the thousands slaughtered in Darfur and the millions dying of preventable illnesses continues to cry out louder and louder against those of us who idly sit by and DO NOTHING (Isaiah 26:21).

Resolution 009: That we as Southern Baptist leaders teach that the principles of stewardship include at the bare minimum a tithe (1/10) of our first produce each year, a tithe of our produce every third year for the poor, and a responsibility to treat the earth as if we are merely leasing it, with the full intention of returning it to its owner in a condition better than we found it.

Resolution 010: that we throw up a red flag whenever someone proposes that we use torture or other violence as a way to retrieve information (no matter how crucial or important the information is); that we censure those who suggest such a proposition; that we at the very least do not value our freedom more than we value the freedom of any other person (Philippians 2:3-5).

World Super Power

A month after my last post in which I likened the God of the universe to the worst terrorist one can imagine, I have more to say on this matter. (I want to briefly say, though, that I was saddened when my post did not spark a single comment. We use the word "terrorist" to label the most sinister, evil persons...and I called the U.S. a terrorist and God a terrorist...and no one responded. I am going to assume that my xanga sight just doesn't attract any attention to itself rather than that my remarks were common knowledge or people just don't care.) I read something recently where someone said something to the effect that we should not worry; America is going to get everything that God has planned for them. I couldn't agree more! The irony is that the person who said this was reffering to some type of blessings in store for America(I think), whereas I envision something more along the lines of curses. And those that read the Old Testament know that a nation can receive both, though usually not at the same time.

Today's post is inspired by the prophet Isaiah who gave the words of the LORD to Judah shortly before and after the Babylonian exile. In chapter 2 he paints a beautiful picture of what will happen in the last days: many nations will stream to the LORD's mountain; the LORD will dispense justice to these nations; war will be history. He then gives God's message to the present: the house of Jacob is to walk in the LORD's presence. And yet, there is a problem. The LORD has abandoned Jacob, because they have adopted the practices of other nations, and their military and material success has inflated their pride to the extent that the LORD has a very chilling message. He is going to bring them down. And they shall be afraid, very afraid!

"So man will be brought low and mankind humbled - do not forgive them. Go into the rocks, hide in the ground from the dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty! The eyes of the arrogant man will be humbled and the pride of men brought low; the LORD alone will be exalted in that day....Men will flee to caves in the rocks and holes in the ground from the dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty when he rises to shake the earth....They will flee to caverns in the rocks and to the overhanging crags from the dread of the LORD and the splendor of his majesty when he rises to shake the earth. Stop trusting in man who has but a breath in his nostrils. Of what account is he?" (Isaiah 2:9-11,19,21-22)

Did you catch the part about hiding in the ground and fleeing to the caverns in the rocks? Though he is speaking to the house of Jacob (which may stand for Judah too) he says that mankind will be brought low. Could that include all of us? All of us will be hiding in the rocks just like Osama Ben Laden? We will seem as cowards because we are so afraid of the "dread of the LORD." I'm not sure what all this means, but it is very interesting that a country with military and material success (Judah) would be fleeing to holes in the ground from someone who was going to bring more dread than they could ever imagine, and it's not any nation that they can see. And here we are, the all-powerful United States, a country with military and material success, who was all too recently looking for terrorists hiding in the ground. Could the application be that we are the next to be hunted, that we will be trying to escape a Super Power, the one that we have not been looking for, the one we are least expecting? When will we stop trusting in man? When will we humble ourselves before the LORD brings us to our knees?