Compromise, Then Apologize

This week, the Internet has been buzzing with Joel Osteen’s compromise of the gospel on Larry King’s show. Now it is buzzing again with Osteen’s apology. In one moment the Christians denounce him as a compromiser, if not a heretic, and in the next the same Christians advertise him as the very picture of humility.

This is a great strategy: compromise to the unbelievers, and then apologize to the believers. This way, you score points on both sides.

When both the unbelievers and the believers are listening, you don’t insist that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, and that all unbelievers will go to hell. Then, when you apologize to the believers, you tell them that you really do believe that Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation. This way, you appear tolerant to the unbelievers, and you appear humble to the believers. The brownie points gained from this are astronomical, and the free publicity is not bad, either.

Yes, we should accept his apology at its face value (Luke 17:4), and I do. But the real test is what Osteen will say the NEXT time he has the opportunity to address such a big audience.

Consider this: Peter compromised, then he repented, but his repentance was shown to be genuine when he boldly preached the gospel in Acts 2, and this included charging the Jews with murder (Acts 2:23, 36), and later, he explicitly stated that Jesus was the only way to salvation (Acts 4:12).

Next time, when Osteen is asked the same questions again, will he give the biblical, uncompromising, and offensive answers? Will he say that Christians will go to heaven, but non-Christians will go to hell, to be tormented forever? We hope so. But even if we forget about this entire Larry King incident (since we accept his apology), his record discourages us from expecting too much GOSPEL from him. As it is, my judgment is that he is not one tenth of the man that his late father was. Like him or not (some people opposed his Charismatic and Word of Faith theology), JOHN Osteen never compromised the doctrine of salvation by Christ alone, and certainly never like this.

I am not really interested in writing about Osteen, so he is not in fact the main point of this post. Rather, I am concerned that Christians are too often fooled by apologies. I can become a bigger hero in the eyes of many Christians if I would kill, rape, and pillage, and then apologize, than if I were to live a holy lifestyle all of my life in obedience to Christ. This is wrong.

Now another famous charismatic personality comes to mind. It was exposed that he was having a homosexual relationship with his personal assistant. So he apologized and took only three months off, and then went back to preaching again. Now, those who oppose him oppose him still, but by his apology, he actually obtained greater favor with many people. And no one seems to care about the homosexual relationship, that he only took three months off, or whether he has genuinely changed after this.

Consider another example: Jim Bakker published I Was Wrong, and now droves of Christians (mostly Charismatics?) flock to hear him. In the Christian world, you can become an instant celebrity if you will first become a criminal, and then apologize.

We should accept an apology at its face value (since we cannot judge the heart), and we should rejoice over genuine repentance, but we should not make the person into a hero. Rather, after accepting the apology, we should demand real change in the person's doctrine and lifestyle, and call for him to make reparations to the cause of Christ (for example, by going back to the unbelievers and preach the real, biblical, and offensive gospel to them).

In some cases, the person should repent, and then just resign from the ministry, either permanently, or until he gains the proper qualifications (in terms of doctrine and character).

We should not be fooled by a "compromise, then apologize" strategy. I am not saying that this is necessarily what Osteen has done, since it might really be the case that he has realized his error and has determined to change — but don’t be totally surprised if he compromises again the next time.