Oprah Winfrey fell hopelessly in love with the preaching of Joel Osteen when she heard his sermon called, "The Power of I AM." Once she listened to that one sermon, Joel Osteen's popularity hit the stratosphere because she officially approved him to be a part of her "Life Class" in 2013. On that booster rocket, his fame and audience increased exponentially. It's billed as, "The sermon that changed the way Oprah sees her life."
You may be thinking, "And rightly so; we need more life-changing sermons on that majestic name for God in Exodus 3, when God told Moses, "Tell them, 'I Am' has sent you." If you're thinking that, you're a hopeless optimist, because that's not what the sermon is about. No, the sermon isn't about God or Christ and Him crucified. The sermon is about you and you alone, because you and you alone are the "I Am" of the sermon. The spotlight is on you.
The homily isn't on the power of God, the I Am, in Exodus 3:14; it's about you, your mirror, and your power. The sermon comes with specific instructions: “When you wake up in the morning, don’t focus on all your flaws,” says
Osteen. “instead, look in the mirror and dare to say. 'I am beautiful, I
am young, I am vibrant, I am confident, I am secure.' ”
UH........WHY DO I NEED TO DO THAT?
Marlboro men might feel silly standing in front of a mirror and telling themselves one lie after another, but that's what Osteen and Oprah tell us to do, and they have their reasons. They promise that if we stand in front of our mirrors and say those words every morning, those words have power to shape how we actually are. "Tell yourself you're beautiful and you'll be beautiful," is the idea. Tell yourself you're 25 and vibrant and you'll be 25 and vibrant, even though your aching joints are telling you you're 86 and need to go back to bed. Tell yourself that your confidence is going to get you that job, promotion, and/or raise, and you'll get them.
DOES THIS RING TRUE?
This sounds strange doesn't it? One reason it sounds strange is because the psalmists tell us that in the morning, their focus is on God, not on their imaginary superpowers: (Psalm 5:3; 57:16; 88:13; and 92:2) The psalmists seek God, not beauty, youth, self-confidence, and energy. Proverbs tells us to seek godly wisdom like we were on a hunt for silver or gold. But godly wisdom doesn't come by standing in front of a mirror and saying, "I am wise. I am wise."
Another reason this sounds odd is because it trivializes God’s great desire for us bychanging His purpose into a desire that we be beautiful, young, vibrant, and confident by talking ourselves into it. But God wants to change us into the image of Christ-- mature, functioning, serving, ministering Christ-followers, filled with the Holy Spirit. His purpose for us is not that we change into energetic 20-somethings.
The oddity continues when we realize that the I Am sermon is about the power of the great ME, as Joel and Oprah are a tag team pointing to inner, mystical superpowers that exist only in their imaginations. God's Word has the power to change us, not yours, not mine. (Jn. 17:17)
But "odd" isn't the right word. This is more serious than "odd" because this isn't the gospel of grace; it's the gospel of human will power and self-help. Just say it enough times and you'll will it so by your powerful words. And, if I might indulge in a play on words, Mr. Osteen's "good news" is everything people want to hear and 43,500 listen every Sunday morning live, in person, and in living color.
Through Oprah's magazine, Life Class, and television productions, we can add millions more to the 43,500. It's attractive and "good news" to hear that I can become beautiful, vibrant, young, confident, and secure if I can just say it enough times as I gaze at me in the bathroom mirror. How about we add singing a new hymn to the mix, "Everyday with Me is Sweeter Than the Day Before"? But I wax facetious.
HOLD ON, SPARKY
As tragic as it is that millions are listening to and believing in this stuff and nonsense, there's something else. What about deliberately taking Exodus 3:14 and the great "I Am" statement of Almighty God and turning it into a statement about ME? Is that blasphemy? The Jews looked upon the name, "I Am," as so sacred that they wouldn't even pronounce it, but substituted another word for God when they read it. They considered that name so holy, so "other," that it would never cross their lips. What does that say about taking that ineffable name and using for yourself? Does it say, "Blasphemy?"
