A Wolf Among The Sheep
by Pastor Matthew E. Walker, 5 July 2011

A sheep farmer in Raleigh had a large flock of sheep along with other animals living on his farm. He was fairly well known as having one of the largest farms in the area and other farmers were continually looking to him for advice about how to develop such a large and influential farm.

One day this farmer was walking along the fence that provided some protection for his flocks on the boarder of his property. A long way away from his farm he found a point where the fence was broken down. Instead of immediately building up his fence he decided rather to continue walking along the path. Fence mending is hard, tiring work. Later that day when the farmer got home he thought about that part of his fence that was broken down and how he should go back the next day to fix it. When the morning came, however, he chose to do other things instead of getting back out to fix his broken fence. As the days passed by his resolve slipped farther and farther away until he forgot about the brake in his fence completely. He forgot about it until a morning came when he found body parts of his sheep scattered throughout his farm his flock decimated. That’s when he realized how serious his mistake was. Instead of fixing his fence he chose to do other things. They were important tasks but not as important as protecting his flock from the danger of the wolves living in the nearby forests. On that day he found himself with a large farm full of dead sheep.

Today I am a shepherd who lives in the greater Raleigh area. While I try to keep up with current local events, I was unaware that Joel Osteen, pastor of The Lakewood Church, one of the largest churches in America, was coming to Raleigh in July. It wasn’t until a newspaper reporter called me that I learned that Osteen and his wife were coming to town. Like the farmer inspecting his fence line, I learned that part of my fence is broken down and that there was danger of wolves creeping through and harming my flock. When the young reporter asked me my opinion of Joel Osteen I didn’t have the information readily available as to my opinion of his ministry. Her article in the News & Observer quoted me as saying that Joel Osteen does not preach the gospel of the Bible. That is absolutely true.

The gospel that Osteen preaches is an anti-gospel. For example, Osteen refuses to say whether atheists (someone who disavows the existence of God) will go to heaven or hell. He says that such things are not his to judge. But the gospel says that for a person to be saved he must first confess with his mouth that Jesus is God (Romans 10:9-10). How can a person confess that Jesus is God without believing first that God actually exists? He does not preach on sin. He has refused to publically state that homosexuality is a sin. He does not even like to use the word sin. What Osteen teaches is some truth mixed with error. He teaches that salvation is to have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. That is true on some level. However, the Bible teaches that our relationship with God is only made possible because of the violent death of Jesus, the result of our sin. The Bible indicates in Isaiah 53 that Jesus was wounded for our transgressions; that He was bruised for our iniquities; that all of us like sheep have gone after our own away; (sinning against God with a high hand) and that as a result God has put onto Jesus the iniquity of us all. That’s the gospel and it is also true. To teach that salvation is to have a relationship with Jesus Christ without teaching first the nature of our sin is to teach truth with error. That is a very serious mistake. Here are two more examples. In his latest book Osteen says that as long as you are doing your very best that you can be confident that God is pleased. That is true on some level. God is pleased when believers do their best if by the word best we mean a life of obedient faith in accordance to His Word and His Will (Hebrews 11:6). Yet if we apply the same sentence to an unbeliever then doing his best is tantamount to works salvation, something the Bible teaches strongly against (Titus 3:5). In his first bestseller, Your Best Life Now, Osteen teaches what theologians call “a health and wealth gospel” saying that what people need to do is continually thank God for His favor and goodness while claiming things as mundane as parking spaces up close to a building or a hostess that will help us find a table in a crowded restaurant. For the believer, it is true that sometimes God provides these things as part of His blessings on our lives and we should be grateful for them. Yet it is also true that there are times when frankly, God wants us to walk to the building from the far end of the parking lot for exercise or wait at the restaurant for an hour to help teach us patience. Worse, such a statement cannot be applied to an unbeliever in any case. He is at war with God and as such, he is incapable of asking for God’s favor at all. He is under God’s wrath not His blessing. These are just a few examples of the kind of liberal Christian theology that Osteen preaches.

What may surprise some, the gospel of Joel Osteen is not new. It is a repackaging of liberal Protestant Christianity that began in the late 1700’s with a German philosopher named Friedrich Schleiermacher. He wrote that Christianity was not a unique element of human experience located in the moral or cognitive faculties. In other words, he said that Christianity was not in realm of truth to be believed. Rather, he said, that Christianity was in a feeling which results in immediate experience with God. Instead of Christianity being about reconciliation with God in the vicarious sacrifice of Christ, Schleiermacher made it a wholly subjective experience. Later Schleiermacher denied the existence of original sin and that sin is inherited corruption. He argued that within us all is both righteousness and sin giving mankind a sort of original righteousness. He also rejected the authority of the Bible causing his followers to begin questioning the inspiration and preservation of God’s Word. Like Joel Osteen today Schleiermacher taught some truth mixed with error.

So what are we to do? First, we must turn ourselves away from any alliance or participation with Joel Osteen’s ministry. In 2 Timothy 3:5 we are commanded by God’s Word to have nothing to do whatsoever with the ministry of a false teacher. We must separate ourselves away from men like Joel Osteen whose mixture of truth and error brings disrepute on the gospel. Second, we must compassionately encourage others to avoid his ministry as well. The apostle Jude warns against the false teachers of his day adding that some will be confused by the false teaching and waver over what to believe. He says that for those who are doubting we should show them compassion as we gently explain the truth from God’s Word. Finally, we must continue to preach the Word ourselves. Our ministry must include rebuking, reproving, and exhorting, with all longsuffering and doctrine. We must do the work of an evangelist sharing with those who do not know Christ the awesome truth of salvation from sin by His death and resurrection from the dead.

And if you are a shepherd (pastor) yourself, please continue to walk along your fence of your ministry and find areas where the wall is broken down. If you find such a place stop immediately and repair the breach. The lives of some of your sheep depend on it. And when you find such a place and spend the time repairing the fence put a placard up at that spot so that others may know why you are there. I would recommend it saying something like: “But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed.”