666 Watch: Joel Osteen

Joel Osteen is the only pastor I follow these days.  That's not to say that I blindly accept everything he says.  I have noticed that he colorfully quotes scriptures sometimes, and he also occasionally takes some out of context.  But such imaginative interpretations is necessary if you want to be a well-liked megapastor, because in reality the Bible is a pretty uncomfortable book.

Below is a screenshot from a sermon Pastor Joel dropped about a week ago titled "Freedom in the Fire".  During the presentation, he uses a pine cone as a visual aid and while doing so makes this gesture:

I found that peculiar for two reasons.  One is that, in the 20 or so videos by Osteen that I've thus far watched, I can't say that I ever remember him using a visual aid.  Secondly, the way his fingers are fashioned is of course reminiscent of the increasingly-ubiquitous 666 hand sign.

I just googled "Joel Osteen 666", and there is an article published on Medium which has a picture of the pastor throwing up a couple of hand signs, apparently during a sermon and a lot more blatantly than he does on "Freedom in the Fire".  This does not surprise me within the context of the American entertainment industry because first of all, Osteen is a multimillionaire.  Also, he's an A-list celebrity who generates such income largely from his celebrity.  So it stands to reason that he would have to play the game also, to maintain his high standing as a popular religious leader.  And to reiterate, according to Biblical prophecy these are the types of the decisions all of us - "small and great, rich and poor, free and slave" - are ultimately going to have to make if we want to even buy a loaf of bread.

CONCLUSION

I'll continue to follow Osteen into the foreseeable future.  I recognize him as a genuinely-inspiring figure who also relies on the Bible, even if questionably at times, to get his points across.  And the sad truth is that the world these days is such that a lot of us do need encouragement, even if it is coming from someone that we don't personally know.

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