The Internet exploded over the weekend against the Osteen brand. The resulting spin control has settled and now we can piece together truth from fantasy

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If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person's religion is worthless. Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. -- James 1: 26-27 (ESV)

There are some public relations scrambling going on in Houston today. As Hurricane Harvey continues to devastate the area, Joel Osteen's brand has taken a large hit as the doors to Lakewood Church remained closed during the height of the storm. Keep in mind that we are not talking about some storefront church as Lakewood used to be the home of the Houston Rockets from the NBA and has capacity for tens of thousands of people. It is typically the type of venue that is sought out during crises such as this. I know because when I went to volunteer In Shreveport Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina, we were stationed in an event center that had thousands of beds set up for the people who had been displaced by the storm.

Let us deal with the facts beloved because in this age of social media, many are quickly condemned before the truth is fully understood. I saw the criticisms emerge over the weekend and waited because in fairness to Osteen, the only thing that matters is the truth. It seems that enough reporting is in now to make sensible judgments about what has transpired in Houston. When the dots are fully connected, it certainly appears as if Joel Osteen had zero intention of allowing his church to be used as a shelter for displaced citizens. In this age where the president routinely decides news is fake if it remotely critical of him, unfortunately the lines of truth have blurred into shades of grey. So we see Osteen's Public Relations team working overtime to try and recreate history. Let's deal with the facts.

In a statement released this morning, Osteen denied reports that the church had closed its doors and said they will continue to be a distribution center for those in need. Osteen added that they will be prepared to house people once shelters reach capacity. Let us deal with these claims one at a time:

1. Never closed its doors. This is furious spin because in the very same denial is the admission that it had indeed closed its doors. No one was complaining that Lakewood wasn't being used as a distribution center. The complaint was that they were not taking people in. We know this is true because Osteen admits here they will not take people until the shelters reach capacity. The Lakewood Church Twitter account tweeted that the church would be closed during the weekend due to the storm. On Sunday they tweeted a list of shelters, which included churches, but not Lakewood. So to say that Lakewood never closed its door appears to be a lie.

2. They will continue to be a distribution center. This is what is known as sleight of hand. It was only on Monday that Osteen announced that Lakewood would start soliciting donations and collect vital goods such as diapers, formula, and baby food to help distribute to the community. So if they mean they will continue from 24 hours earlier fine, but the impression they are trying to give is that they have been doing this all along when they most certainly were not. Let us not lose sight of the fact that their clear preference is to be a distribution center and not a shelter. To claim that they will continue to be a distribution center is to play a deceitful shell game.

3. They will be prepared to house people once shelters are at capacity. After being shamed on social media all weekend, Osteen could not simply deny allowing people to stay at Lakewood but he has placed constraints upon when or if it will happen. As noted earlier, smaller churches have already designated themselves as shelters while Lakewood remained closed. In fact, Associate John Gray stated they were closed due to extreme flooding, which appears to be untrue as well. Osteen also claimed the highway in front of Lakewood was flooded, a claim that also seems to be untrue. So to claim that they will be prepared to take people in once shelters are at capacity we must assume is true but it still leaves questions as to why they attached that caveat to begin with.

The answer is simple beloved. Joel Osteen does not run a church. He runs a business. He is not a pastor but a hireling. That does not mean that he does not care on some humanistic and secular level but he has a brand and a bottom line to watch out for. Being a distribution center is easy. It requires the logistics of coordinating volunteers but it will add very little to the bottom line. The donations all come from the community and the volunteers all come from the church. As Osteen said they will distribute them to the community. The church becomes a hub is all. What happens however if they have to take people in? They become a residence for thousands of people who have nowhere to go. When I visited Shreveport, there were still thousands of people in that center despite it being several weeks after the actual storm. That is what probably scares Osteen more than anything else.

You see in 2014 someone robbed the weekend tithes and offerings from Lakewood. They got away with $600,000. That is for one weekend beloved. The Osteen machine has only grown since then so we can assume they make even more today. Even using the 2014 numbers however, what happens if the shelter is needed for a month? That is 2.5 million dollars Lakewood stands to lose. That is just a month. Do you realize how hard it is to logistically move thousands of people? I remember in Shreveport one of the problems they had is for every one that managed to leave they were replaced by two newly displaced people. How powerful would it be though to allow thousands of people into your church and then hold a service for them the following Sunday? Preach about the God who supplies all of our needs. Preach the eternal life. Preach the Gospel at the lowest point people might ever be at in their lives when they are a completely captive audience. Maybe dip into your personal wealth of untold millions to have a reverse collection. Give money out to people who are going to need it instead of "soliciting donations."

That would not work however at Lakewood because the Gospel is not preached at Lakewood. Instead it is a slop of self-help and motivation that does not do someone in the middle of this kind of suffering a bit of good. Do you think the displaced thousands need to hear that they are the head and not the tail? A lender and not a borrower? That they can speak riches and material wealth into existence? That they need to stop speaking so negatively into their lives? No beloved. Do you want to see how truly disconnected Joel Osteen is and how hollow his false gospel rings in the ears of the needy? Here are two Osteen tweets from Sunday, as Lakewood stood closed as the rain continued to fall:

"God is still on the throne. He brought you through in the past; He'll bring you through again."