Blasphemy. What's that? It's assuming to yourself the rights or qualities of God and irreverent behavior toward anything held sacred.
To keep an audience coming back, buying the magazines, and purchasing the CDs, they have to top themselves each week; they have to get more and more "out there," to make more and more outlandish, albeit heretical, promises and claims. If one movie has a high-speed car chase ending with a crash, the next movie has to have a really high speed car chase and ten crashing cars in surround sound. Same principle. Like the ancient Romans watching the gladiators, their appetite for more blood shed in more spectacular ways had to be satisfied or they became bored. They must be satisfied.
To keep the audience coming back to buy more CDs and books, each claim gets more spectacular than the Sunday before, even if it leads to blasphemy.
Joel Osteen and Oprah Winfrey have crossed the line.
Amen to Blasphemy!!....and this is a new trend. It stems from having to come up with an explanation that answers the question, "How can a human being perform faith healings and have the strength to perform miracles?" How can the power of our faith (which is actually just self-will) override God's Sovereignty and get us the miracle, healing, or whatever it is that we want?
ReplyDeleteThe Charismatic movement has justified themselves by minimizing the gift of tongues, and are focusing more on healings and miracles. The mega churches like Joel Osteen follow this same pattern, and promote, like you said, " the gospel of human will power and self-help". -- Where do these churches believe all this superhuman power comes from? -- From the Holy Spirit. They know the Holy Spirit lives inside of us and we are made in the image and likeness of God. They believe that when Jesus told the disciples that they would be able to do more than he had, the power to do this came from the Holy Spirit. Therefore, they claim believers today who are indwelt by the Holy Spirit can do all these great and mighty things also. -- And what all this boils down to is that we are little Gods. (But they just don't say we are little Gods, unless they slip in a sermon every now and again, which I have actually heard.)
Many believe we are, literally brothers and sisters of Jesus Christ. Therefore, because he is the son of God, we, as a child of God also, are equal to Jesus. .....However, what they forget to consider is what Jesus himself said, "I and my Father are one" "Not my will, Father, but Your will be done." We are not God because we are made in His image, and His will is not subjugated to our will. -- And Jesus never said we as Christian human beings are one with the Father.
When your existence is dependent on your ability to hype up and motivate people, you have to empower them to accomplish that end. The power these type churches are assigning to people is just more than a little beyond the reality of the type power God has given to human beings........."I am the vine and you are the branches, and you can do NOTHING without ME. - I AM, and you are NOT.
**What we must always remember when we are talking with people who believe these type doctrines is that if they are born again Christians, they are a child of God, just like you and me. We are no better than they are just because we have had access to more accurate teaching. And God loves them just as much as He loves you and me. -- Really! We have to be careful not to let Pride sneak in and give us an ugly spiritual arrogance that drives people away from the truth.
Example: I recently talked with a man whose son is at M.D. Anderson in desperate need of a miracle after two years, several bone marrow transplants, and a $19,000.00 a month experimental medication that is not working on his leukemia. His father told me they went to Joel Osteen's church Sundays and are confident they are going to get that miracle. His son is strong and he is being strong for him, and everything is going to be ok, they have faith and are Believing God will heal him, and ....well, yes they are giving him strychnine, but it is to help beat back the Leukemia and bring on remission since the experimental medication did not work. He is so proud of his son and how strong he is. His son is telling everyone he is going to live and they are going to see a miracle, and" ....I just let him go on till his voice cracked and he was having a hard time keeping from crying. Then I quietly said, "And if God decides not to give him that miracle, He will give you the strength to handle it, won't He." "Yes, I know He will", He squeaked and walked out of the room. -- It's not about being right. It's about helping a fellow brother or sister in Christ when they are not getting what they need from their church and God puts them and their need in front of your face. -- It's about using truth with Gentleness and Humility.