UPDATED: Megachurch pastor Joel Osteen closes church to flood victims, just like Jesus would have
Joel Osteen, whose giant teeth and vaguely Tim Allen-esque countenance you may have seen asking for money on TV, is Senior Pastor at Lakewood Church, a Houston megachurch that literally used to be a professional sports arena. (It was home to the Houston Rockets from 1975 to 2003, according to the Miami Herald.) The area where the church is located was relatively unaffected by Hurricane Harvey, but is close to areas that were hit hard. The church seats 16,800, and could potentially shelter thousands of displaced people. So, what would Jesus do?
Close the church, exaggerate its flood damage, and finally open its doors only after receiving a thorough Twitter shaming, apparently. Osteen, who’s been criticized as a proponent of the so-called “prosperity gospel”that basically preaches that wealth is a sign of God’s favor, initially responded to the devastation amongst his flock with the old “thoughts and prayers” shuffle. That didn’t sit well with Twitter: