The Power of I Am?

Welcome back. Know this: I approach this work with the understanding that Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church runs many great outreach programs, doing much good in the Houston area and beyond—more good than I have done. So I have no wish to denounce the church that is currently under Osteen’s guidance. Nor do I wish to disparage a man who inspires millions. The sole purpose of this section is to bring to light whatever disparities might exist between God’s Word and Joel Osteen’s teachings. I do not dismiss all of Joel’s lessons outright, and I make sure to point out the man’s strengths. I have been given the Spirit of Truth by God’s grace, and I know that it is my God-given privilege and duty to deliver the truth. So let’s get into it.
All page numbers refer to the hardcover edition of The Power of I Am.

On page 4 Osteen paraphrases David in Psalm 139 as saying ‘I am wonderful, I am a masterpiece’ to buttress his claim that viewing ourselves in self-esteem-boosting ways is not only healthy but biblical. Psalms 139:14 quotes David as actually saying this: ‘I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; marvelous are thou works, and that my soul knows right well.’ The purpose of this passage—and indeed of the entire 139^th Psalm—is to remind us to stand in awe of God’s creative power and works, not to bask in our own magnificence. David was not declaring any pride in his body or nature, but reverential praise of God and respect for God’s complete mastery over the universe. Romans 12:3 tells us exactly how to think of ourselves. ‘—not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.’

Beginning on page 8 and throughout The Power of I Am Joel strongly infers that the purpose of God is to make people financially rich in this world. This concerns me. Is Joel saying that God loves His poor servants less than He loves those He has blessed with worldly wealth? Because James 2:5 seems to suggest the opposite, that God has a special love for the poor of this world.

On page 12 Joel tells the story of Israel’s spies from the book of Joshua in order to put forth his doctrine of self-reliance. In Joel’s mind we will find success and ‘reach our promised land’ when we start believing in the power of ourselves; it’s a pretty idea, and J.M. Barrie put it best when he said, ‘Just think happy thoughts and they will lift you into the air!’ In the support of his doctrine Joel puts forth a bald-faced tale about Joshua’s ‘I Am’ attitude being the source of their victory. But scripture makes very clear that Joshua’s faith was based entirely in God’s ability and grace (Numbers 14:8-9) and not in their human power.

On page 22 Joel claims that Jeremiah became a great prophet (in contrast to his early days as a blubbering ‘I cannot’ loser) because one day he up and changed his words from the negative to the positive format. But Jeremiah 1:1-10 make very clear that it was all God’s doing. Jeremiah’s situation changed from living in obscurity to being the nation’s greatest prophet because God spoke to him and comforted him, filling him with strength and encouragement, telling Jeremiah to trust in Him (in God, that is).

 My notes don’t record the page Joel wrote it, but they record him as saying that ‘Nothing happens until you declare (speak) the I Am words’. Joel’s words suggest that God is inactive until we summon him with the magic words ‘I AM’—kind of like a genie in a bottle. On page 37 he goes further in saying (about his congregation) ‘I called you in. I spoke and you came here.’ He gives himself the glory, as if his words are what brought the people to church. It might be said, of course, that his pretty, self-esteem boosting doctrine did in fact draw people to him, but we must be careful not place faith in ourselves and neglect to recognize the power of Holy Spirit at work, Who moves through hearts and souls. Throughout the OT and NT, the Bible makes very clear the fact that God is at work in the hearts and minds and souls of his servants, and even in the hearts of those who do not recognize him, as is the case of Pharaoh in Exodus. The problem with Joel Osteen’s religion is that it leaves no room for God’s will to be done. According to Joel everything that happens is a result of positive or negative thoughts and words as issued by humans.

Joel says we ‘Need to send our words out in a new direction. Make positive declarations.’ His phraseology is revealing; it is straight out of the New Thought handbook.
Much in the way Joel misunderstands the prophet Jeremiah, he misunderstands Ezekiel. On page 37 he tells the story of God speaking to Ezekiel and of the ‘valley of the dry bones’ in Ezekiel Chapter 37. He claims that Ezekiel brought the dry bones to life by speaking them to life, when the passages make it explicitly clear that it is God who causes them to come to life. Verse 5 alones quotes Ezekiel prophesying (as commanded by God) in God’s name: ‘Thus says the Lord God to these bones: “Surely I will cause breath to enter into you, and you shall live”.’ Interestingly, the passage goes on to quote God as using the phrases ‘I will’ and ‘I am’. Perhaps this is the passage Joel filched to form his philosophy of I Am. Joel’s misconstruing of this chapter of the Bible is perfectly emblematic of his misconstruing of God’s Word as a whole. It is clear that God does the miraculous. It is just as clear that it is our duty and privilege to recognize this and glorify Him in this.

