Over Christmas there was a special on 60 minutes that featured Joel Osteen, check out his website for more info about his ministry.
There is some controversy about his message, and I cannot pretend to have read any of his books or even to know exactly what he teaches, but the TV commentary got me thinking. They labeled his core message "The Prosperity Gospel", basically if you follow these steps... God will bless you.
I am also reading another book that sends a similar message about delighting in the Lord and a lot of it talks about how God wants us to be happy. I was starting to get a little uncomfortable, until the author pointed out that earthly happiness is different than heavenly happiness... I can buy that.
Another book I am reading talks about the life of Paul, the apostle, let me fill you in on a few things that happened to this champion of the Christian faith: shipwrecked, homeless, depressed, jailed, beaten...
To me, teaching that God wants us to be happy and will "bless" us can be really confusing, especially if you follow the teachings of Jesus, who said, "In this world you will have trouble..."
But, for me the struggle comes with how the troubles and the blessings work themselves out here and now. For a while I thought, "If I'm not suffering, I'm not living for God." So I inflicted suffering upon myself and looked for difficult situations to put myself in... I don't think this is what Paul or Jesus taught...
And, I have a wonderfully blessed life, a wonderful husband, plenty to eat, a great house, friends, family, health, lots of fun... all these things are great! But, I don't think they are the point...
The question is, where do I find my joy? what if I had no earthly blessings? Would I be content in any circumstance? Why or Why not?
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i believe that if we know our joy does not come from our circumstances , but from our relationship with God, we recieve ALL blessings as gifts from God, and realize that He delights when we enjoy them to the full,.... and in the midst of hard times we look for the places and ways that God meets us and the lessons He teaches us that make us a blessing to others... and we are enriched in those times as well. I find that most of my life is a mixture of happiness and pain and that the 'hope' factor is God in the nidst of all of it. love, mom
Traci, good, stimulating,and important questions you raise. The ancients in the early Church learned to embrace suffering as a gift, a means to honor Christ who first suffered for them. Paul came to know the sufficiency of God's grace only because of his own suffering. Luther said famously that we only know God on the cross; that is, only in the suffering of God Himself for the sins of the world can we really say we know and see and understand God: He is the Suffering Servant prophesied in Isaiah. Ironically, then, that very reason so many abandon faith (how can there be a God since there's so much suffering in the world; how could any God permit that?) is the very way God makes Himself known and experienced. But suffering is not to be an end itself to which we set a goal and aspire. We set out not to suffer but to live faithfully in God's love and truth, not surprised or dismayed when suffering happens, for it will almost certainly happen when faith is radically embraced in thought, word, and action, but not seizing suffering for suffering's sake, either. Just some further reflections. Thanks for raising the issues. In Christ, Mark from Roanoke
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