Did you hear the one about the Buddhist, the Catholic, and the unbeliever?
Victoria Osteen wife of TV preacher Joel Osteen made this statement in an interview on TBN during a discussion about the Larry King interview where her husband Joel refused to state clearly that those who reject Jesus will not go to heaven.
“As we were greeting some of the people there was 3 people, young people, two women and a man. He was Buddhist, she was Catholic, and the other one was non churched. Well the husband and wife, the Catholic and the Buddhist were married. And her sister just hadn’t….was basically unchurched, and they said ‘This is the only place we can come together and worship. We feel like we can come together here.’ Now I would say well would it be better not to go anywhere? Or would it better for them to come together at least under the umbrella of a Christian place and have seed planted in their heart. So that they can go back and at least have fellowship with one another and their not divided. So that’s the way we see it. We’re not going to tell them ‘Well you’re not doing right.’ We want to bring the body together. We want to bring people together.”
WOW! How do a Catholic, a Buddhist, and a nonbeliever, worship? Who are they worshipping?
“As we were greeting some of the people there was 3 people, young people, two women and a man. He was Buddhist, she was Catholic, and the other one was non churched. Well the husband and wife, the Catholic and the Buddhist were married. And her sister just hadn’t….was basically unchurched, and they said ‘This is the only place we can come together and worship. We feel like we can come together here.’ Now I would say well would it be better not to go anywhere? Or would it better for them to come together at least under the umbrella of a Christian place and have seed planted in their heart. So that they can go back and at least have fellowship with one another and their not divided. So that’s the way we see it. We’re not going to tell them ‘Well you’re not doing right.’ We want to bring the body together. We want to bring people together.”
WOW! How do a Catholic, a Buddhist, and a nonbeliever, worship? Who are they worshipping?
posted by Duane @ 5:32 PM
3 Comments:
At 9:16 PM,
Duane said…
Friend, the point is that if an unbeliever, as clearly the Buddhist and the unchurched person were, feel comfortable to worship in a Christian church something is wrong. Now when I say worship I do not mean attend. Worship means to ascribe ultimate worth to someone or something. In a Christian church that would be the one true God. An unbeliever cannot worship a God that they do not believe in so then that begs the question who are they worshiping?
As a pastor I would welcome them into our church but the message they would here is not that they are ok as they are but rather that Jesus is the way the truth and the life and that no one comes to the father except through Him. (John 14:6)
If a Buddhist, or any unbeliever leaves a Christian church service comfortable to remain as he is something is wrong. Our job as Christians, especially pastors is clear in Colossians 1:28 "Him we proclaim, warning everyone and teaching everyone with all wisdom, that we may present everyone mature in Christ." For what reason are we to warn? We are to warn the unbeliever of his/her eternal destiny apart from Christ.
So I would be thrilled to have a Buddhist and any other unbeliever in a church service so that I might preach Christ to them as God has instructed me to do, not so I can affirm them in their Buddhism and unbelief. To do that would be the most unloving and uncaring thing I, as a pastor, could do.
Also to address the issue of judging. Churches must judge. Notice what Paul said about the pastor's responsibility is in confronting false teaching, which this post is clearly about; "The Spirit clearly says that in later times some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and things taught by demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron...If you point these things out to the brothers, you will be a good minister of Christ Jesus, brought up in the truths of the faith and of the good teaching that you have followed." 1 Timothy 4:1-2,6
God bless,
Pastor Duane
At 9:34 PM,
Duane said…
All Christians should judge. We must judge. How are we to discern the false teaching Paul so often commands us to watch out for? Notice his words; "But even if we or an angel from heaven should preach a gospel other than the one we preached to you, let him be eternally condemned!" Galatians 1:8 We must make judgment calls.
What is your take on Philipians 3? Paul says "Look out for the dogs..." Is that judging? Was he wrong? This is not the only time we see him call false teachers on the carpet.
When pastors, the church, and believers in general stop judging truth from error and point it out we become complicit in the error.
According to your logic we woudl also have to accept "preachers" like Fred Phelps(Godhatesfags.com) because to speak out against him would be judgmental. Just as some use Scripture to justify their inclusivism, he uses it to justify his hate. How do we know who is right?
Sure God will judge him and all other false teachers, but it is our responsibility to discern and "test the spirits" so that we do not lead others into error or wander off into error ourselves.
God bless
At 3:20 PM,
rovercomer said…
If I was the Buddhist I would hope that the pastor would love me enough to tell me the truth. If I want to feel good I can take a drug.
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