The internet roasted Joel Osteen after the millionaire televangelist and megachurch pastor posted on social media urging his followers to enjoy the “simple things” in life, even if they don’t “have a lot of resources.”
While it’s not a bad sentiment to share, it is strange considering he enjoys a life filled with things that are anything but simple. The televangelist boasts a net worth of around $100 million and two mansions in Houston, Texas, one valued at $10.5 million and the other at $2.9 million. The $10.5 million mansion is complete with a pool, pool house, and three elevators inside the home. Osteen claims to have made his fortune through book sales and denies taking a salary from the megachurch Lakewood Church, where he serves as senior pastor.
However, his church also isn’t very concerned about the “simple things,” as it operates on a whopping yearly budget of $70–$90 million. The church receives millions in donations from churchgoers and Osteen’s sermons often center around encouraging donations. Yet, in 2017, the church made headlines for refusing to open its doors to Hurricane Harvey victims. Only after intense backlash did Osteen finally open the church, which has a capacity of 16,000 people, to hurricane victims. Meanwhile, when churches and Osteen take so freely of people’s money without giving back and spend so lavishly, it doesn’t tend to sit well when they turn around and lecture less fortunate people about gratitude and material things.
The internet mocks Joel Osteen for hypocritical tweet
Recently, Osteen took to social media with a post that didn’t go over very well. In the tweet, he declared, “It’s the simple things in life that bring us the most joy.” He went on to tell those who “may not have a lot of resources” that they’re “blessed” as long as they have family and health. He even took it a step further by saying that just being able to “look at the stars at night” means you’re blessed.
It seems strange for him to offer advice that he clearly doesn’t follow himself. If he’s so convinced it’s the “simple things” that matter and that all one needs is family and health to feel “blessed,” why does he feel the need to live so luxuriously? It didn’t take long for internet users to spot the hypocrisy, as Osteen doesn’t live the way he expects those less fortunate than him to live. Of course, it’s easy for him to sit in a $10.5 million mansion and tell people lacking necessary resources to be grateful for their blessings because he will never come remotely close to knowing what it’s like to be in their situation.
The out-of-touch post soon resulted in Osteen trending on X, as users gave him a good roasting, pointing out all of the examples of his greed and hypocrisy. Some users joked that when they discovered why he was trending, they were just glad it wasn’t because he was locking hurricane victims out of his church again. Others posted about the sheer absurdity of Osteen telling his followers to be happy without money, even though he often demands these same people send him and the church up to 10% of their annual income.
Hopefully, the roasting will serve as an important reminder that if you’re a multi-millionaire who lives in a mansion and owns a yacht, no one wants to hear you pretending that you care about the “little things” or know what it’s like to have just your family and health to be grateful for. It’s unclear why millionaires always seem to believe they’re the authorities on how less fortunate people should live. Unless they’re willing to follow their own advice and give up their luxurious lifestyles, maybe they shouldn’t declare so confidently that others should live happily without a lot of potentially necessary resources.