On page 53 Joel spews a number of SHAM (Self-Help Actualization Movement) phrases to support his doctrine. They are just the type of bland, trite, clichéd self-help phrases you’ll find in everything from Oprah to Deepak Chopra, and they are just as hollow.

On page 64 Joel makes the sensational claim that ‘God is limited by your thinking’. Perhaps he meant this in some non-sacrilegious way that isn’t clear from a single reading. But it comes off as an offensive God-diminishing statement that he would have been better off not making.
Throughout the text Joel mentions ‘new levels’ and how thinking and speaking in certain ways will ‘take you to your next level’. (I’ve heard other preachers use this term recently as well.) Joel never pauses to explain precisely what he means by ‘levels’. Perhaps he explained the term in a previous book, or maybe it’s simply one of those millennial expressions. But, through a complete reading and study of The Power of I Am, ‘I am’ convinced that what he means by a next level is a financially superior tier of existence, where you have more money and assets (or, in his words, have received the blessings God has been waiting to shower on you); which would suggest that Joel’s idea of next level is a human who has been financially and socially elevated in the eyes of the world through his or her positive thinking and God’s genie-in-a-bottle response to this thinking.

On page 68 Joel supports this theory by stating: ‘God is going to release you into a life of abundance, a life of ease.’ This is clearly his idea of a new level. Unfortunately for his doctrine, it conflicts with the life God has called us to live in this world. This life of ease business is the opposite of what scripture teaches (2 Timothy 3:12).

On page 101 Joel digs into guilt. Unfortunately his understanding of guilt is not a godly Christian understanding, but a worldly comprehension. You can say that as a Christian Joel Osteen does not understand the purpose and importance of guilt in our lives. His suggestion is to simply ‘shake it off’. Shake off the guilt, this pastor says. No mention of sin or repentance or the need for forgiveness. Just shake it off. But his advice is understandable considering that in Joel’s religion people do not sin, they merely make mistakes. Therefore they have no need of repentance and forgiveness, or of a Savior; they need merely shake off the guilt when it comes. In fact, throughout the entire book Joel uses the word ‘sin’ only once. His references to forgiveness are oblique. He finds it sufficient to merely say that we are forgiven, like, automatically, without repentance. A life of ease, indeed.

On page 103 Joel makes a ludicrous un-Christian statement: ‘The most important opinion is the one we have of our self’. I understand his point here is to boost our self-confidence. I will give him the benefit of the doubt that he knows that God’s opinion of us is of far greater value and that he did not mention this because it is so very obvious.

On page 135 he describes God using New Thought terminology. I noted a number of times when Joel referred to God as ‘the most powerful force in the universe’. Okay, that’s one way of describing Him. But it is dangerously close to implying that He is an impersonal force and not a personal living being with whom we can have a relationship. New Thought ideology infiltrating the church.
On page 145 Joel again exalts the supposed power of the human mind, saying ‘Your life is moving towards what you are constantly thinking about’. Now, a positive attitude can certainly shift our view of life, but to make the claim that our mental status is the end-all know-all of our life’s path suggests that God’s will for our lives does not even factor in.

On page 146 Joel admonishes us to meditate on overflow, on abundance. Contrarily, Joshua 1:8 tells us to meditate on God’s law, for then it will make our way prosperous. Psalms 1:1-2 tells us that the man is blessed who meditates on God’s law. Psalms 119:15, Proverbs 4:20-22, and Philippians 4:8 all make similar mention of what our meditation should actually be focused on.

On page 155 Joel Osteen finally comes out and declares his vision for Christianity in no uncertain terms. He suggests that to be good examples of Christ in this world we should have an abundance (of stuff?), and that a good proper Christian is prosperous financially. Joel’s scriptural basis for this is John 10:10. He seems to be under the impression that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, came to earth so that we might have more things and bigger bank accounts. When Jesus said He came so that we may have life and have it more abundantly, I do not believe He was speaking about something as insignificant as temporary earthly riches. Jesus was not so small and temporal minded as that. Joel’s interpretation of Jesus’ words clashes with Jesus’ teaching on the rich young ruler. Why would our Savior tell a rich man to sell all that he has in explanation of what that man was missing in his life, if Jesus meant for us all to have lots of earthly stuff?

