The spirit of the antichrist part 2: Joel Osteen

The annoying thing about this project, is that everything is so nuanced. A lot of it sounds good. Just a slight change of wording, leaving a few words out of a Bible passage, can totally warp the meaning of the text. Leave out a little bit here and add a little bit there. Sometimes it's hard because there is only truth being said, but the error comes in what was not said or what the focus of the truth was applied to. Without further ado, here is the 2nd installment of the antichrist project:

Joel Osteen says in his new book "Becoming a Better you":

What does it mean to become a better you? First, you understand that God wants you to become all that He created you to be. Second, it is imperative that you realize that God will do His part, but you must do your part as well. To become a better you, you must:
1. Keep pressing forward.
2. Be positive toward yourself.
3. Develop better relationships.
4. Form better habits.
5. Embrace the place where you are.
6. Develop your inner life.
7. Stay passionate about life.
Joel Osteen, Becoming a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day (New York: Free Press, 2007),

What the Bible says:
Joshua 1:8
Do not let this Book of the Law depart from your mouth; meditate on it day and night, so that you may be careful to do everything written in it. Then you will be prosperous and successful.

1 Timothy 2:1-2
I urge, then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness.

Psalm 24:3-4
Who may ascend the hill of the LORD ?
Who may stand in his holy place?
He who has clean hands and a pure heart,
who does not lift up his soul to an idol
or swear by what is false.

What I say:
If you take out the introduction and just look at the table of contents, there is no way you'd be able to tell that there is anything Christian about the book. To become a better you according to the Christian faith is being more like Jesus. There is no mention of Bible Study, God's law, righteousness, prayer, staying away from idols, etc. If you look at what the chapters focus on, it's all about you. Christianity says it's all about God.
Become a better you? Meditate on this Book of law day and night.
Become a better you? Pray, intercede, and give thanksgiving for everyone.
Become a better you? Worship only God and be true.
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The Scripture says, 'Our faith is made effectual when we acknowledge everything good in us.' Think about this: Our faith is not effective when we acknowledge all our hurts and pains. It's not effective when we stay focused on our shortcomings or our weaknesses. Our faith is most effective when we acknowledge the good things that are in us.
Ibid., 129.

The reference in the book says Philemon 1:6
I pray that your partnership with us in the faith may be effective in deepening your understanding of every good thing we share for the sake of Christ.

2 Corinthians 12:9
But he said to me, "My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness." Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ's power may rest on me.

What I say:
Osteen's paraphrasing is off. When you look at the actual Bible verse, it's actually saying that the communion of our faith deepens our understanding of every good thing for the sake of Christ. It doesn't say that acknowledging good things makes our faith effective. What makes our faith effective then? I may not have the best answers, but how about believing God is who He says He is. That includes everything He says about what He's done too. The Bible says He's made you a new creation, you're dead to sin, you walk in the Spirit if you are of Him.

Osteen says "Our faith is not effective when we acknowledge all our hurts and pains. It's not effective when we stay focused on our shortcomings or our weaknesses," yet Paul says he boasts about his weaknesses and God's power is made perfect in that. Forgiveness finds its meaning in our shortcomings and weakness. How can we accept forgiveness, when we don't see anything we need to be forgiven for?
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He's not keeping a list of your shortcomings. God is not looking at everything you've done wrong over your entire life or your disobedience last week. He's looking at what you're doing right. He's looking at the fact that you have made a conscious decision to be better, to live right, and to trust Him. He is pleased that you are kind and courteous to people.
Ibid., 103.

What the Bible says:
Hosea 9:9
They have sunk deep into corruption,
as in the days of Gibeah.
God will remember their wickedness
and punish them for their sins.

Deuteronomy 8:5
Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you.

Joel 1:13
[ A Call to Repentance ] Put on sackcloth, O priests, and mourn; wail, you who minister before the altar. Come, spend the night in sackcloth, you who minister before my God; for the grain offerings and drink offerings are withheld from the house of your God.

1 Timothy 2:2b-3
that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior

What I say:
Well, God actually is looking at what you are doing wrong and He reacts to your sin according to who He is. To say He doesn't look at what you do wrong is ignoring an aspect of who God is. Since He loves you, He'll discipline you for sin, but you miss out on that aspect of love with a God that only focuses on your good. Osteen talks nothing about repentance in light of the bad things you've done. A conscious choice to live better talks nothing of turning from sin and being truly sorry that you've done those things. What pleases God? Living in Godliness and holiness not "being kind and courteous." Are these good things to be? Yes, but you miss the gospel if you stop there.

I want to also say that Jesus says for every word we will be judged, and at the judgment, we will be held accountable for every word and action. God doesn't keep record of what we've done wrong, He keeps record of everything!
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Stop dwelling on everything that's wrong with you and taking an inventory of what you're not. The Scripture says in Hebrews, 'To look away from everything that distracts.'"
Ibid., 104.

The reference in the book says Hebrews 12:1-2
Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith. For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

What I say:
Again, Osteen misquotes this verse. He leaves out the most important parts and phrases it in a really watered down way. It's not just throwing off distractions, it's throwing off sin and things that hinder you from fixing your eyes on Jesus.
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God "is waiting for your obedience so He can release more of His favor and blessings in your life...My question to you is: How high do you want to rise? Do you want to continue to increase? Do you want to see more of God's blessings and favor?
Ibid., 302.

What the Bible says:
John 3:30
He must become greater; I must become less.

What I say:
I don't think it's a bad thing to say "God you have blessed people greatly and because you have, I know you can do it for me too because that's who You are." As always it's always about the heart issue more than what people are doing. Sure maybe you become rich and powerful, but who do you use those riches for? Are you spending money building fountains and stained glass windows or to help the poor and widows?

The problem with the way this is phrased is that this is all about God's blessing, but not about knowing God. You obey God why? Osteen says so "He can release more of His favor and blessings in YOUR life." Let me put it this way, if you had a friend who was only your friend because of what you did for him, that's no friend at all. There is no love there. You obey God because you love Him and want to bless Him, not because of what you can get out of Him. Anything short of that is not love and if you do not love, you do not know God. I'm not saying it has to be perfect, but that has to be the heart of things.
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I know I'm not perfect, but I also know this: My conscience is clear before God. I know that I'm doing my best to please Him. That's why I can sleep well at night. That's why I can lie down in peace. That's why I have a smile on my face.
Ibid., 316.

What the Bible says:
Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death.
Romans 8:1-2

What I say:
If you are reading this and are a Christian, I ask you, what clears our conscience before God? Is it not the blood of Jesus? Was it not His sacrifice that atoned for our sin and lifted the yoke from us? You see doing our best isn't enough (we don't even do our best for God). There needs to be an awakening in the Spirit and God has to do something in us.

I believe there is a literal lifting of weight that occurs when someone gets saved because how many of you know that lifting feeling of when burdens are taken from you? I believe a Godly man is a tragic man. He is torn between the joy of knowing God and the pain he has from seeing a world in sin. Sometimes when you really know the heart of God, you won't find peace, but agony. Look at David, he fasted for 3 weeks over Israel's sin, look at Nehemiah and Ezra, look at all the prophets, they were all men familiar with travail. What does the Bible say about Jesus? He was a man of sorrows! Don't you want to be like Jesus?

Excerpts from "Become a Better" you taken from:
http://www.whitehorseinn.org/osteenreview.pdf