Victoria Osteen: Is Happiness Really That Bad?

What if God does want you happy? I mean, is it so hard to fathom that the God of the universe who gave His Son to die in your place because of His great love for you would want you to experience happiness?

Churchy Response: No! He only cares about your joy, not your happiness! 

Victoria Osteen has been slammed in the last week for her statements on “worshiping God, not for God, but for yourself.” And not coming to church for God, but for yourself. And not doing good for God, but for yourself. Why??? BECAUSE GOD WANTS YOU HAPPY. 

One of the things that happens when someone makes a huge enflamed statement like this is that people immediately jump on the religious bandwagon, and begin slamming the person who made the statement. And it’s not like people were not looking for the opportunity! I’m sure the person who edited and posted this probably films EVERY Joel Osteen broadcast, hoping for something that they can use to boost themselves to e-fame. And when Victoria made this statement: Boom! Jackpot! And would you believe it? It worked. Why? Because it doesn’t take much to set off the masses when your name is Joel Osteen or you are affiliated with him.  

The problem is that in the midst of the chaotic “Christian Hate” we miss that there is a real question that much of the world is asking. 

Does God really care about my happiness? Cause Christians don’t seem very happy. 

I totally disagree with Victoria Osteen’s statement. But I disagree with the way we are portraying Christianity and a loving God who loves His people. 

As Christians we value tears. Have you ever looked around during a worship service to see how many people were shedding tears? I’ve done it, and if you’re a Christian you’ve probably done it! There’s something incredibly refreshing about worship that draws emotion out of us at times. 

Or have you seen the ones crying at the altar as they repent of their sin, or pray for a loved one, or pray about… anything? Maybe you’ve been there yourself! It’s emotional. 

But what are we portraying about a limitless God when our emotions have a tendency to be limited? 

There is a church in Canada that experienced a strong move of God that was characterized by laughing. As people filled the altars, it wasn’t tears that they experienced, it was almost uncontrollable laughter. 

Had they been crying and weeping, no one would have said a word. But because they were laughing, experiencing a different than normal emotion in the church, they were pegged as lunatics. Heretics, by some! 

You can laugh at jokes. You can laugh at your kids. You can laugh at yourself. You can laugh at the pastors sermon! But you can’t laugh at the altars! 

I believe that God wants us to be happy. I don’t believe that it’s His number one priority, but I do believe that He wants it for us. The same way a father wants to see his children enjoying their toys at Christmas. The same way a mother loves to see her children giggle when she reads them a silly bed time story. 

Maybe the reason so many are laughing at the Gospel, is that we are not laughing because of the Gospel. 

"And Sarah said, 'God has brought me laughter, and everyone who hears about it will laugh with me.'" - Genesis 21:6

One of my favorite moments as a Christian leader took place up at a Christian camp. We had taken a small group of students on a midnight hike, and asked them to pray about what God might want them to leave there in the valley, in the dark, in a place where they’d never be able to find it again (symbolically). As we prayed, one of my students said he needed to share something, and began to tell us that for the last 6 months he had been considering suicide. He began to sob as he told us what he was going through, and the choices he had almost made. He was a big guy, but now he was doubled over, bawling. 

We immediately surrounded him, and began to pray and to release the love of the Father over him, and ask for healing. As we prayed, things began to change, and all of a sudden this young man raised up and began laughing to the heavens. And I don’t mean a chuckle. I mean a deep, from the bottom of his belly LAUGH. 

And it continued. And soon we were all laughing with him. And the next thing I knew one of my other students was on the ground. I didn’t know if he fell, or what, but he was just sitting there. I shined a light on him, and asked if he was okay. He simply responded, “I don’t know what happened, but I keep hearing this amazingly joyful music. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever heard.” 

What if healing doesn’t just come through tears, what if it comes through laughter as well? What if as the Father releases His love, it doesn’t just bring out the tears, it brings out the joy? What if laughter is not weird, it’s just that we’ve limited ourselves to the crying. 

What if tears were your only emotion in every aspect of life? What if you could only cry at jokes? What if you could only sob when you’re watching your favorite comedy? 

What if the comedy clubs banned laughter because it was just too weird to have room full of people acting that silly?

Tears are good. They’re just not the only available expressions of healing, or simply enjoying the presence of God. Or thanking Him for what He's done! Which opens the door to other emotions: anger (you can be angry and not sin!), yelling (what’s wrong with a good shout every once in awhile?) What other emotions can you see being expressed in the Father’s presence? 

We serve a creative God. We need to get with the program. 

Back to Victoria Osteen. Stop and ask yourself the questions her mistaken comments are bringing up. Don’t allow the enemy to steal your learning moment with anger towards what will hopefully be used by the Spirit of God as a learning moment in Victoria’s life. Let God handle her, and let God handle you. We’ll all be better… and HAPPIER… for it! 

When Sex Is More Glorious Than God

“But sin, taking opportunity by the commandment, produced in me all manner of evil desire…. And the commandment, which was to bring life, I found to bring death.” Romans 7:8, 10 (NKJV)

I read an article the other day that really disturbed me. It was about a young lady who was sorry that she had maintained her virginity until marriage. She said that if she had it to do all over again, she would have slept with who she wanted, and not gone through the stress and mental anguish of protecting her purity. You can read about it here:

Shocker!

First, there aren’t a lot of people today who actually maintain their virginity until marriage. Second, I don’t know very many who made it, that wish they hadn’t. 

So I began to explore this topic. There have been several articles that have come out recently in regards to virginity, and purity, and the stress that we place on students by constantly encouraging them to remain pure. But I think we are missing the point altogether. Yes, we have focused way too much on sexual purity. But we have failed by telling students that it was their responsibility to maintain their purity. 

We have taught them that it is God’s responsibility to save their soul, but it is their responsibility to save their body. 

“I’m saving myself for marriage”

Here are some very important keywords:

I’m

Saving

Myself

Isn’t this the entire premise of the law? I’m constantly working to please God, I have to perform in order to gain His affection and approval. We have separated sex from salvation. 

“Jesus I trust you to save my soul from hell, but I’ll guard my body until my wedding day.” 

And teenagers across this country are struggling with both sexual purity and lack of identity that is leading to depression and suicide more than any other time. 

Why? Because it’s too much to handle. 

The law is always going to produce in me the desire to do what I know I should not do. Usually because somebody somewhere never stops preaching about it. You know what the number one message I heard growing up in youth group was? Don’t have sex. Don’t look at porn. Don’t! Don’t! Don’t!

As a youth pastor, I fell into the same trap. I finally realized one day that these poor students were struggling enough as it was to keep the wrong thoughts out of their head, and then they came to church and I reminded them of those thoughts! 

We glorified sex so much and so great that the act became greater than the God who created that act. We preached a law that caused them to do what they did not want to do. 

That’s what the law does. It tells you not to do something so much that that’s all you can think about doing. 

Do you know what grace does though? Grace begins to tell us who He is so much and so often, and who we are in Him, that that becomes all we think about. It’s exactly the opposite of the law. Grace is full of promises, and identity, and the greatness of the God who can’t wait for students to partake in EVERYTHING that He created for them - including sex. 

And we are not echoing that grace as leaders. We are echoing the law. Jesus is saying, “Come away with Me,” and we are preaching, “run away from sex.” 

Run away where? We’re not sure. Just as long as it’s not sex. 

What if life in Christ was an adventure to be had, rather than experiences to avoid? What if maintaining sexual purity until marriage wasn’t even an issue because we were so busy living the life Christ died for us to live? 

We have to stop trying to fix students with spiritual experiences, and pledges, and start teaching them how to live a lifestyle of relationship with Jesus. Why? Because sex is an experience. Getting high is an experience. Getting drunk and partying is an experience. If Jesus is just another experience, then students will always jump between the multiple choices. And along with that comes endless guilt and condemnation. 

When living in relationship with Jesus becomes a lifestyle, every experience finds it’s fulfillment. And it’s no longer that we have to fight to maintain our purity, it’s that He fights for us, as we rest in Him. 

Unfortunately, there are many, many people in this world who probably resonate with the author of the article I mentioned earlier. And they have good reason, because they were taught about a Jesus much less powerful and much less relational than He really is, a Jesus only powerful enough to save them in the afterlife, not in the here and now. 

We have to get this right for the generations to come. We must glorify God who sent His Son to save us from ourselves. The God who makes a way when I cannot do the good I wish to do. 

Robin Williams: We Don't Know Everything, Church!

It’s been 4 days since my wife texted me with the news that Robin Williams was dead. I immediately thought that it must be another joke, after all we’ve heard in the last year that Morgan Freeman was dead along with Norman Reedus and Luke Bryan and others. All jokes of course. There was nothing funny about this however, especially when the news surfaced that Robin had taken his own life. 

This is probably the most affected I’ve been by a celebrity death. I grew up watching Robin Williams in some of my all time favorite movies. I’ll never forget the way “Hook” made me feel as a child. He was an amazing comedian, actor and someone who loved to bring joy to the millions who watched him. 

And of course, in the days following the masses have begun the endless conversations surrounding depression and suicide. Is it a disease or is it not a disease? Did he choose suicide or did suicide choose him? Everyone has a perspective, especially Christians. There are those who immediately assume that he is in hell, and others who give him a free pass to heaven. As I was sitting on my couch, pondering his life and death and all that has surrounded this topic in the last few days, I realized something. 

Christians think we know everything. 

We have an answer for everything that takes place, and I realize that Peter said that we should be ready with an answer for people, but he was talking about hope. He states very clearly:

“Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect” (1 Peter 3:15, NIV)

I have a feeling I’m about to get myself in a lot of trouble here, but I think we need to rethink our tactics, and I pray you’ll hear me out. It’s not very hopeful when we say things like:

“Robin Williams is going to hell because he took his own life”

or, 

“The woman who had an abortion is a baby killer”

or, 

“Homosexuals are headed straight for the lake of fire.” 

Don’t get me wrong - I think that we are also not offering hope when we ignore suicide, abortion, or homosexuality, or pretend as if they are cultural norms that have no bearing on the modern Christian. The problem is that we are reasoning with human wisdom. We think we have it all figured out, instead of looking to the only One who has it all figured out. In our quest for control we have stopped living by the commandment to love God and love others, and we are creating a pharisaical rule book all over again. 

Maybe it’s not about whether a person committed suicide, it’s about whether or not they put their faith in Christ Jesus. 

What did you do just now? Did you start trying to qualify that statement with ideas like, “well, if they really knew Jesus they wouldn’t have committed suicide.”? 

Well, if you really knew Jesus you probably wouldn’t have been rude to the person who cut you off this morning. You probably would have left a better tip when you went out to dinner last night. You probably wouldn’t have shared that juicy bit of gossip about your neighbor/co-worker/insertperson____here. 

There’s a lot of things we wouldn’t do if we really knew Jesus, but the truth is we do them. And He knows us. The question isn’t what I’ve done, or haven’t done, or do. The question is “What has HE done?” And “Am I resting in that?”

Maybe while you were protesting her on the sidewalk, Jesus was holding her hand while she got that abortion because no one else would. Was He okay with it? Was that His plan for her life or the baby? No! But I guarantee you He was in the room. 

I want abortion to end as much as the next person, but do you know what I want more? I want more people who will look for that girl who is considering it, and offer her the hope that they have with gentleness and respect. I think we will end abortion a lot faster with our love, than we will with our signs, and our blogs, and our anger. 

Maybe while you see a homosexual, Jesus sees a person He died for. Maybe the point is Jesus’ blood and not the homosexual’s title. Denominations around the country are voting on whether or not to allow homosexuals to become church members. Do you know what I wish they would vote on? Whether or not church members will go out and love the homosexual community! It might be the only way to get some people to even think about it! 

I know, I’m in for a verbal beating with this, but I know my heart and Jesus knows my heart. I know that Christ is looking to love, and we’re looking to convert. As long as we’re in the business of converting people we’ll always find something that needs converting. But when we enter the business of loving we begin to see the same results Jesus saw. Did the prostitute ask for forgiveness from Jesus? Not that we know of, what we do know is that His unfathomable love caused her accusers to drop their rocks, and caused him to look at her and say, “You’re forgiven. Stop doing what you’ve been doing.” 

