Joel Osteen and Flying Pigs

Two interesting video clips from Joel Osteen the head of America's largest church.

Joel might be a nice guy, but his lack of formal theological training and biblical knowledge shows up again and again. The Apostle Paul exhorts Timothy to teach sound doctrine, 2 Timothy 4:2-4.

Sadly, here are two examples of doctrine that is not sound.

1. Should Christians eat pork and shellfish?

God is a god of truth. He has revealed Himself in the Scriptures. If we don't take the time to read the Bible how do we know what is true?

In Acts 10:9-22 the Apostle Peter sees a variety of unlcean animals in a vision. He is told by God to "get  up, kill and eat." Peter replies "I have never eaten anything impure or unclean." God then declares to Peter "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."

The primary purpose of the food laws as well as the other Levitical laws was to separate Israel from the other nations. Israel was God's chosen nation. Gentiles were excluded. They were unclean. In Christ however, this barrier is removed. Jesus fufillls the law. Matthew 5:17. He makes clean what the law could only point to. Now both Jew and Gentile can be spiritually cleansed by the blood of Christ and have fellowship with one another.

The Council at Jerusalem met to discuss the requirements of Gentile converts to Chrisitanity. The Jewish Christians did not impose a Jewish diet on the Gentile converts.  Read Acts 15

The notion that pork meat is more unhealthy than other meats is also false. Lean pork gets the tick of approval from Australia's National Heart Foundation. Most of us are aware of fats in all meat types and try to eat lean cuts.

If Joel has any scientific studies that show a high level of toxins in pork fat he should send them to the health authorities. In Australia the pig industry is well regulated with animal and welfare legalisation. The pigs are also feed grain like wheat, barley and sorghum. They are not feed garbage as Osteen implies. Porksafe, a crisis management plan used to monitor disease outbreaks, helps to ensure food safety. We also have refrigerators which were unavailable in ancient times.

The danger of such a teaching is that it produces a false humility.

Colossians 2:16-23 .... do not let anyone judge you by what you eat or drink, ..... Such regulations indeed have an appearance of wisdom, with their self-imposed worship, their false humility ...

We are made clean before God by the shedding of the blood of Jesus Christ as a sacrifice for our  sins  on the cross and not by what we eat!

Hebrews 9:14 How much more, then, will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself unblemished to God, cleanse our consciences from acts that lead to death, so that we may serve the living God!

Jesus also tells us very clearly "... listen and understand. What goes into a man's mouth does not make him 'unclean,' but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him 'unclean.' " Matthewe 15:10-11

2. Are Mormons Christians?

Mormons believe in a different Jesus to the one that evangelical Christians believe in. Just read the Bible and do a bit of research.

A simple reading of Colossians 1:15-22 tells us of a Jesus that created and sustains the universe by His great and mighty power. It tells us of a Jesus that shed His blood for the forgiveness of our sins so that we can be presented before a holy God without blemish and free from accusation. It tells us of a Jesus that we can put our faith and hope in.

The Bible tells us of a totally different Jesus compared to the Jesus that Mormons believe in. The Jesus of the Mormon faith was a brother of Lucifer who earned his godhead. There are also certain sins which are not paid for by the death of Jesus like murder.

This should be a reminder to us all. If  we don't take the time to study the Bible and apply it to our culture then pigs will certainly be ready to take off and fly! 

 The theology of Joel Osteen was reviewed by Dr Michael Horton from the White Horse Inn

The following table compares some of the teachings of Joel Osteen with the teaching of the Bible.

Osteen’s Trivialization of God: by Dr. Michael Horton

(Source no longer available: http://whitehorseinn.org/osteenarttable.htm)

Dr Michael Horton is also author of the excellent book, Christless Christianity

For a further list of links see our resource section on Joel Osteen