But as we were allowed of God to be put in trust with the gospel, even so we speak; not as pleasing men, but God, which trieth our hearts. 1 Thessalonians 2:4
Does Joel Olsteen preach the gospel? He is the pastor of the largest ‘church’ in the United States, and on that ‘church’s’ web site appears the following statement regarding salvation: ‘We believe that Jesus died on the cross and shed His blood for our sin. We believe that salvation is only found by placing our faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. We believe that Jesus rose from the dead and is coming again.’ That actually sounds pretty good. The problem is that this is not the message that Olsteen preaches. With some 45,000 attending every week and 20 million watching on TV, that is a huge potential for reaching lost souls. But Olsteen pushes his unbiblical ‘prosperity gospel’ instead because that is what, as our text describes, pleases men.
Being put in trust with the Gospel is an incredible responsibility, because everyone must hear and heed the gospel, or land in hell. If anyone claiming to preach the gospel deviates from the Word of God, as Olsteen does, they risk the hearer missing salvation. And God will surely judge the preacher for that. The Gospel is very precious to God, because it is the only message whereby sinners can be saved. And God desires that all of us will be saved.
It’s not just the preachers who are put in trust with the gospel. Every Christian is. From prayer support, to personal attendance, to financial support, to assisting in every practical way possible we can help the preachers. The world sees the gospel in us if we are faithful followers of our Lord. The Gospel can reach many ‘unreachable’ places as Christians share a word of testimony or a gospel tract.
If God is to trust us with His gospel message, we had better be certain that it is His message that we preach and support. -Jim MacIntosh
Here is the link to the video of this message: https://youtu.be/-v6IdSsBhzU