Joel says we need to give the Creator permission to prosper us. On page 157 he supports this claim by saying ‘When you’re prosperous, it makes God look good’. Yes, Mr. Osteen, we need to be rich so God will look good, otherwise he looks like Scrooge. His creative power, tender mercies, forgiveness and redemptive sacrifice are not enough. But, Joel takes it one step further (and insults all the middle and lower class Christians on the planet in the process) by saying on page 158: ‘Without prosperity we cannot be a blessing to the world’. Basically he is saying that good works, love, a crying shoulder, a listening ear, a cup of cold water offered, a prayer, a kind word, a widows’ two mites, are all of no consequence. You need a big bank account to be a useful Christian, according to Joel’s teachings. This certainly explains his single-minded focus on making Christians financially prosperous. He thinks poor Christians are useless Christians.

Joel uses The Message version of the Bible (a white-washed, occult version of the Bible, and absolute false drivel) to confuse or modernize Deuteronomy 28:12-13. His version of the Bible tells him that God is ready to open the sky vaults of heaven on schedule because of our works, and He’ll make sure we are always the top dog, never the bottom dog. At the tail end of verse 13 the Message concludes by saying God will do these things as we obey. The real Bible says He will do these things if we obey. In fact, Chapter 28 opens with this preface, saying that if we diligently obey the voice of the Lord, to observe carefully all His commandments, He will bless us. This point may seem petty or pedantic, but I believe it is telling. It displays the subtle but definite twisting of scripture that The Message Bible is known for. If Joel is fond of referring to this false bible, that would explain much.
Joel is all about pursuing our dreams. Indeed, the goal of his entire religion seems to be to enable us to achieve our dreams. This is good, to an extent, but as always Joel goes too far by trying to twist scripture into supporting his theories. He cleverly includes addendums to his declarations about pursuing our dreams that make it appear as if God is 100 percent behind us in support of our dreams, no matter what they may be. A motivational spirit is good, even essential to the Christian faith. But if our motivations are entirely self-seeking instead of selfless as outlined in Philippians 2:4, then we are no longer functioning Christians and we are no longer working in service to the kingdom of God.

On page 166 Joel mentions forgiveness, but once again he fails to make any reference to repentance. In his eyes our ‘mistakes’ are simply forgiven automatically—because we are righteous masterpieces, I guess. But the Bible makes very clear that Christ’s atoning death on the cross has made forgiveness available to all—but this forgiveness is not received until we repent. Sin—repentance—forgiveness. That is how it works. Joel’s religion does not include repentance because it does not include sin. Joel’s religion teaches that we have faulty mentalities and wrong thinking, but no sin. Seriously, those are his words.

On page 176 Joel uses vague but poignant references to a ‘force’ again. This is New Thought terminology bubbling to the surface, and it disturbs me. New Thoughters believe in an Omnipresent Wisdom, or something like that. Their construct of God is vague in a sort of it’s-out-there kind of way. One interesting point here: New Thoughters believe we create our life experiences through our mode of thinking. You’ll notice Joel Osteen’s philosophy in that. To an extent, our way of thinking determines some of our life’s path, but, thinking soberly, we must understand what the Bible teaches on this: ‘A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps’ (Proverbs 16:9). We can make plans and think positively, but God is in control and on the throne. Everything happens by either His active will or by His permissive will.

He is not a passive God. He is and has always been at work in the world.
On page 192 Joel again makes use of the Law of Attraction, making the point that energy leaves us and goes out into the universe, and whichever type it was (positive or negative) is the kind of energy that will return to us. This thought process seems to suggest that people who have colon cancer must’ve put out a negative colon cancer-type of energy. Hogs wallop.

On page 203 Joel submits his belief that the purpose of God’s anointing on a life is to help that person accomplish his/her dreams, to aid that person on up to the new level in their destiny. No mention of Christian submission. No thought of service to the kingdom.