"There's a simple phrase you have to get down in your spirit, "God's got this."

This is as the hurricane was still wreaking havoc upon Houston. This was as more people were losing their homes and were being rescued by boats, helicopters, and the grace, kindness and mercy of their neighbors that continues to elude Joel Osteen. Author Matt Novak summed up these tweets quite well:

"The hurricane and the people suffering in Houston almost seem to be afterthoughts in Joel Osteen's constant stream of banal platitudes." -- Matt Novak

Banal platitudes. That about sums it up beloved. Please realize that the problem is not that God is somehow not on the throne. He most certainly is. It is the problem of banality. It is the problem of being platitudinal. Banal means obvious and worn out. Platitudes are unoriginal, trite remarks that everyone can see coming a mile away. The problem is that the two tweets are what you hear every single week at Lakewood. Problem with your marriage? God is on the throne! He will see you through! Kids are acting out? Hey God saw you through in the past! Lost your job, they repossessed your car; you think you want to die? God's got this! That is what makes the comments banal platitudes. God is most certainly on the throne but when you over use that concept to sell temporal nonsense it is of little meaning or power when it is really needed. You know, after a hurricane has destroyed your entire life.

But that is the only snake oil Osteen has to sell. I try and teach that if your gospel does not work beyond our shores then it is false by definition. You cannot preach a Joel Osteen message in the underground church in China or the impoverished villages in South America. Their problem is not negative self-talk or understanding the authority they can walk in. The same concept now applies within these shores. If your gospel cannot be preached to those in pain following a natural disaster than it is false by definition. Our key verses teach us what is religion as God intended it and how man corrupts it. One of the chic teachings in the NAR and other heretical sects is to condemn all religion in favor of some mystical relationship theology. That is not the answer beloved. God has ordained religion, as the key verses teach us. The idea is to stick to what is religion as He intended and call out what is not.

The number one topic in the Bible after salvation is taking care of the neediest in society. The object is to keep our religion pure and undefiled and God tells us how. Take care of the needy in their affliction. At the time this was written, that would involve visiting them but these days it could very easily be open your church doors when there is a historic hurricane destroying the lives of your neighbors. Note that it says "in their affliction." It is easy to play the role of caring when little caring is needed. It is nice to hand out backpacks to local kids or go build a random playground in some third world country. What do you do however when your area gets hammered for five straight days by a hurricane? What do you do when the people you claim to care about are in their affliction? Do you post some dubious tweets and then scramble through a PR nightmare trying to make yourself look better? If your religion was pure to begin with you would not have to. If Joel Osteen preached and believed the Gospel then he never would have hesitated when the predictions were that Houston was going to get hit hard. He never would have needed the PR experts to spin his way out of the mess he got himself into. His initial reaction would not be to worry about his brand or losing $600,000 per weekend. That brings us to the second point.

The second facet of religion as God intended it is to keep oneself unstained from the world. Joel Osteen and Lakewood are the definition of stained, defiled, and impure. Yes it is hidden well behind a polished machine and a winning smile but the truth cannot be denied. There are 50,000 people per weekend who travel to Lakewood to have their itching ears scratched. They pay $600,000 for the scratching so you know they get their money's worth. You see when the worst calamity to hit an area in our lifetime is barreling down upon us there are only two ways to react. One is pure, undefiled, and unstained from this world. This cares of this world do not matter to the Christ centered person. People are going to be in need and what can I do to help them. That is how the church is supposed to react. The second possible reaction is to list the practical, reasonable, carnal objections to helping. It is too hard logistically. It might cost us a lot of money. There are experts who do this sort of thing. Maybe you use your carnal thought processes to provide enough help to appear righteous while actually costing you very little. You know, like setting up a distribution center instead of allowing people to come in.

But then the world sees you for who you are. A con man who preaches charity until charity is needed. Living in a 10 million dollar mansion. Collecting over 30 million per year in tithes. Posting banal platitudes while people watch their entire lives collapse in a wave of water and indifference. Realizing on Monday that some damage control was needed when everyone else knew the hurricane was going to hammer Houston as early as last Wednesday. I see the Osteen adherents are already out in full force armed with talking points and shades of grey. The truly sad thing is disastrous as this hurricane is and devastating to the lives of Houstonians, it will pass. People's lives will be rebuilt. Cars replaced, houses fixed, water receded. Lakewood will then return to normal with 50,000 people attending each weekend to have their ears scratched with banal platitudes that cannot possibly save them for the eternal storm that is heading our way. Yes, God is most definitely on the throne beloved but if you spend your earthly existence hanging out at the heresy distribution center known as Lakewood Church, that should be no source of comfort for you. None at all.

Reverend Anthony Wade -- August 29, 2017

Authors Bio:
Credentialed Minister of the Gospel for the Assemblies of God. Owner and founder of 828 ministries. Vice President for Goodwill Industries. Always remember that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose.