On Elite Criticism of the Prosperity Gospel
Part 2, "Joel Osteen, He's My Guy"
When did my mind start to change about the Prosperity Gospel? And why do I consider many criticisms of the Prosperity Gospel to be elitist?
I shared this story a year ago, and would like to share it again as the moment when I started suspecting that something was seriously wrong with elite discourse about the Prosperity Gospel.
Two years ago, I was teaching my hospitality class at Fuller Theological Seminary in their DMin program. As a part of that class we visit Homeboy Industries. You might know the inspiring story of Homeboy, how Fr. Gregory Boyle helped start the largest gang outreach organization in the world. The story is recounted in Fr. Boyle's best-selling book Tattoos on the Heart.
The tours at Homeboy are given by the homeboys. In years past, our tour guides have been younger men, in their twenties. But our tour in October was led by a man in his 50s who had multiple felony convictions and had been in and out of prison for most of his adult life. He started the tour asking where we were from and about our interest in Homeboy. We told him we were in a seminary class at Fuller, and that most everyone in the group was a pastor for a church. Hearing that, our guide said, "I'm not very religious. But you know who my guy is? Joel Osteen. He's my guy." And then he went on to tell us how impactful Joel Osteen has been in rehabilitating his life after prison.
You can imagine our surprise--teacher and students in a seminary DMin class, a group who had been sneering at Osteen and the Prosperity Gospel for years--standing there, for quite some time, getting a heartfelt testimonial about the impact Joel Osteen has had on this ex-felon's life.
When we returned to our classroom back on campus, I asked the class: "So what did you learn about Joel Osteen?" To a person, we all wished we had churches that could speak to our tour guide. But we also had to confess that our guide would never come to our churches, never listen to our sermons. And yet, he was listening to Joel Osteen.
If you felt that my comments about Kate Bowler's work in the last post where overly harsh, I didn't intend them to be. But I did want to share this story again to explain why I had the reactions I did when I heard her lecture at the Chautauqua Institution. Recall, Kate's thesis is that the Prosperity Gospel is driven by "toxic positivity" and the American belief in human perfectibility. As I shared, I agree with Kate's analysis in regards to America's elite, striving classes--the professional, college-educated people who read the New York Times and attend lectures at Chautauqua Institution. These people really do need to loosen their death grip upon status, success, social comparison, and striving. If you're living in a highly comparative and competitive social and vocational world, it is life-giving to embrace your fallible humanity and imperfections.
So, I agree with all that. And yet, I don't feel that this analysis of the Prosperity Gospel explains the appeal of Joel Osteen to convicted felons. I don't believe our Homeboy tour guide was in the grip of "toxic positivity." Quite the opposite. His life was grim, a wreckage. He already knew his imperfections, and they were out loud for everyone to see. (I think I mixed my metaphor there.) And I also don't think our tour guide was beholden to a belief in his perfectibility. He wasn't striving for the summit of success, he was holding on, for dear life, to the bottom rung of the ladder.
This moment at Homeboy was the story that caused me to seek a deeper understanding of the Prosperity Gospel, its appeal to the lost, broken, poor, incarcerated, and destitute. I think Kate Bowler is absolutely correct in her assessment of the Prosperity Gospel and America's addiction to positivity. I just think her analysis doesn't apply to the lower classes and the marginalized. Something else is going on in these social locations. To be sure, I'm willing to admit that our Homeboy tour guide was drinking some bad theological kool aid. But before I paternalistically explain that to him, pitting my advanced college degrees against his criminal history, I have elected to pause here, to ask if elite criticisms of the Prosperity Gospel have been missing something important.
Some people listen to authors, podcasters, and professors for insights about God. People with PhDs like me. But I've elected, from time to time, to listen to felons. And when one says, "Joel Osteen, he's my guy." I stop, lean in, and listen.
Some people listen to authors, podcasters, and professors for insights about God. People with PhDs like me. Well, I don't have a Ph.D. I don't even have my Master's although I get encouraged to pursue one. I grew up lower middle class and I totally understand the appeal of Osteen because he a motivational speaker with a religious bent. He is not like your typical televangelist. He has a simple, feel good message that focuses on the material alone and does not go into the areas of human sinfulness, limitation or weakness, things that are antithetical to the American consciousness no matter what social strata you occupy. He's today's version of Norman Vincent Peale.
He is okay if require spiritual milk. For those of us who want a little more theological meat, we are going to find him a bit distasteful. The challenge is for those of us who want to go a bit deeper in the spiritual life not to become haughty with others who are content at the level of spiritual growth that they have attained.
I find this fascinating, and I’m certainly in the “Elite” by your definition. I too have sneered at Olsteen and his ilk. In fact, it’s the reason I got such a chuckle at your labeling of modern witchcraft as “Prosperity Gospel”. I know some other “Elites” who have flirted in that arena and I sent them that blog post.
So I’m going to have to spend some time thinking this through. My main pause about your criticism of the criticism is that ultimately Truth has to be honored. What is true and real matters. And it is true that many falsehoods have provided people with ways to cope with their lives. So how do you handle that? I know a lot of happy Mormons, a few Jehovah’s Witnesses and I’m sure there are many happy Wiccans, but as best as I can tell, it’s all built on falsities.
I’m thinking out loud at this point, but maybe the answer is to have churches that are built on what is true but to be sure that “true” includes the grace and hope that your Homeboy both needs and would find attractive. That’s the best answer I can come up with for now.