On page 223 Joel displays a complete misunderstanding of the reason the Israelites wandered in the desert for 40 years. He claims it was because of their negative attitudes and lack of self-esteem that they did not reach their promised land. I don’t know how God views a lack of faith in ourselves, but I do know that He considers a lack of faith in Him to be sin. The Israelites complained about their situation, yes, just as Joel points out, but the reason God made them toil and die was because they worshiped other gods (man-made idols, etc). They angered God, which is something Joel doesn’t seem to think is possible. He must skim over hundreds of passages in the OT to avoid noticing this. Today we have self-help gurus who teach us to worship ourselves. Throughout the Promised Land chapter Joel makes no mention of the Israelites’ sins against God.
On page 223 Joel tells us to ‘Sit back and wait for God to shower you with blessings to fulfill the desires of your heart’. He is trying to teach patience, but does so in a strangely misguided way. Instead of sitting back and waiting for God to reward us for being masterpieces, we should use that precious time to follow the guidance of Philippians 1:27. Also, Joel’s teaching here is precisely the sort of backwards un-Christian thinking that Paul condemns in Philippians 2:21 ‘For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.’

Pages 232-233 Joel Osteen clarifies his doctrine by intimating that people do not sin; they merely make mistakes, and that therefore they do not need to repent, but merely shake off their guilt. In Joel Osteen’s religion guilt is useless. In true Christianity, guilt is absolutely essential. It reminds us that we have sinned, and that we are in need of forgiveness. Guilt separates us from the animals. Guilt guides us to repentance. Guilt tells us that we are in desperate need of a Savior! Go to most churches today, listen to the pastor’s seminar and you will leave without ever knowing that you are in need of a Savior. These types of guru’s may boost your self-esteem, but they are wolves leading you away from the Good Shepherd.

On page 239 Joel records this platitude: ‘When we fail, God still believes in us’. Hooray! I believe the passage he was grasping for is found in 2 Timothy 2:12-13. The apostle Paul says: ‘If we endure, we shall also reign with Him. If we deny Him, He will also deny us. If we are faithless, He remains faithful; He cannot deny Himself.’ Yes, Joel, God forgives us when we sin—if we repent and seek His forgiveness. Or maybe Joel is referencing John 15:16, where Jesus says ‘You did not choose Me, but I chose you and appointed you that you should go and bear fruit—’. He has chosen us to serve Him. But I’m not sure what Joel means when he says God believes in us. It sounds like one of those hollow new age clichés that inspire self love but fail to present the full and complex nature of Almighty God.

Page 241 Joel has been talking about a frame in which God keeps us protected from bad things and from our own mistakes. He says ‘You can’t make a mistake big enough to break out of that frame!’ This is a clever way of reinforcing a trendy false doctrine that no matter what we do in this life once we have turned to God, we cannot fall away from the faith. Of course, this doctrine is absurd. No, there is nothing that can take us from the Shepherd’s hand, but that is not to say that we cannot choose to turn our backs on Him. We can fall away (Hebrews 4:11), which is all the more reason why we need to constantly work at our faith (2 Peter 1:5-10). Salvation is a gift of grace through faith, and like any gift we are called to maintain it. Christianity is a life-long marathon, not a sprint that you win and then sit back to enjoy the accolades. But this is another topic for another time.
Finally on page 268 Joel tells us about the acts of a couple of OT heroes: ‘They could have prayed; instead, they became the miracle’. The point he was making was that humans have the power to become miracles to other people. While I would not word it in such a self-aggrandizing way, Joel’s urge to good works is poignant and inspirational. Unfortunately, as in most of his teachings, he displays an unbalanced view of humanity, thinking that people possess an inherent power within that effectually supplants our need to pray to our Creator.

I noticed throughout The Power of I Am that Joel has tremendous faith in humanity, and very little reverence for prayer. There is power in prayer, as any prayer warrior can tell you. ‘When two or three are gathered in My name, I am there in the midst of them,’ God says in Matthew 18:20. The preceding verse makes it clear that supplications to God are answered by God, and that the miraculous answer on earth is done by God. Like any other New Thoughter, Joel is attempting to subvert or siphon this supernatural aspect of God and apply it to humanity. But to put your faith in humanity, in yourself, is a profoundly naive thing to do. Jeremiah 17:9 delivers this bombshell: ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it?’ Throughout the Bible we see men and women—the very greatest disciples and servants of God—even, fail, some of them repeatedly. How do they respond? Do they call forth energy from within? Do they send out positive thoughts for an equal return-to-sender reward? Do they stand up and declare ‘I Am a Miracle’? No. They get on their knees, prostrate themselves before God almighty and cry out, ‘Help me, Lord. Help thou mine unbelief.’ They recognized that they did not have what it took to do what God called them to do—not without Him, and not without His miraculous, loving, guidance. We need to think sensibly: I am a flawed human being, ‘but I can still do good works in this world through Christ who strengthens me’ (Philippians 4:13). And let us not forget 2 Corinthians 12:9 ‘And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness”’. 

