A couple of days ago I received a link to a video about Oprah on You Tube. I noticed that it had a half a million hits. Over the last few days, I have continued to receive emails about this video. Today, I went on to You Tube and notice that there are more than 2 million hits and quickly approaching 2.5 million.
It says something about the power of the Internet and how quickly a message can spread. I have had three separate requests from church members about what I thought about this video. So here you go.
Oprah is incredibly powerful and influential, but as with most celebrities her influence probably goes too far. Because of their fame and success celebrities are often seen as people to look towards for the answers. They are living the American dream so the natural assumption is that they must have it all figured out. But the reality is that while so many of them have achieved the American dream, it is not all they thought it would be. They have all the money in the world, but they have discovered that there must be something more.
I have watched Oprah just a handful of times. She is a great humanitarian and has a wonderful heart. Oprah makes the claim to be a Christian, but with her own words she has consistently denied Jesus as the Savior. Neither does her lifestyle reflect her professed faith as she lives with her boyfriend outside the context of marriage.
Oprah has sought to recreate her Christian faith according to her own personal feelings and opinions. She has sought to meld the Bible with postmodern and New Age teaching. And maybe the most amazing thing is that she doesn't even realize she is doing this. She has consistently balked at accusations that she teaches New Age religion. But she continues to promote New Age teaching through the books she promotes and the guests she hosts on her show.
When someone gains the power and the influence that Oprah has achieved, we must test the spirits all the more (see 1 John 4:1). This is also true of pastors. But usually, the larger a persons stature, celebrity, and influence grows (with the exception of politicians) - the less and less their agendas are questioned.
Oprah has taken on the mantle of a spiritual authority, but she has overstepped her boundaries. Her celebrity status does not make her a spiritual authority. I see Oprah as more of a seeker than as an authority. The problem is that her seeking is much more public and there are a lot of people who follow her on her journey as she seeks the truth. She has helped a lot of people with her money and with her show, but we cannot allow that to cloud subtle and dangerous doctrine that she espouses.
I am always a little cautious to make judgments on a short video clip, but it goes beyond just this video clip. The video clip is just a catalyst to examine something that has been out there for a long time now.
As Christians, the message here is to be discerning and not to always drink the cool aide. Just because something sounds good does not always mean that it is good. I can't tell you how many forwarded emails I have received from well meaning Christians that contain untruths. But the emails were thoughtlessly forwarded to all their friends "as truth" without ever testing the veracity of the emails. So Christians - let's test the spirits and be discerning!
Can we learn from Oprah? Yes. Absolutely! But are we going to whole heartedly take in everything she says as gospel. No!
It says something about the power of the Internet and how quickly a message can spread. I have had three separate requests from church members about what I thought about this video. So here you go.
Oprah is incredibly powerful and influential, but as with most celebrities her influence probably goes too far. Because of their fame and success celebrities are often seen as people to look towards for the answers. They are living the American dream so the natural assumption is that they must have it all figured out. But the reality is that while so many of them have achieved the American dream, it is not all they thought it would be. They have all the money in the world, but they have discovered that there must be something more.
I have watched Oprah just a handful of times. She is a great humanitarian and has a wonderful heart. Oprah makes the claim to be a Christian, but with her own words she has consistently denied Jesus as the Savior. Neither does her lifestyle reflect her professed faith as she lives with her boyfriend outside the context of marriage.
Oprah has sought to recreate her Christian faith according to her own personal feelings and opinions. She has sought to meld the Bible with postmodern and New Age teaching. And maybe the most amazing thing is that she doesn't even realize she is doing this. She has consistently balked at accusations that she teaches New Age religion. But she continues to promote New Age teaching through the books she promotes and the guests she hosts on her show.
When someone gains the power and the influence that Oprah has achieved, we must test the spirits all the more (see 1 John 4:1). This is also true of pastors. But usually, the larger a persons stature, celebrity, and influence grows (with the exception of politicians) - the less and less their agendas are questioned.
Oprah has taken on the mantle of a spiritual authority, but she has overstepped her boundaries. Her celebrity status does not make her a spiritual authority. I see Oprah as more of a seeker than as an authority. The problem is that her seeking is much more public and there are a lot of people who follow her on her journey as she seeks the truth. She has helped a lot of people with her money and with her show, but we cannot allow that to cloud subtle and dangerous doctrine that she espouses.
I am always a little cautious to make judgments on a short video clip, but it goes beyond just this video clip. The video clip is just a catalyst to examine something that has been out there for a long time now.
As Christians, the message here is to be discerning and not to always drink the cool aide. Just because something sounds good does not always mean that it is good. I can't tell you how many forwarded emails I have received from well meaning Christians that contain untruths. But the emails were thoughtlessly forwarded to all their friends "as truth" without ever testing the veracity of the emails. So Christians - let's test the spirits and be discerning!
Can we learn from Oprah? Yes. Absolutely! But are we going to whole heartedly take in everything she says as gospel. No!
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