Rolling Stone takes on Joel Osteen.
Grin and Bear It
– June 30, 2008
Rolling Stone takes on Joel Osteen.
About the Author
Richard Clark (Co-Founder/Editor-in-Chief) has spent his entire life writing, reading, listening, and playing. He has a Bachelors in Theology from the Baptist College of Florida and has a Master of Arts in Theology and the Arts from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He lives in Louisville, KY where he is the classroom technology manager at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. In addition to writing at Christ and Pop Culture, he is also a staff writer for Kill Screen Magazine's website and has written for various other outlets such as Paste, Gamasutra, and Collide.
Email: deadyetliving [at] gmail [dot] com. Twitter: @deadyetliving. Xbox Live: deadyetliving 
“a human haircut with plastic baseball-size teeth”
I think I laughed out loud. But seriously, being ecumenical is good when it does not result in heretical theology, but this guy is literally a false teacher, and anyone who has ever read the NT bits about false teachers knows that his future is extremely grim unless he repents.
I had a student in one of my college classes who had a physical handicap, and in a narrative essay she wrote about how she wanted to kill herself out of self-loathing and shame until she heard Joel Osteen preach on TV. It broke my heart to read that essay. Christ did not give her hope and meaning, Joel Osteen did. And I think it’s no coincidence that this poor young lady who struggled deeply with her appearance looked to a man who epitomizes what is attractive, popular, and physically good for mainline, middle class, America. She thought she needed a savior that was physically perfect to tell her that she was okay. It still makes me want to retch.