Joel Osteen is a maestro of high-tech religious marketing. They are at the cutting edge of consumer trends.” “They are like the mega mall of religion with an Amazon account added on.
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“Preachers like Osteen know how to work the modern marketplace,” says John Green, a political scientist specialising in religion at Ohio’s University of Akron. Among its largest growth markets are South Korea, the Philippines and Brazil. This offshoot of Christianity is quintessentially American - a blend of the Pentecostal tradition and faith healing. Though precise numbers are hard to find, one in five Americans is estimated to follow a prosperity gospel church. Among the Christian brands, only “non-denominational charismatics” - a scholarly term for the prosperity preachers - are expanding. Almost a quarter of Americans now profess to having none. Formal religion in the US has been waning for years. Three out of four of the largest megachurches in America subscribe to the prosperity gospel. Yet the market share of US churches run by celebrity prosperity preachers such as Osteen, Creflo Dollar ( sic), Kenneth Copeland and Paula White keeps growing. There is scant mention of humanity’s fallen condition in his motivational talks. They point to the belief, which Osteen seems to personify, that God is a supernatural ally whom you can enlist to help enrich your life. Some of Lakewood’s more firebrand critics even label it “heresy”. Hardline evangelicals dismiss the prosperity gospel as unchristian. “Most people want to leave church feeling better than when they went in.”Ī Joel Osteen service at Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas, last month: 'Had he chosen the life of a preacher, Trump would surely have designed his church like Lakewood - with its curved stage, glitzy video screens and rotating golden globe' © Brandon Thibodeaux “If you want to feel bad, Lakewood is not the place for you,” said Rollo. Lakewood is not the kind of church that troubles your conscience. Words that are rarely heard include guilt, shame, sin, penance and hell. Optimism, hope, destiny, harvest, bounty - these are Lakewood’s buzzwords.
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To my surprise, my conclusion was greeted with yells of “Yeah brother!” and “Right on!” I felt a stirring of optimism as I sat down.
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My hope was to gain insight into what drives Lakewood’s allure: their help would be gratefully received. Two elevator levels below us in this giant corporate building, more than 50,000 people stream each week into a converted basketball arena to hear Osteen’s sermons. There was a mildly quizzical look on some of the faces. My purpose, I went on, was to discover what drew people to Joel Osteen, the “smiling preacher”, who runs the largest megachurch in America. The only refreshment to be found was moderately caffeinated hot water in styrofoam cups. Most of the men were dressed in tracksuits, cargo pants or jeans and T-shirts.