I've personally found Joel Osteen's messages refreshing because they're intended to motivate. I know he's criticized a lot by more conservative Christians for not talking about gays/abortion enough. However, I honestly don't have much positive to say about his style of wearing thousand dollar suits and speaking at a big megachurch every week...
I think the man is horrible; bigotry with a suit and teeth veneers. (I have a feeling I’ve mentioned this to you before somewhere..) He motivates people to be intolerant of those who are LGBT by condemning them as sinners and their love as sin, just like the very type of pastor he claims he’s not like. What makes it far worse is that he chooses to not talk about it specifically so he can be seen to be separate from more conservative evangelicals. If he believes it, he’s deliberately coy about admitting it. If he doesn’t believe it then he harms people by not speaking out in support of it and instead being silent. He might be ‘refreshing’ or inspiring but I could never, in my heart and in my gut find fall for anyone who was charismatic and invigorating if they were all these things but were a racist, or a sexist, or a homophobe. Some flaws are so wide that they are unbridgeable even if you like all the rest.
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