Click 'Pray' to Pray: How Evangelical Megapastor Joel Olsteen is Saving Souls With Facebook
So a few things up front, in the sense of honesty. I have serious, serious issues with the theology expressed by Olsteen. The whole Prosperity Gospel notion runs so counter to my understanding and experience of God that I have a hard time understanding how people seriously reconcile it with the image of Christ in the Bible.
That said, Joel Olsteen is one hell of a motivational speaker. He can certainly make you feel good about yourself and I kinda admire him for his speaking ability and his ability to connect with his audience. I just don't like his message.
So if you've clicked over to the article and read it, you see a couple of things... First people apparently LOVE to talk about religion online. Also, you can see that people have a deep longing to connect with others. Social media offers a great ability for the church to encourage and be part of the dialogue about God that is happening and to make connections with the larger world.
I'm just not sure if that's what Joel Olsteen's digital ministry campaign is really doing. From my reading and looking at some of the materials, it seems like it's more of an illusion of community based on the Joel Olsteen cult of personality than on establishing real connections amongst people. It's sort of the modern version of the televangelist, with people e-mailing and tweeting their prayer requests instead of calling or mailing them in, while at the same time still very focused on the commercial aspects of the ministry and selling all of the various Joel Olsteen related books and products.
So if this is the future of churches in the media, I don't think I want to be a part of it. I'd rather see a future where technology enhances the relationships that are established through the church and where there is less of an emphasis on commercialism and more of an emphasis on community.
Is this the future? Is there a better way? Do you have any examples of church communities 'doing it right' that you'd like to share?
I was struck by this comment in the Osteen article: “Religion is the original social media,” says Jonah Berger, author of Contagious: Why Things Catch On. “Even that phrase, ‘spreading the gospel.’ Religion is one of the original things that people shared to a good degree.” I think this is an insightful statement, and I can understand how people get caught up in the social media aspect of Joel Osteen's ministry. My concern, though, is that people experience a shallow, false sense of connection UNLESS they're also connected in a more tangible, real way with a faith community. Jesus didn't offer his virtual body and blood--we need to be where there is "real presence." In a nutshell, Jonathan, I agree with you in that I, too, would "rather see a future where technology enhances the relationships that are established through the church and where there is less of an emphasis on commercialism and more of an emphasis on community."
ReplyDelete