In The Power of I Am Joel gives us a brilliant education on God’s generous nature. He is right when he says that God wants to bless us. But this book, acting as a microcosm of Joel’s ministry, displays the smiling preachers’ narrow view of our awesome Creator. Throughout his ministry Joel has consistently—even zealously—acknowledged this one side of God, to the neglect of the rest of God’s nature. If that is all Joel has been called to teach, so be it. But God is a complex being with a nature every bit as diverse as any human. He is the God of love and generosity. He is also the God of vengeance and wrath, of forgiveness and atonement. Throughout the OT God displays an intense all consuming hatred of sin and of unrepentant hearts. In fact, in order to remain faithful to His righteousness, God must hate sin and punish unrepentant sinners. People consistently underestimate the offensiveness of sin in God’s eyes, wondering why a good God would do the devastating things He did in the OT. The point is that God is not a simple one-dimensional being. Joel’s single-minded drive to teach only one aspect of God’s complex nature is to fail to properly introduce Him to us. God is generous, yes, but He is also demanding—as He has every right to be.
Also, in his final chapter ‘I Am Generous’ Joel admonishes us to become miracles, to do good things for the people in our lives. While I found his message here inspiring (most of his work is inspirational), it’s position at the tail end of the book felt too much like an addendum, tacked on as an afterthought to excuse the rest of the book, every chapter of which was a study on how to live a self-absorbed next level life. Philippians 2:21 warned us against Joel’s teachings (minus the final afterthought chapter). ‘For all seek their own, not the things which are of Christ Jesus.’ Also note Philippians 2:4 ‘Let each of you look out not only for his own interest, but also for the interests of others’.

Throughout the text of The Power of I Am, God’s will is entirely absent.
One other quick rant—and this is just a personal qualm. I find Joel’s title blasphemous, as it takes God’s designation for Himself in Exodus 3:14 and twists it to fit into his self-promoting agenda. He might as well have titled it Magical Me, at least then it would’ve been funny. After all, he’s certainly got the Gilderoy Lockhart smile down.

In summation, Joel’s book can certainly be useful to depressed, negative people, and I might even be persuaded to suggest they read it, but only because preachers these days don’t seem able to teach the joy of the Lord, which (as I know from personal experience) far surpasses anything Joel Osteen has to offer with his Christians-get-rich-quick schemes. If Joel were content to deliver his philosophy in the manner of a Tony Robbins or a Deepak Chopra I would not take issue. But because this man insists on twisting the hallowed Word of God to buttress his personal teachings, and makes bold (and often false) claims of scriptural support to try and legitimize his ideology, I take issue. His teachings are oftentimes contrary to the spirit of God’s Word, admonishing a me-first theology by trying to wrap it up in a selfless faith that commands us to put God first and think of others before ourselves. But prosperity teachings and Christianity do not mix well together.
   
A minister of God’s Word should be more interested in feeding the sheep, in teaching people what they need to hear, not telling them what they want to hear. If his words garner him personal praise and fans rather than creating followers of Christ, then we should question his motives.
We need to educate ourselves in God’s will, protect ourselves with the armor of God (Ephesians 6:11-16), for our teachers no longer introduce us to God or give us the protection from deception that we need. For it is clear that our spiritual battle, like that of our Lord during his earthly sojourn, is often against those who claim to serve God but who most assuredly serve only themselves.
On finishing The Power of I Am, I read Charles Sheldon’s classic In His Steps. Wow. Two more diverse books cannot be found on the same subject (supposed Christianity). They are like colors on the opposite ends of the spectrum. On one end you have self-absorbed teachings, and on the other a treatise on Christian suffering and selfless service. Oddly enough, they are both inspirational. Perhaps both books are works of manipulation, preying on our malleable emotions. But I could not detect a single false teaching within the pages of In His Steps, only guidance on following the example of Christ our Savior. In His Steps lives up to the spirit and truth of scripture. The Power of I Am lives up only to the spirit of our times, which is not nearly as integral to eternity as people seem to think.