by Lindsay Small

Channel 26 does not come in very well on our TV, but it is clear enough to make out Rev. Joel Osteen’s face every Sunday night as he preaches to the masses. I stopped to listen a few weeks ago while channel surfing. Through the snowy screen I could tell the arena was packed. A large golden globe spun on its axis slowly behind Osteen as he preached. He was in the middle of a story about a couple who bought furniture too large for their small one-bedroom apartment. The moral of the story was this couple knew that God had “bigger things in store for them.” Sure enough, a few years later, they both received promotions and moved into their dream home.

Osteen’s popularity is driven by his motivational and endlessly upbeat messages. An Osteen disciple was recently quoted in Time Magazine: “It’s a new day God has given me! I’m on my way to a six-figure income!” People flock to his church to be filled with the good news that God has “bigger things in store for them this side of heaven.” In doing so, they seek confirmation that God wants to shower them with blessings…both spiritually and materially.

It is an appetizing message that appeals to the palate of the masses. And to be honest, who can blame them? Who of us hasn’t gone to church—to worship—to seek confirmation for our lifestyle? We use worship to corroborate, not challenge, strongly held beliefs and values. Most of us even worship with those who believe like us, and many more worship with those who look like us. In the book Divided by Faith, Michael Emerson and Christian Smith write, “The congregation often looks to religion not as an external force that places radical demands on their lives, but rather as a way to fulfill their needs. Those who are successful in the world, those of adequate or abundant means, those in positions of power, rarely come to church to have their social and economic positions altered.”

The inclination to seek confirmation of our already established worldviews spans the political and theological spectrum. No matter where you stand on a particular issue, it frankly feels great to have a firmly held conviction reaffirmed by the people around you.

It’s not just a temptation for the hearers, but the preachers as well. There have been times in my own preaching life when I have crafted a sermon with the goal of speaking words I think people will want to hear. The truth-telling of the text becomes secondary to the comfort-telling of the sermon. We shape our words on an imaginary construct of congregational expectation, instead of living into our prophetic call.

But if we consider the intersection of justice and worship, we must begin by putting the ‘me’ and ‘my’ in worship aside. Worship is not about what we want to hear or preach, or about confirming our previously held ideas. It’s about hearing the Word and asking how it interacts with our life. It means that we should not show up expecting that all we believe will be proved right, but being open to hearing a word that may challenge and convict us. Worship is about hearing and proclaiming the Word of God with an open heart, and a willingness on our part to be changed or redirected by it.

Despite my initial reaction to Osteen’s health-and-wealth message that night, I learned an unexpected lesson. I had crafted worship and preaching in my own image instead of God’s. My desire to say “all the right things” had at times overwhelmed a conviction to speak truth to the places where the congregation was sensitive. In turn, I had become unwilling to hear anything that did not fit into my viewpoint of justice, God, and theology.

And so what is needed? Frankly, we need to shut up and listen…to colleagues and friends with whom we may disagree, to authors and preachers who take a different stance than we do, and most of all, to the still, small voice of God. And then we must open our hearts and minds to be changed and convicted in the places where stubbornness and self-righteousness have taken hold. In the process, I believe we will discover that God does have bigger things in store for us this side of heaven. Namely, a far-reaching community gathered around faith, justice, and truthful conversation.