(RSS will probably have to click through to view the video)
Much could probably be written by way of critique after watching this piece but that is not my aim. I simply want to make a couple of comments that might serve as transferable concepts as you engage the culture.
1. We have to commend Joel for pointing to the authority of scripture. Without that, we have nothing to say. As Al Mohler has said, "if the Bible doesn't say anything about homosexuality, then is doesn't say anything about anything."
2. The question of "Who are you to say?" is quite self-defeating. In this context Joel could have easily exposed this self-imploding logic by simply saying, "Well, who are YOU to say that my beliefs about homosexuality are wrong?". If it is wrong to disagree with someones views then why is Mr. Reporter passionately doing just that and with a straight face? The "who are you to say" argument just doesn't accomplish anything other than completely shut down conversation. We should seek to give and receive reasons for someone's beliefs instead of discrediting the other person with an easy "who are you to say" question.
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Saw the video yesterday, and all things considered, I thought that it might be the best I’ve ever seen Osteen account for himself. He failed to follow through though. At 3:50 Piers asks, “What would you say to a homosexual watching this? How do they change, what do they have to change to be better people?”
I would have loved to have heard something like this as a response:
“It’s not about being a better person, Piers. What I’m talking about is realizing that I personally fall short of the absolute holiness that God demands. And that even so, by the free grace of God, I can be declared righteous because of what Jesus Christ did for me. He lived a perfect life. He died for my sins. And even though I absolutely don’t deserve it, His righteousness is applied to my account. Will this have an effect on how I live my life? Absolutely. If this is really true, I will change to be a better person. But to focus primarily on that aspect is to get the caboose out in front of the engine…”
Alas, this is sadly not the answer we get from the likes of Osteen, and even more sadly not the kind of answers we usually get from conservative evangelicals in general...
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