Victoria Osteen’s sermon assailed

Houston mega-church pastor Victoria Osteen has been accused of preaching “cheap Christianity” when she urged Lakewood Church members to attend services to make themselves happy.

“When you come to church … you’re not doing it for God really, you’re doing it for yourself … do good because God wants you to be happy,” the wife of televangelist Joel Osteen said in a video clip from an August service that circulated online.

The remarks, which Osteen has admitted “could have been more articulate,” triggered a slew of debate last week with critics calling it “cheap” and “me-centered” religion. The director of a Louisville, Ky., seminary, the city where the Osteens’ held their latest sold-out “Night of Hope,” said her comments were totally inconsistent with Scripture.

“My jaw dropped when I saw it,” said Mara Einstein, professor of media studies at Queen’s College in New York and author “Brands of Faith,” a book on marketing in faith. “It makes God the middle man to you being happy, as opposed to the end in itself.”

That concept strikes the center of what some find the most distasteful about the Osteens’ message: the prosperity theologists’ idea that it is God’s will for his people to be happy and that worship will result in health, wealth and happiness.

“It’s always wrong, and it seems to be glaringly wrong when you’ve got headlines right now about Christians being martyred in Iraq and Syria,” said Albert Mohler, director at the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville. “They didn’t get there trying to be happy.”

Meeting modern needs

In recent writings, the Osteens’ message has been called more self-therapy than religion – a kind of 21st-century Christianity recalibrated to meet the needs of contemporary America. Some consider it cognitive therapy where church members build themselves up, rather than the more traditional goal of sacrificing every day to live a life in Christ.

Those were the findings of the book “Holy Mavericks” by University of Houston associate sociology professor Shayne Lee and co-author Phillip Sinitiere. Lee says he has been fascinated with pastors like Osteen because of the high numbers they get through the door. Lakewood has around 40,000 members.

“They’re not interested in giving you long messages about doctrinal statements,” Lee said. “They want to give you simple messages that will make the person stronger and make them feel closer to God.”

Lee argues the mega-church’s message is consistent with the Bible because being happy and self-sacrifice are not mutually exclusive. Lee even compares Osteen’s teaching directly to Jesus.

“Osteen’s messages really are very similar to the way Jesus spoke to people,” Lee said. “He is not seminary trained so he doesn’t use that language. He’s a free agent who’s able to take empowering messages and take it to meet the needs of contemporary America.”

Diverse crowds

Houston attorney Paul Bailiff, whose brother is a pastor at Second Baptist in Houston, admired the Osteens’ ability to draw people from all walks of life.

“Joel Osteen gets the most diverse audience. I had a boss who used to say Sunday is the most segregated day but Osteen gets people going in there that are CEOs or who’ve got nothing, all different races, that’s amazing, his father was the same,” he said.

Noticeably excluded from Osteen’s language is any mention of hell or sin, according to Einstein, the marketing writer and professor.

“Very rarely will you see Joel Osteen talk about hell, in the popular works he barely talks about Jesus and God, it’s more about how you can feel good,” said Einstein. “In terms of marketing, you want to tell people what they want to hear in order to get them through the door.”

Einstein notes that happiness is the new buzz word in the world of messaging. “There’s classes at Harvard about happiness, everywhere we turn it is happiness, happiness, happiness … even Coca-Cola’s tagline is ‘Open Happiness.’”

It’s highly effective, she added. “I’m Jewish and even I left there thinking ‘yeah, praise the Lord,’” Einstein said.

Michael Horton, professor of theology at Westminster Seminary in California, says the Osteen message will not stand the test of time.

“You can get a lot of kids to whatever you’re doing if you offer them a lot of candy, but pretty soon they’re going to get sick and malnourished and not be your best long-term consumer,” Horton said.

“What it comes down to is, is God a supporting character in my life movie or am I coming to church to hear how he has made a place for me in his?” Horton said, calling the Osteens’ teaching narcissistic.

Response to criticism

Victoria Osteen has since clarified her comments in an email statement accusing her critics of being cynics.

“I stand by my point that when we worship God and are obedient to Him we will be better for it. I did not mean to imply that we don’t worship God; that’s ridiculous,” the statement read. “Every Lakewood member knows what I was talking about because they have experienced first hand … the honor, reverence and gratitude we show God.”