What was interesting was the reactions that I read across the internet. I was amazed at the number of Osteen critics and haters who despised him. At the same time there were those who practically worship him and felt they couldn't go on without his leadership--those whose own faith would fall apart if they thought Joel lost his.
Personally, I like him. He is a gifted speaker with a positive message. I don't agree with everything he says, and that is no reason to criticize him. The few times I have seen him on the television he has been articulate and somewhat humble. I have never heard him ask me to place my hands on the TV screen while he prays for me and then expect me to send a check to close the deal. I have seen other preachers do that. I don't care if he makes a millions of dollars, lives in a big house, and has a beautiful wife. That's not my business. As far as I can see, those who spend their money on Joel Osteen do so out of choice. The problem is not Joel Osteen, but the way that we humans tend to perceive public figures. We worship them. We place them on a pedestal, or we bitterly criticize them for their perceived sins. We adore them and want to bask in their energy.
I have not heard Joel say: "Come to me and I will save you," I have heard him offer advice on being positive and being grateful and then expecting you to do your own work. But that's the problem isn't it? We love our speakers, leaders, actors, musicians, politicians, and other people in the news and we try live vicariously through them--or we try to make ourselves feel superior by blaming them. Either way, we make Joel Osteen responsible for our well-being. Either way we avoid looking at ourselves and doing our own work.
To those of you who adore Joel Osteen and to those of you who hate him, I have one piece of advice: Get a life! To those of you who benefit from his message but take responsibility for yourself, and to those of you who aren't into the Osteen message (and who don't put anyone else on a pedestal either), I'm not worried about you. You are grown up enough to recognize that you have to do your own work and you don't depend on some public figure for your faith, or your confidence, or your well-being.
When I first read the false headlines, I almost wanted them to be true. For a man of his stature to admit publicly his own crisis of faith, that takes courage. That is honest. That is something we can all learn from.
William Frank Diedrich
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