In beginning the review last week of Joel Osteen’s 2004 multi-million bestseller, Your Best Life Now, nothing was mentioned past page 31 because it was important to see how he presented the Scriptures at the very outset. Yet another example of his mishandling of the Scriptures involves Isaiah 54:2-3a, in which the Israelites are commanded: “Enlarge the place of your tent.” They are to “stretch out the curtains” of their habitations because they are going to be expanding “to the right and to the left”—or “bursting at the seams,” according to Osteen’s translation. What point does he make concerning this passage?

What a powerful picture of God’s desire for you! God is saying get ready for more. Make room for increase. Enlarge your tents. He’s saying expect more favor, more supernatural blessings. Don’t become satisfied with where you are (33).

Really? God is saying all that to each individual? Osteen assures the reader that God doesn’t want them to have so-so health; they need to feel terrific! They shouldn’t have to worry about just having enough money to pay the bills. God wants them to thrive financially. “God is waiting on you to stretch your faith” (33). If the reader could stretch his faith the way Osteen does the Scriptures, he would be an overnight millionaire. But this passage is not talking about the way God deals with Christians. Isn’t it interesting that Osteen made an application from 2-3a and ignored the first verse of the chapter, cited below.

“Sing, O barren, you who have not been borne!
Break forth into singing, and cry aloud.
You who have not travailed with child!
For more are the children of the desolate
Than the children of the married woman,”
Says the Lord.

Now we know why the tents need to be enlarged—children are on the way. Verse 3 (the part not quoted by Osteen) resumes this thought, talking about the blessings that their new descendants would inherit. It would be more appropriate to quote this verse and promise barren women that they would have children than to use the passage the way Osteen did, but both would be inappropriate applications. The verses are describing life after the captivity. Osteen has no clue on the proper way to use the Scriptures.

But he wants everyone to believe that God is a cosmic Santa Claus, just waiting to give them what they want—no, more than what they want! People should not just ask for a bigger apartment; God wants them to own their own house (35). One wonders how Osteen knows what God wants for each individual. Sometime, when he is checking with the Lord on all these matters, he might ask Him what His disposition is towards those who take Scriptures out of context.

God’s Favor

Psalm 8:3-6 is an interesting passage:

When I consider Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have ordained, What is man that You are mindful of him, And the son of man that You visit him? For You have made him a little lower than the angels, And You have crowned him with glory and honor. You have made him to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet.

The last three of those verses are cited by the author of Hebrews (2:6-8) and applied to Jesus. However, Osteen mentions that fact not at all. How he does use the passage is to say that the word honor could be translated as favor. One wonders what lexicon he is using since he provides no documentation for this claim. The word means “ornament, splendor, honor.” The main sense of the word is “ornament, adorning, decoration.” It is also used of the majesty of God; majesty adorns Him. The King James translated the Hebrew word (haw dawr’) [Strong’s #1926] as glory seven times and majesty seven times. Also used were honor (5 times), beauty (4 times), comeliness (3 times), excellency (twice) and one time each for glorious and goodly. No major translation—not even some paraphrases, such as the New Living Translation—uses “favor.” It correctly renders the Hebrew word “honor.”

So, on what basis does he claim that honor could be translated as “favor.” None. Even if he did find some bizarre translation or some commentator who would agree with him, it would still not change the Hebrew word or the way it is used. Favor does not in any way present the meaning of the Hebrew word; it is a different concept altogether.

But having made this false claim, Osteen builds an entire principle on his error. After claiming (illegitimately) that honor means “favor,” he next defines favor to mean: “to assist, to provide with special advantages and to receive preferential treatment” (38). The claim is then made that God wants to give His followers preferential treatment in order to make their lives easier. People ought to live “favor-minded,” meaning that they should “expect God’s special help.” One wonders what would happen if everyone became a Christian; who would God favor then?

On the basis of this mistranslation of Psalm 8:5, then, those who consider themselves as children of the Most High God can expect preferential treatment (39). Not only are they (as children of God) to expect God’s favor in this way, they must declare it, which will cause employer’s to want to hire them and give them promotions (38). This is simply, “Name it and claim it.”

Osteen wants everyone to know that he is not arrogant. No, no, no. He gets preferential treatment—not because he is somebody important—the reason is that he belongs to God (39). This favor caused a policeman to let him go when he was speeding (40), but it will also cause a company to hire the “favored” one, get a seat at a restaurant, or find a parking spot in a crowded lot (41). Isn’t it wonderful? And it’s all based on a mistranslation of the word honor. Osteen is not done with this principle; he builds on it; the next chapter is titled, “Living Favor-Minded.”

