(Clip) Calling Out Prosperity Gospel Teachers by Name

Is it ever appropriate to call these Prosperity Gospel teachers out by name? Well, Mark Driscoll does it. I tuned in one time and he actually played a clip from Joel Osteen. My problem is that I don't read these guys enough and don't know them well enough. I'm speaking in principle and therefore, you know, if I read a whole bunch of books by so-and-so and had absolute quotes that I could quote and arguments that I could give, I'd feel more... That's one criterion. I don't feel like I'm in their world enough to know them well enough. Number two, if I knew that somebody I knew or my church was being swayed away by somebody that I felt was preaching a gospel different from my gospel, I would probably get real specific with the church for the church's sake. So, the first one may be owing to laziness. I don't think it's owing to cowardice. I think that what happens when you name names is both good and bad. The good is that people are warned. They now know if they're going to turn on that TV program, they're going to be alert to watch for error and they'll be more protected maybe. The downside is it so quickly becomes a personal thing rather than a principal thing. And I just want people to get the principles so right that they'll spot them everywhere or they'll spot it in me. See, I think everybody loves the prosperity gospel. I heard R.C. Sproul say one time, I forget just how he said it, but he said, everybody believes in the prosperity gospel and you can tell by the fact that as soon as you take away some benefit, they get mad. Their wife dies, they get mad. They lose their job, they get mad. So, you really were loving prosperity. You really were loving health. And who doesn't, right? So, I'm guilty a lot. So, I want to give principles that will enable people not just to spot some TV preacher, but me. Piper, you've just departed. You've just fallen in. Which is why, I don't know if anybody noticed it, but did you see the tweet that I did on that little clip on the prosperity gospel? Why I Abominate the Prosperity Gospel is right there on the homepage of DG. And I looked at it, I looked at about five Minnesotans. Whoa, this is strong. And I tweeted and I said something like, Piper goes on and on about the prosperity gospel. Doesn't he know how rich he is? That was my tweet. Which is what I could imagine an adversary would say. And I just want people to know how fragile and imperfect I feel when it comes to criticizing things like this. I'm an American, right? Look at this. This chair probably costs hundreds of dollars. I don't know what it costs. Shirt, pants, water in a bottle. This container costs more than the water. Why are we putting it in here? This is a ridiculous waste of money. We're doing this with computers. They cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to set this thing up. What are you complaining about, you rich, no-count, western pastor complaining about? So you see how dangerous it is to become too... I just want to be self-critical as much as I am other-critical. The name that I want to name in terms of criticism is John Piper. Sinner in need of grace. Loving the gospel. Wanting to protect the church. I really don't want to go after particular people unless it's absolutely necessary.