Originally posted by houseparent
Nothing new
R.C. Sproul Jr. on Joel Osteen and the megachurch movement
We are not a very discerning bunch. Because our sympathies lie more with that which presents itself as clean and successful than with an itinerate Rabbi with dirty feet, we are easily taken in. Whether it is a slick Texas politician, or the latest bestselling book/movie/conference series, if it´s clean and popular, evangelicals eat it up. There are two groups that miss the phenomena, however. First, we who are Reformed, refuse to believe that anything popular could be any good, and so we resist whatever evangelical juggernaut is breathing down our neck. We´re far too cool for that kind of thing. The second group likewise is far too cool. These are the neo-evangelicals, the effete ones that won´t jump on bandwagons simply because it just isn´t done. This second crowd only enters the fray long enough to yell at the Reformed for being judgmental, then goes back to its asiago cheese, pinot noir and Re:Generation Quarterly, hoping to be seen by those who read the New York Times Review of Books.
While I like to believe myself firmly in the first group as a general rule, that is, I am thoroughly Reformed, and not at all given to asiago cheese, nevertheless, I´d like to see these two groups meet somewhere in the middle. Being blasé about error and tomfoolery is erroneous and tomfoolish. But playing the part of Chicken Little probably isn´t the solution either. Indeed, believing that the latest bushwa to come down the track will derail the Jesus train has more in common with believing the latest bushwa will inaugurate a golden age. We Reformed folk could use a little perspective, a little indifference, a little faith.
Today on the Today show I caught a minute or two of an interview with Joel Osteen, pastor of Somesuch Cost? What Cost? Mega-Happy-Center in Houston. His "œchurch" is said to be bigger than those "œchurches" shepherded by Apollyion and Beelzebub, or rather Rick Warren and Bill Hybels. As such we can expect to see him figure prominently in the Reformed Wrestling Smack Down, vying for the coveted crown of "œMost likely to destroy the church." Joel, whether he is a hapless geek who made it big by being nice, or a diabolical manipulator, doesn´t actually preach anything. Well, he does say that if we think happy thoughts Tinkerbell will survive. And so my camp begins wringing its hands. It seems, as luck would have it, that we have a confluence of a popular heretic with a big ole honking full sanctuary with media coverage. We´re doomed. These are the same folks who keep the volume turned down every time John MacArthur appears on Larry King, lest they miss the trumpet call.
Don´t get me wrong. I´m still Reformed. It´s a good thing to denounce error, to warn the flock. Joel is one bad guy, and the people that listen to him are badly duped. But please, can´t we be Reformed enough to know that this confluence didn´t happen by luck? Can´t we believe enough in the sovereignty of God to stop seeing face time on TV as the measure of how we are doing? The Kingdom of God has survived Billy Sunday, Billy Graham, Billy Carter, Billy Hybels and Billy Clinton. It has survived Promise Keepers, WWJD, Jabez´ prayer and every other Big Idea to come down the pike. It will do more than survive this latest drivel. May we learn to roundly denounce error, and may we learn to do it without spilling our wine all over the carpet.
http://www.postmillennialism.com/main.html
