Joel Osteen has endured plenty of criticism throughout his career.
The toothy preacher has come under fire for everything from his physical appearance to
his spiritual beliefs to his lack of theological training.
However, in the wake of Hurricane Harvey, the Houston, Texas-based pastor attracted
a lot heat for allegedly not doing enough to help.
Here's a look at the shady side of Joel Osteen.
Hurricane Harvey
In August 2017, Osteen faced enormous criticism for not opening his Lakewood Church, which
can house 16,800 people, to serve as a shelter after Hurricane Harvey devastated Houston,
Texas and left many homeless.
Osteen's reps posted on Facebook on Monday, August 28, 2017, that the church was "inaccessible
due to flooding," and directed people in need to other shelters in the area.
but TMZ responded with allegations that the church was actually "bone dry."
That led to an outcry against Osteen, with many taking to social media to bash the pastor
for his actions.
According to CNN, by Wednesday, August 30, the church was open to refugees, but skeptics
charged even that was just a public relations move to ward off further criticism.
Osteen, of course, refuted that.
"we were waiting for the right time really Lakewood is always open we just didn't necessarily
have staff here to help the night that it flooded here."
Pass the collection plate
In January 2015, New York attorney Richard Garbarini told the National Enquirer that
despite listing Lakewood Church as a non-profit,
"[Osteen is] leveraging the church as a money-making vehicle!
The church pays [to air] his sermons, which are just de facto infomercials to promote
his books.
The Lakewood Church is a shell to funnel people to his website so he can sell his books."
Daniel Borochoff, head of Charity Watch, concurred, telling the tabloid,
"A non-profit needs to be acting in the public interest and not in the private personal business
interests of Joel Osteen.
The church should benefit from the royalties of these books when they are shouldering at
least some of the cost of promoting them.
If it isn't getting something back, it oughta be.
It's too much a promotional vehicle for him."
Osteen and Lakewood Church denied the allegations, telling the Enquirer that Garbarini's claims
were "false and baseless," adding,
For more than 50 years Lakewood Church has adhered to the highest standards of honesty
and integrity."
Can't we all just get along?
Though leaders of other mega-churches condemned white supremacists and racist attitudes after
an August 2017 neo-Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia left one woman dead and several others
injured, Osteen kept noticeably mum.
His only commentary on the incident, and on the topic as a whole, was a vague Facebook
post that read
"One of the biggest challenges we all face is getting along with people because everyone
is different.
We have different personalities, different temperaments.
We come from different backgrounds.
When somebody doesn't agree with us or not doing what we like, it's easy to get in conflict
with them, to argue, to try to straighten them out, to prove our point.
No, you have to be the bigger person.
Just because they're doing wrong doesn't mean you have to engage."
Christian commentators took him to task, calling his injunction not to confront evil "passive."
Courting controversy
In 2005, Osteen got himself in trouble with the faithful during an interview with Larry
King where he seemed to imply atheists and people of other faiths might end up in Heaven
despite their beliefs.
He said,
"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…
I'm going to let God be the judge of who goes to Heaven and Hell…
I believe it's a relationship with Jesus.
But you know what?
I'm not going to go around telling everybody else if they don't want to believe that that's
going to be their choice…"
Osteen later issued a public apology to his flock, writing a letter that read in part,
"It was never my desire or intention to leave any doubt as to what I believe and Whom I
serve…
I believe that Jesus Christ alone is the only way to salvation.
However, it wasn't until I had the opportunity to review the transcript of the interview
that I realize I had not clearly stated that having a personal relationship with Jesus
is the only way to heaven.
It's about the individual's choice to follow Him."
Osteen got himself embroiled in another controversy in 2011, though, when he told Piers Morgan
that while he believes homosexuality is wrong, it's not really that big of a deal.
"I've always believed Pierce the scripture shows that it's a sin.
But you know, I'm not one of those out there to bash homosexuals and tell them they're
terrible people and all that."
When pressed during a later CNN interview to clarify his stance, he doubled down on
controversy, saying being straight is not a choice, but being gay is still a sin.
"seems like sometimes in Christianity we categorize sin.
Pride is a sin being critical is a sin, being negative is a sin..."
"So Homosexuality isn't so bad."
"Well, I don't think it's God's best."
Osteen's careful attempts at not offending anyone, however, only drew more criticism
from all sides.
Live and learn.
Trouble in paradise
In March 2017, Radar Online reported that Osteen and Lakewood Church were being sued
by a family accusing a church staff member of body slamming their baby girl.
Court documents obtained by the site claim that in May 2014,
"A representative of the church grabbed a child safety seat housing Victoria Wedderburn,
a minor, and threw the seat off the church pew…
[Victoria] landed face first on the floor, while still strapped to the safety seat…[causing]
serious bodily injury and extensive mental and emotional damage."
Osteen's attorneys claimed the "incident [that] made the basis of this suit was caused by
the actions of third parties over whom the [Osteens] had no control."
Osteen also claimed the church and its employees he had no liability for the incident, based
on the "Charitable Immunity Act."
The church reportedly settled with the Wedderburn family for $15,000, despite asserting it had
no wrongdoing and that the claims were entirely made up.
The mark of the beast
Finally, it's not easy being righteous.
Osteen found that out the hard way when he was accused by the faithful of collaborating
with the devil.
The supposed blasphemy occurred when Osteen attended his son's graduation from the University
of Texas.
Osteen and his son posed for a photo flashing the school's famous "Hook 'Em Horns" sign,
which references the university's longhorn mascot.
Some Christians, however, thought Osteen was pledging his allegiance to Satan by using
a "devil sign," with the "demonic signal" revealing Osteen's true colors.
You know what they say: tweet 'em all, and let God sort 'em out.
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