Five Easy Steps to a More Holy Life

Since the whole point of this blog is to pursue holiness, I thought a quick summary of how to achieve holiness would be useful. Living a holy life is not complicated or difficult, it just requires a new vision for your life and the way you want to progress spiritually. All you need to reduce sin, increase repentance, and live out a better Christian witness for your non-Christian friends and neighbors is encompassed in Five Easy Steps to a More Holy Life.

Had you going there for a minute, didn’t I? In last week’s sermon at my church, it was established that possibly the greatest danger to the church is our ignorance or lack of belief in the centrality and application of the Gospel.

This week we learned (among other things) that the prophecy in 2 Timothy is fulfilled.

For a time will be when they will not endure sound doctrine, but they will heap up teachers to themselves according to their own lusts, tickling the ear. And they will turn away their ears from the truth and will be turned to myths. But you watch in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, fully carry out your ministry. (2 Timothy 4:3-5)

The only Christianity the world is willing to freely accept is a watered-down pop-psychology false version. Watchman Nee said, “Show the world the fruits of Christianity and it will applaud; show it Christianity and it will oppose it vigorously.” The largest church in the country that professes Christianity is led by Joel Osteen, who said these things:
KING: But don’t you think if people don’t believe as you believe, they’re somehow condemned?

OSTEEN: You know, I think that happens in our society. But I try not to do that. I tell people all the time, preached a couple Sundays about it. I’m for everybody. You may not agree with me, but to me it’s not my job to try to straighten everybody out. The Gospel called the good news. My message is a message of hope, that’s God’s for you. You can live a good life no matter what’s happened to you. And so I don’t know. I know there is condemnation but I don’t feel that’s my place.
…
OSTEEN: We do have rules. But the main rule to me is to honor God with your life. To life a life of integrity. Not be selfish. You know, help others. But that’s really the essence of the Christian faith. [No. The essence of the Christian faith is not our works, but that Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life, and belief in His atoning death on the cross saves us from eternal damnation.]
…
KING: What if you’re Jewish or Muslim, you don’t accept Christ at all?

OSTEEN: You know, I’m very careful about saying who would and wouldn’t go to heaven. I don’t know …

KING: If you believe you have to believe in Christ? They’re wrong, aren’t they?

OSTEEN: Well, I don’t know if I believe they’re wrong. I believe here’s what the Bible teaches and from the Christian faith this is what I believe. But I just think that only God with judge a person’s heart. I spent a lot of time in India with my father. I don’t know all about their religion. But I know they love God. And I don’t know. I’ve seen their sincerity. So I don’t know. I know for me, and what the Bible teaches, I want to have a relationship with Jesus.
…
KING: Is that [sinners] a word you don’t use?

OSTEEN: I don’t use it. I never thought about it. But I probably don’t. But most people already know what they’re doing wrong. When I get them to church I want to tell them that you can change. There can be a difference in your life. So I don’t go down the road of condemning.
…
CALLER: Hey, I was calling — I’m Jerry Lundabee (ph). I attend Bible Baptist Church in Grand Forks, North Dakota, and one of my — I have a few questions here. I wonder if you might entertain all of them. My first question was — is, do you believe that the bible is god’s inspired word? I haven’t heard you answer that question yet.

KING: And your second question is what?

CALLER: My second question would be — I don’t know — I heard him talking a little bit ago about how he sees faith getting stronger in America and across the world, and I believe that it’s the opposite, that — we’re seeing higher rates of divorce, higher rates of drug and alcohol use among young people, and old, and with abductions, and things like that getting worse and worse.

KING: What do you think, Joel? First, inspired word.

OSTEEN: Yes, I believe the bible is god’s inspired word. As far as the other we kind of talked about, I can see his point, but I think there’s another point. How can we be moving our church into our basketball arena that seats 16,000 people? I mean, people are hungry for hope and encouragement. [Giving them this type of hope and encouragement may help them for the rest of their earthly lives, but it does them no favors in view of eternity.]
…
CALLER: Hello, Larry. You’re the best, and thank you, Joe — Joel — for your positive messages and your book. I’m wondering, though, why you side-stepped Larry’s earlier question about how we get to heaven? The bible clearly tells us that Jesus is the way, the truth and the light and the only way to the father is through him. That’s not really a message of condemnation but of truth.

OSTEEN: Yes, I would agree with her. I believe that…

KING: So then a Jew is not going to heaven?

OSTEEN: No. Here’s my thing, Larry, is I can’t judge somebody’s heart. You know? Only god can look at somebody’s heart, and so — I don’t know. To me, it’s not my business to say, you know, this one is or this one isn’t. I just say, here’s what the bible teaches and I’m going to put my faith in Christ. And I just I think it’s wrong when you go around saying, you’re saying you’re not going, you’re not going, you’re not going, because it’s not exactly my way. I’m just…

KING: But you believe your way.

OSTEEN: I believe my way. I believe my way with all my heart.

KING: But for someone who doesn’t share it is wrong, isn’t he?

OSTEEN: Well, yes. Well, I don’t know if I look at it like that. I would present my way, but I’m just going to let god be the judge of that. I don’t know. I don’t know.

Osteen may be a great guy to be friends with, a loving husband and father, but he is grossly unqualified to preach the gospel. It’s not a matter of him not having gone to the seminary. I saw the show, and I re-read the transcript after the pastor mentioned it in today’s sermon, and it’s abundantly clear that he has less of a grasp on theology than I do. Or if he knows more, he’s keeping it to himself. Yet people flock to him, maybe in part because he seems like a nice, trustworthy, well-meaning guy, but I believe mostly because they like what he’s serving up. He may actually believe that Jesus is the way, the truth and the life, and no one will come to the Father except through Him, but be afraid to say so, to appear to “condemn” other people, to appear intolerant. Based on the couple of sermons of his I’ve seen on TV and on this interview, I really can’t tell.

This sermon is NOT about Osteen. That is only an illustration in the sermon, but it’s one piece of it that really stuck with me. I agree the time “when they will not endure sound doctrine, but they will heap up teachers to themselves according to their own lusts, tickling the ear. And they will turn away their ears from the truth and will be turned to myths” has certainly come. The rest of the sermon is on living a gospel-defined life and the importance of gospel-defined preaching. Enjoy!