This is from the Pittsburgh Post Gazette (full reference at the end to keep all this legal):
http://www.post-gazette.com/seen/breakfast/Modern "Christianity" needs some help, I think; and NOT of the "self-help" variety that Mr. Osteen serves up.
Patricia Sheridan's Breakfast With ... Joel OsteenHe could be described as a Christian motivational speaker, which might explain why the Rev. Joel Osteen shepherds the largest church in America with his wife, Victoria. Joy, hope and living well are constant themes of the sermons that broadcast from the independent Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, a mega-church with 16,000 seats and more than 38,000 worshipers weekly. He also has written two New York Times best-sellers "Your Best Life Now" and "Become a Better You: 7 Keys to Improving Your Life Every Day." He will be signing books noon Friday at Joseph-Beth Booksellers at SouthSide Works. On Thursday and Friday, he will be holding "A Night of Hope" worship events at Mellon Arena. The doors open at 6 p.m. For information go to
www.joelosteen.com [
joelosteen.com] or ticketmaster.com. Tickets are $15.
Q: Did you go through a rebellious stage?
A: You know what? I really didn't. I grew up in a great family, and I think part of it was my parents. You know, I'm a preacher's kid and a lot of times preachers' kids are rebellious, but I saw my parents being the same at home as they were in the pulpit.
Q: You hear a lot of people's problems. Do you worry?
A: I wouldn't say it worries me. Your heart goes out to them. To me, it increases my desire to want to help people and let them know that God is still on their side. Even when bad things happen, you can still come out and live a good life.
Q: Mother Teresa said in her letters (which were published after she died) that she stopped feeling the presence of God in her life.
A: I thought it was interesting. I thought maybe she was in so much poverty and difficulty that sometimes, you know, we can let it overwhelm us.
Q: Have you ever felt forsaken?
A: I never really have, and I think some of it has to do with personality. Even before I was a minister, I have always been optimistic and hopeful. When the doctors told us that our mother just had a few weeks to live with liver cancer, it was a difficult time. So in that dark time instead of saying "God why did this happen to us?" and "Are you really there?" we turned to our faith and we just said, "God, we believe you can give us strength to make it through."
Q: With success comes detractors, and you have had a few. Do your sermons on dealing with criticism come from experience?
A: I have only been doing this for eight years, and I have never dealt with that type of criticism before. I think when you have success, there are just people who don't agree with the way you do it. I've just learned to search my own heart and to the best of my ability I'm doing what God wants me to do. I'm real good at staying focused. It sounds kind of naive but you know the criticism doesn't really bother me.
Q: Historically, religion has been used as a tool for war. You know, "My God is better than your God" sort of thing. How is your church different?
A: We try to focus on what we have in common rather than what we disagree on. We don't claim to know it all. We believe what we feel in the Bible is the truth. We're not about arguing and debating doctrine.
Q: I've noticed there is no brimstone or fire in your sermons.
A: It's just not in me. I do believe that the scripture teaches that Jesus is the clear way to salvation and that's the only thing that I see, but I'm not the judge of who does and doesn't go [to heaven]. Our message is that Christ's forgiveness is available for everyone. If somebody doesn't want to accept that, I'm not here to denounce them or to make them feel bad.
Q: So why no religious symbols on the stage at Lakewood?
A: It's never been intentional. We believe in the cross and the resurrection. It stems back to when my father started the church. He was very mission-minded and wanted to spread the good news all over the world. He started with a map, then it turned into a globe and so we just continued it.
Q: And the symbol on the pulpit?
A: It is the Holy Spirit, and the flame and circle represents the globe and it's got the dove and it even has an "L" in it. You can kind of read different things into it. It's a little deeper than I am, but anyway that's what they tell me (laughing).
Q: Do you believe in praying to people who have died like your dad, you know, asking for help?
A: I really don't. I feel like sometimes I can feel my dad's presence. Maybe I could draw strength from my dad. I mean, I wore his shoes the first year that he died. I think we can go right to God.
Q: Are you going to endorse a candidate?
A: No, I'm really not. I just don't think that's my role. Maybe some other ministers would chose that and that's certainly their choice. We encourage people to vote. But part of my thing is I'm trying to reach a broad, general public, throwing a big net to get people to hope and to make God relevant. I think the minute I say, "Well, I'm a Democrat or Republican or Independent or I'm for this candidate," I think that starts to divide my audience, and I don't want to do that.
Patricia Sheridan can be reached at psheridan@post-gazette.com or 412-263-2613.
2008, March 10. Sheridan, P. Breakfast with Joel Osteen.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. Retrieved March 12, 2008 from
http://www.post-gazette.com/seen/breakfast/
