Right-Wing Exposed

There are approximately 1400 mega churches in America ranging in size from 1500 to 45,000 members.  And, these super churches cost from $10 million to $100 million each.  This week we’ll take a look at the biggest one; the one that has 45,000 members; the one that cost about $100 million.

Joel Osteen is probably the most famous minister in America, if not the entire world.  He has written a couple of best-selling books which sold millions of copies each, and he pastors the largest church in the nation, Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas.  Lakewood Church is not your ordinary hometown church, even by mega-church standards.

Lakewood Church conducts its services in a remodeled NBA arena.  Lakewood leased the former Compaq Center, which previously housed the NBA’s Houston Rockets, from the city of Houston for about $12 million for a 30-year lease.  That figure, however, was only “chump change”.  Upon leasing the arena, Lakewood then engaged in a $95 million renovation project which included a theatre style 16,000 seat sanctuary, while maintaining the NBA gymnasium and a skating rink.  They also have a “food court”, book and music stores etc.  You know, the necessities to equip a church to serve the Lord.

Lakewood resembles an entertainment complex more than a church.  Their music presentations have all of the Hollywood special effects, flashing lights, smoke etc.  They have hired an Elvis impersonator to entertain their members on several occasions.  And, their 85,000 square foot children’s ministry center was designed by former Disney artists.  Obviously Lakewood is striving to follow the WWJD model.

In 2006 Lakewood reported total revenues of about $88 million, while their expenses equaled $71 million.  Of course, Lakewood has its priorities straight.  They made sure to spend slightly more than one percent of their meager income on national and foreign missions.  Somehow they managed to set aside 1 of those 88 million to help people.  Good for them.  They want to make sure not to be selfish with the Lord’s money.  Some of their other expenses included $19 million for television airtime, over $3 million for their worship tour events, $1 and one-half million for children’s program costs, and more than $1 million for music expenses.  Helping people almost got as much money as their fancy, bright lights, smoke-generating music productions.  It’s certainly reassuring to know that they have their priorities in order.  And, they only spent nineteen times as much money to stay on television, so they can collect more money, as they did helping people.  I’m sure that Jesus must be real proud of their stewardship.

I hope by now you know that I have a tendency toward sarcasm.  Lakewood is about as far away from what Jesus would have done with that money as the east is from the west.  If Lakewood would have built a simpler, but still very nice, steel construction building, they could have saved enough money to save the lives of one million starving children.  So, Lakewood and Mr. Joel Osteen, what would Jesus have done?  Apparently Lakewood decided that they needed a more luxurious and entertaining church more that those one million children needed to live.

The state of things in America’s Evangelical, mega-church land sickens me.  And, I will continue to bring these abuses to light each week on “Evangelical Monday” in hopes of embarrassing Evangelicals into making the necessary reforms.