Milking It

JOEL OSTEEN is yougish, handsome, vivacious, with an infectious, toothy smile and a pretty blonde wife. He is actually sixty years old, but looks about thirty five, thanks perhaps to meticulous hair care, anti-wrinkle therapy, and, just possibly, some discreet plastic surgery. He makes his living by soliciting donations from people much less wealthy then he, many of whom live paycheck to paycheck on Social security. He says that he receives no salary, but derives his income exclusively from the sale of his books, which are printed version of his vivacious personality and ebullient, filled with joy attitude. The donations he solicits are ostensibly earmarked for the holier than thou purpose of spreading the word of Christ, doing the Lord's work, defending the faith against a world of sin and corruption which, without sufficient financial reources, would succumb to the secular. Osteen and his pretty blonde wife live in a manner which befits sultans, Russian oligarchs, or members of the Trump family. Mansions of many rooms and thousands of square feet, (his primary residence near Houston is a home of about seventeen thousand square feet) replete with swimming pools which would arouse the envy of the finest resort facilities, and garages full of imported sports cars each with a value greater than most people's houses. His primary message is one of positive thinking, and "the prosperity gospel", according to which the more devout the Christian, the more material wealth will acccrue unto said votary. To hammer the point home, he unapologetically displays hiw own material wealth as living proof of the truth of his allegedly scriptural message. His critics, of whom there are many, question his actual knowledge of scripture - he attended Oral Roberts University but never graduated - and search in vain for any indication that Jesus advocated the acquisition of personal wealth as a reward for a life well lived. Critics who point out that in the book of Mark Jesus admonishes his disciples to sell whatsoever thou hast and give unto the poor are drowned out by a chorus of that's what I do and becasue I do exactly that it keeps coming back to me, many times over. He never explains why he doesn't simply keep giving it away at an ever more rapid rate; surely among the billions of the Earth's impoverished he could find a way of maintaining a more evenly balanced balance sheet of income and outflow. Facts, say the reverend Osteen, are of seondary importance, and, in fact, really don't matter. God is beyond facts. In fact, There is nothing in scripture indicating that the Lord Jesus Christ advised that giving unto the poor would result in a great accumulation of personal wealth coming unto the giver unto the poor. Joel Osteen is arguably among the best business persons in the world, if not among the most shrewd con men, able to talk,smile, and write maudlin trite diatribes on his way to great personal wealth. It seems to work fo rhim. Maybe its worth a try.