We don’t have to know everything. We know the One who does. If we could love people in His direction, maybe He is able to resolve their issues. And maybe we’d do a better job to advance His Kingdom. 

“For I resolved to know nothing while I was with you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” - 1 Corinthians 2:2

What The Church Stands To Learn From The Mark Driscoll Fiasco

   

All of the information, articles, hate mail, love mail, encouragement, discouragement, etc., etc., etc., going on surrounding the circumstances of Mars Hill Church and Mark Driscoll have really got me thinking. A LOT. Why? Because it’s emotional stuff! It’s heavy! I’ve experienced so many emotions as I’ve read the many MANY articles that have to do with Mark and his ministry.

I’ve been compassionate as I’ve read his apologies. 

I’ve been angry as I read how much hurt he caused one of his founding members and church planters (who represents so many countless others!)  

I’ve been protective as one author encouraged us all to remember his children in all of this mess. 

I’ve been surprised as he called out the “anonymous” ones who have discredited him, and then was slightly amused when the “anonymous” ones showed up to protest at the church. 

I was ashamed when I heard that he decided to raid John MacArthur’s “Strange Fire” conference, and yet secretly jealous because he did it and I didn’t, even though I see it as wrong…

I’ve been embarrassed to think that this is what people are looking at when they look at the church in America. 

This is not the church that my Jesus died for. A church blemished by men and women who fail. Yet equally blemished by men and women who, when given the opportunity to magnify Jesus in the midst of a storm, instead choose to magnify the ones who fail. 

Here’s what I stand to learn, and what I think the church stands to learn from Mark Driscoll and the mess we all find ourselves in. And I do mean all. We all are paying and will pay the price for his mistakes, just as we paid when Jimmy Swaggart, Jim Bakker, and Ted Haggard found themselves in the spotlight of the world. But there are lessons to be learned. 

1 - We need to feel compassion, even when someone deserves justice

Mark deserves justice. He’s been asked to step down, he’s been defrocked by the organization he founded (Acts 29) and he’s probably about to suffer the way that everyone he has hurt would like him to. Woohoo! We just severely punished and possibly destroyed another one of our own! Only time will tell. Good job church, the widows and orphans are still looking for pure religion, but we’ve successfully brought the hammer down on one of our brothers and sisters. The widows and orphans and the rest of the world can wait while we sort this mess out! 

Many would like to compare Mark to the priests that Jesus so vehemently opposed in the Gospels, but I’d like to present that Mark Driscoll has become the whore about to be stoned. Is he repentant? I don’t know, but I don’t actually know that the whore was either at the time. All I know is that when Jesus asked the blameless ones to throw their stones first, everyone left but Him. Why? Because He’s compassionate. And He’d like His church to follow suit. He’s the only one qualified to stone Mark Driscoll for what He’s done, and while there may be some serious consequences coming Mark’s way, Jesus is going to be standing compassionately at his side. Without a stone. 

2 - We need to feel anger about things that are wrong

We really do. I mean, I read one of the letters written to Mark by a former close friend and ministry leader and my heart broke for what the man described. And I was proud because he handled it so graciously, and was willing to take responsibility for the fact that he was complicit in many of the circumstances that took place. Well done! 

The letter made me mad. Righteously angry! 

But righteous anger that is not led by the Spirit of God will lead to demonic bitterness that will be gladly planted, watered and fertilized by the enemy. 

Have you ever been angry and stopped and asked, “Father, how should I respond to my anger?” Do you think His immediate response would be “Character assassination! Do that!” or “seek Mark’s total demise!”? 

I think the first question God would ask in return is “What does it have to do with you?” If the answer is “nothing” then the response is “pray.” 

And if it does have something to do with us, then we need to confront it with boldness and the leading of the Spirit of God. There are lots of scriptures to lead us in this. We should use them. But confrontation and accusation are two completely different approaches. 

One final word on this: I realize that a lot of the people who were hurt by Mark did not have the platform or influence to confront him. A healthy alternative is not a public forum where you can bash him on the world’s stage, and hope he sees it. I don’t think God’s going, “yeah, that makes sense, I’ll allow it.” Should you come together for support and understanding? Yes. Should you allow it to become a gossip buffet for the world to sink it’s teeth into? No. 