What Did Peter Mean?

Yes! It gets even better. If you live “favor-minded,” “God’s blessings are going to chase you down and overtake you” (41). How can anyone afford to pass this up? In this instance, you do not even need to seek God’s blessings; they come barreling out of nowhere to hunt you down. Osteen quotes again from a strange version of the Bible: “If you will hope to the end, divine favor will come” (52). The verse actually says: “Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ” (1 Peter 1:13).

It is hard to tell that these are the same two verses, but here is Osteen’s point based on the verse: “When you really understand that you have this favor available to you, living with confidence comes much more easily” (52). Uh, the favor (grace) described in 1 Peter 1:13 is received at the revelation of Jesus Christ (when He returns); it therefore has nothing to do with confident living now. All these examples of the way Osteen handles the Word of God reveal that he has practically no knowledge of the Scriptures, or if he does, he has no idea what they mean. He finds a word or a phrase and, whether he understands it or not (and he does not seem to care), he utilizes it as a major plank in his belief system.

“Develop a Healthy Self-Image”

Joel Osteen lacks respect for the Scriptures, as does anyone who searches for verses to sustain his theology rather than studying the Bible to see what it actually teaches. To be fair to the author, his book does have some positive value to it—but not so much that it could be recommended. Many people probably do look at themselves as failures and, for whatever reason, have a poor self-image. But since God made us, each and every one of us has value.

In making this point, however, he quotes from The Message, a really bad paraphrase of the Scriptures. Two blind men asked Jesus to be healed. He asked if they believed He could do so, and they answered “Yes, Lord.” He then touched their eyes and said, “According to your faith let it be to you” (Matt. 9:27-29). This is a literal and fine translation, but The Message renders the verse thus: “[Jesus] touched their eyes and said, “Become what you believe’” (76). In other words, you can be it if you believe it. Arrgh!

In “Developing a Prosperous Mindset,” Osteen frowns upon those who think they have risen about as high as they can in their job—especially when they resignedly say, “This is just my lot in life.” He recoils at that attitude: “That’s not true! Your ‘lot in life’ is to continually increase” (87). He assumes that it is God’s will for every person to succeed and be prosperous. He does not cite the verse in which Jesus told one very wealthy man to give it all away (Luke 18:18-23).

The author is correct when he says we can choose our own thoughts (102); he even cites correctly Philippians 4:8. But he is wrong when he affirms, “There is nothing negative about Him [God]” (105). God brings judgment upon both people and nations. He struck Nabal, who died (1 Sam. 25:38). He caused both the northern and southern kingdoms to go into captivity, and they might have considered that God was being negative with them. Likewise, those who are cast into the Lake of Fire might very well contemplate a negative future (Rev. 20:15). God wants people to succeed spiritually, but He brings judgment on those who reject Him, and no amount of positive thinking will change that fact.

Health, as Well as Prosperity

Just as with prosperity, Osteen thinks that God wants to heal everyone, also. Well, at least there is precedent for that. Jesus did heal people of their illnesses while He was on the earth; He did not make them all millionaires. But His healing of the physical infirmities was to demonstrate that He could help them with the spiritual problems. If everyone did what Osteen advises (127-29), no one would ever die. Is his case being overstated? He wrote these words:

If you are facing sickness today, you should confirm God’s Word concerning healing. Say something such as, “Father, I thank you that You promised me in Psalms that I will live and not die and I will declare the works of the Lord.” As you boldly declare it, you are confirming that truth in your own life (130).

Letting go of the past (painful events) is good advice, as is avoiding bitterness and allowing God to take care of justice. He also includes a helpful section on giving to others, although some of his suggestions lurch into the realm of the radical (244). Furthermore, he claims that happiness is a choice—another good principle (269).

Not only is his translation choice suspect, so are whatever commentaries he uses. He claims that Paul wrote “more than half of the New Testament while incarcerated” and that he was reportedly “standing in raw sewage that at times came all the way up to his waist” (276). Really? Scholars agree that Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, and Philemon were written from prison, as was 2 Timothy. What are the others? And what Biblical evidence is there for Paul standing in raw sewage? Presenting positive principles is fine; we all can use some encouragement, but Christians ought to get these from the Bible—not Joel Osteen.