Schuller's techniques of preaching a "prosperity gospel" rather than the true Gospel of redemption through the shed blood of Jesus Christ on the cross at Calvary reminds me of Joel Osteen's "ministry." Any time that I have seen Osteen "preach," it has been that familiar prosperity gospel theme devised to make his audience feel better about themselves and "give them a lift." The trouble is, both Schuller and Osteen were not following the mandate of The Great Commission that Jesus Christ gave to his disciples and all who would follow Him. Any church that doesn't make the truth contained in God's Word, the Bible, and the Cross of Christ central to their teaching, should be avoided!!
The following excerpt is very telling about Dr. Schuller's ministry techniques:
“Possibility Thinking” was Schuller’s central message. He told his fellow preachers not to worry about repeating themselves in sermons, insisting that every message (he did not like to call his messages “sermons”) must be about the development of a positive mental outlook.
Though ordained in the Reformed Church in America, Schuller minimized historic Christian orthodoxy and stressed instead the message of positive thinking. In his 1982 book, Self Esteem: The New Reformation, Schuller explicitly replaced the message of salvation from sin with a message of rescue from low self esteem. In his 2001 autobiography, My Journey, Schuller told of the massive influence of Dale Carnegie and Norman Vincent Peale on his thinking and theology. He told of his decision early in his ministry to replace theology with therapy. “I realized that every sermon I preached (whether formally from the pulpit or casually at a coffee shop) should be designed, not to ‘teach’ or ‘convert’ people, but rather to encourage them, to give them a lift. I decided to adopt the spirit, style, strategy, and substance of a ‘therapist’ in the pulpit.”
Dennis Voskuil, a professor of church history at Schuller’s alma mater, Western Theological Seminary, placed Schuller within the context of the New Thought movement. “Robert Schuller is indirectly related to a long line of popular religionists who have proclaimed the gospel of this-worldly well-being through positive thinking,” he wrote. “His lineage includes such disparate figures as Phineas Parkhurst Quimby, Mary Baker Eddy, Charles and Myrtle Fillmore, Ralph Waldo Trine, and Norman Vincent Peale. While there are many ideological branches on this family tree, all of its members have stressed a utilitarian message of self-help through some form of mind-conditioning.”
After detailing Schuller’s distinctive pilgrimage, Voskuil concluded: “By several standards, then, Schuller is an unconventional evangelical. But while he may be unusual, he is by no means unique, for he is merely one of the most prominent of a large and growing group of evangelicals who are promulgating the gospel of success.”
Those words were written almost thirty years ago. How does the “gospel of success” deal with bankruptcy? The filing of bankruptcy papers would be humbling enough for any ministry, but how does the very epicenter of “Possibility Thinking” deal with the stark reality of financial calamity?
Many years ago when I would occasionally see a small portion of Schuller's "Hour of Power" T.V. program, it always bothered me. Even though I didn't possess much Bible knowledge yet, each time I saw Schuller "preach" or read an excerpt from his books, I kept getting the distinct feeling that what he was teaching represented a definite skewing away from the true Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Dr. Mohler sums it up well at the end of his post:
In his 1986 book, Your Church Has a Fantastic Future, Schuller provided what he called “A Possibility Thinker’s Guide to a Successful Church.” The book is a manual for a ministry built on pure pragmatism, sensationalistic promotion, a therapeutic message, and a constant and incessant focus on thinking positively.
His message about money was simple: “No church has a money problem; churches only have idea problems,” he asserted.
In an odd and upside-down way, the news of bankruptcy at the Crystal Cathedral makes that point emphatically. The most significant problem at the Crystal Cathedral is not financial, but theological. The issue is not money, but this ministry’s message. The “gospel of success” is not the Gospel of Jesus Christ, therapy is no substitute for theology, and “Possibility Thinking” is not the message of the Bible.
It turns out that Robert Schuller offers the best analysis of this crisis with his own words. “No church has a money problem; churches only have idea problems.” The theological crisis in Garden Grove is far more significant than the financial crisis.
Hat Tip:
Albert Mohler.com