3 - We need to be protective of the body of Christ

David is one of the ultimate examples of protecting the kingdom when the king is a moron. Why? Because he realized that God is the one who put him in place. He was God’s man. And when Saul’s life ended tragically, having lost the kingdom and lost God’s favor, what was David’s response? “It’s about freaking time!” 

Not quite - David honored the man, because the man, at one time, had been honored by God. And by honoring the man, he was honoring the kingdom, and by honoring the kingdom, he was honoring the One True King. There will never be any good that comes from seeking the destruction of the people of God, even when they are not acting like the people of God. I was listening to Bill Johnson speak on a similar issue, and he reminded those listening of what happened when Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Bakker fell. Peter Jennings, of ABC News Fame, held a huge interview with many of the day’s most influential Christian leaders. But before he began he said this: “when we do a story, we take the time to make many phone calls, have many interviews, and contact as many people as we possibly can to find out as much as we possibly can. But with this story, we did not have to contact a single person. You all called us.” 

That’s pretty sad, Church. We can do better for each other than that. Even when we’re wrong. 

4 - We need to quit preaching our convictions, and start living with it

Did you hear about what happened when Mark Driscoll raided John MacArthur’s conference called “Strange Fire?” You should look it up if you haven’t. 

It’s interesting, because both leaders come from opposite sides of the spectrum of Christianity. John MacArthur is a die-hard cessationist, while Mark Driscoll is a (reformed) charismatic. The problem? Both of them looked pretty dumb. 

Mark looked dumb for raiding the conference. And John looked dumb for holding a conference aimed at a sect of Christianity, his own brothers and sisters (whether he realizes it or not)!! 

Maybe I look dumb for saying they looked dumb…

I was listening to R.T. Kendall talk recently about these varying views of Christianity, and he said this: “One part of the church holds onto the Word, and values it over the Spirit. Another part values the Spirit, more than they value the Word. But when the church allows the Word and the Spirit to come together, we will see revival like this world has never seen before.” 

Time to quit attacking other Christians who don’t believe like you do, Church. The essentials will always unite us. And the non-essentials should give us opportunity for great conversation. Instead, we allow them to split us, and hold us back from, together, bringing the world to Christ. 

5 - We need to quit magnifying failure, and start magnifying Jesus

Sometimes I wonder if Jesus looks at the angels and asks, “when did this stop being about me?” 

I mean really, the world is looking at Mark Driscoll, and Jesus is absolutely the secondary issue. That is both Mark’s fault and it is our fault. In our passion for holiness, we have forsaken the One who is holy. In our desire to see justice fall on the ones who have defamed the name of Christ, we have forsaken the name of Christ. 

We will never make Christ more holy by magnifying the lack of holiness in those who fail. Yet I think there is something incredibly holy about praying for restoration and, when given the opportunity, walking next to the ones who fail. Maybe even when they don’t want it. Maybe Holy Spirit will bring them to a place of wanting it, and they will want it MORE because they know that there is someone waiting to hold their hand through the process. 

Not a lot of people make it through a process of restoration. I can’t help but wonder if that’s because everyone is willing to pass judgment, and there are few who are willing to help restore. Judgment and blame and anger are easy. Restoration is a very long, back breaking process on all who are involved. 

When we magnify the failure and not Christ, we fail the world in the same way the person failed the world. We blemish the name of Christ the way the person blemished the name of Christ - the name above all names. How? Because if we have no hope to offer each other, then we have no hope to offer the world. 

Many have given up on Mark Driscoll, and he’s one of our own. Maybe he deserves it, and maybe he’s secretly scared to death of what tomorrow looks like for him and his family. Maybe a combination of fear and pride are keeping him from fully accepting what lies in front of him. Maybe he really doesn’t care. But what hope do we have to offer those who are outside the body of Christ, if we have no hope to offer those who are inside it? 

I do know this. If we are able to turn our focus on Jesus, quiet our own voices and start listening to His, we might just hear His heart on the matter. And it might completely change our perspective.