So I was playing around with a cool little tool Overture has that allows you to find the number of times that a term was searched for in the last month. (This is useful at Step2 as we look to optimize our website for specific search terms such as play kitchens or racing car bed) I had gotten a hit from technorati from someone searching for Joel Osteen, so I threw his name in there. It appears as if Joel Osteen had 45,063 searches for his name last month. Out of curiosity, I decided to compare this to a well-known evangelical pastor–Rick Warren, of SaddleBack Church. His results? 8855 searches. Why such a difference? Why are people flocking to his church so rapidly? After seeing his “sermons” on TV a few times, my best guess is this: there’s no conviction. After listening to Joel, it’s easy to feel like you’ve almost got it right. You’re just a step away from being perfect, from having that “best life now”. Flashy sayings like “God always causes me to Triumph” (take from his website) encourage you to believe that being a Christian means you’ll be on cloud nine. In contrast, The Wall Street Journal had this to say about Rick Warren’s philosophy, as seen in “The Purpose Driven Life”:

Life is not about you, your dreams, and your individual self-actualization. It’s about God and finding your own life’s purpose in him

I am reminded of a passage in 2 Timothy that says

In the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing and his kingdom, I give you this charge: 2Preach the Word; be prepared in season and out of season; correct, rebuke and encourage—with great patience and careful instruction. For the time will come when men will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather around them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear. They will turn their ears away from the truth and turn aside to myths. 5But you, keep your head in all situations, endure hardship, do the work of an evangelist, discharge all the duties of your ministry. (vv. 1-4)

Draw your own conclusions, and feel free to leave comments if you feel I’ve misrepresented either side!