Why is joel osteen wrong

Although he's not at a Joel Osteen level of success, he's doing very, very well. But his lifestyle is different from the Houston pastor's. His house is nice, but not a mansion. His kids go to public schools. His clothes are purchased at department stores.

His lifestyle is one of upper-middle-class comfort, but not of ostentatious wealth. He does this because he understands a very important thing about leadership that has escaped Osteen: People care about this stuff, and they are watching.

People watch their leaders, and they have expectations. As a leader, your entire lifestyle is under scrutiny.

Your employees understand that you're the boss and with that responsibility comes a few perks, like living in a nice house or being able to take your kids on vacation. A yacht? That's disturbing enough if you're the owner of a New Jersey company, but if you're the pastor of a church?

There's a line between enjoying the fruits of your labor and living the high life off the backs of your workers and community. When you cross that line you will be resented like Osteen. My client understands this, which is why he doesn't flaunt his wealth. Osteen choose to be a man of God and to speak Jesus' gospel, but he certainly doesn't live a life that Jesus would choose. By making these lifestyle choices, he willingly exposes himself to his critics and competitors. Osteen certainly has plenty of critics, who have been quick to point out that the powerful preacher man is not without his controversies.

Today, we'll take a look at the troubled history of Joel Osteen. It's easy to assume that condemning neo-Nazis would be the easiest possible thing for a person to do, especially when said person is a prominent religious leader who very pointedly preaches a message of hope and love. However, reality is often stranger and more disappointing.

As the BBC reminds us, the August white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia was a terrifying, hostile event where brawls erupted between the far-right marchers and the counter-protesters. The situation ended in tragedy when a car drove in a crowd of people opposing the neo-Nazis, killing one person and injuring 19 others. Several more were injured in the various clashes during the event.

According to the Christian Post , many religious leaders were quick to condemn the white supremacists' actions. Joel Osteen, on the other hand, chose a different route. He initially remained quiet, but once this approach started drawing criticism, he explained his views in a Facebook post that, to many, was no better than his initial silence: "One of the biggest challenges we all face is getting along with people because everyone is different," he stated.

Unsurprisingly, Osteen's pacifist "be the bigger person" rhetoric didn't go over too well, and many people reportedly felt that he was essentially comparing violent racism to a simple personal conflict or argument. In late August , the Houston area was thoroughly wrecked by Hurricane Harvey. It was a difficult time for the area, and like any good religious leader, Joel Osteen had some words of wisdom and solace to offer.

There was just one minor problem. As the New York Post points out, Osteen had plenty more to give than just social media platitudes. Namely, the Lakewood Church, a 16,seat arena-turned-megachurch that was very near to downtown Houston, and could easily be used to house a significant portion of the many Houstonians in need of a temporary shelter.

Several people immediately pointed out that Osteen's giant facility hadn't opened its doors to the many people in need, despite the fact that it appeared to be undamaged by the flood. You have taken so much money away from your people to live like a king. It's the least you could do. Soon after people called him out for not immediately offering sanctuary in his house of worship, Osteen tweeted: "Victoria and I care deeply about our fellow Houstonians.

Lakewood's doors are open and we are receiving anyone who needs shelter. Unfortunately, the Lakewood Church had already given a torrent of reasons for keeping its doors closed. They'd said that the building was "inaccessible due to severe flooding.

A columnist on CNN blasted the televangelist's "Harvey excuses" as "bogus," and sites like the Inquisitr and TMZ openly questioned the veracity of the church's flooding claims. Joel Osteen himself quite naturally took the brunt of the bad PR storm, but soon addressed the situation. In an interview with Today , he explained that apart from safety concerns, the city hadn't asked the church to become a shelter, so they didn't immediately have the resources to start helping scores of people.

In his first service after the disaster, he also advised the victims of the hurricane to forget their "'poor old me' mentality. Knowing this, it's easy to believe that Osteen's religious message is particularly strong and comforting. According to the Lakewood Church website , Joel Osteen's massive church indeed bases its beliefs "on the authority of Scripture," and its central tenet is that "the entire Bible is inspired by God and without error.

However, according to the Houston Chronicle , Osteen doesn't actually refer to the fundamental matters of religion all that much. Click to expand. Replay Video. Microsoft and partners may be compensated if you purchase something through recommended links in this article. Found the story interesting? Like us on Facebook to see similar stories. I'm already a fan, don't show this again.