Today was the opening of the first gigachurch (megachurches are so 1990). Lakewood Chuch held their first service in the Compaq center, former home of the Houston Rockets. Out of curiosity, I watched a re-broadcast of the proceedings. What struck me was how Pastor Joel Osteen preaches a gospel that seems a little materialistic. Okay, a lot materialistic.
Okay, first off, instead of a cross behind him, there is a giant, spinning, golden globe.
Now here's a selection from the sermon (transcript by me):
As Paul says in Romans 3, "What if some were unfaithful? Will their infidelity nullify the fidelity of God?"...Just because someone else doesn't believe in your dreams, that doesn't change anything. The good news is you don't have to have every person on board to see your dreams come to pass...A lot of times they'll say, "You're gonna do what? I don't think that's possible. You can't get the Compaq center." Sometimes we have to have an attitude like the apostle Paul and say, "So what if you don't believe!"...Somebody may say, "Do you really think your going to get out of debt? I've seen your finances". So what if they don't believe! "Do you really think you're going to get that promotion?" So what if they don't believe!
Now, Paul actually doesn't say anything about needing to believe in yourself. In fact, here's something Paul did say:
These people think religion is supposed to make you rich. And religion does make your life rich, by making you content with what you have. For we brought nothing into the world, just as we shall not be able to take anything out of it. If we have food and clothing, we shall be content with that. Those who want to be rich fall into all sorts of temptations and traps. They are caught by foolish and harmful desires that drag them down and destroy them. The love of money is the root of all evils, and some people in their desire for it have strayed from the faith and have pierced themselves with many pains.
In case Pastor Joel's message wasn't clear enough, here's the closing "prayer":
Father, I declare in the name of Jesus, that every person in the sound of my voice is blessed. I declare that you are blessed with God's wisdom, that you have a clear direction in life, that you will always make could choices. I declare that you are blessed with creativity, with good ideas, with courage, with strength, with ability. I declare that you are blessed with good health, a good family, good friends, and a long prosperous life... I declare that whatever you put your hands to will prosper and succeed. I declare that you will lend only and not have to borrow. That you will be the head, and not the tail. And I declare that every negative thing that ever has been spoken about you is no longer true..."
That's just, well, nothing like anything Jesus ever said. In fact, most of it is the exact opposite.
And then after the service, there was an interview with Nancy Pelosi. Here's an approximate quote from Nancy:
"Pastor Osteen has a very inspirational message and believes in the dignity of all people."
In principle, I think this is exactly the sort of thing our Democratic leaders should feel free to do - to reach out to people of "faith". Nancy is Catholic, so I'm not exactly sure how she ended up there (her daughter does live in Houston). Maybe by being there she messed with some people's idea of the Republichristian party. Maybe it's like taking a pitch in the head to get our team to first base. She's smart and Jesuit educated, so I'm guessing she was rolling her eyes afterwards over brunch.