The lights went out and the crowd in the stadium started screaming as a platform was slowly raised into view to reveal the band that was blasting out a jam. Was I at a rock concert? No, rather I was at Lakewood Church, while visiting my family in Houston. Inside of the building, the “sanctuary” was massive. It even had that foggy air that is seen inside of other sports stadiums.
If I were to describe the atmosphere in one word, that word would be: showmanship. From the lights flashing in rhythm with the music as they panned over the crowd, to the lead guitarist looking at his cameraman (he had a cameraman who stayed with him the entire service), flipping his hair and flashing a grin as he ripped off another solo. Ushers made sure and seated people together with no gaps, and only turned the lights on over a section once it was full, so that you could not see the empty sections.
As I mentioned before, when the service started, all the lights were put out and as the invisible band started cranking, the crowd started roaring. Suddenly, several spotlights flipped on to show the band coming into view as their platform rose into view from beneath the floor. The music was loud—loud enough that you could not hear yourself. I had the feeling that I was off-key, so I had to plug my ear just to be able to tell. The music lasted for an hour. Osteen’s wife then prayed for all the families and quoted from Ephesians, saying for men to love their wives, but she changed the part for women, saying that they should respect their husbands (instead of submit).
Osteen’s sermon was much like what one might see on tv. It was full of positive affirmations, and he only quoted one verse (Gal. 6:9) during the entire sermon (and that one verse was only read once). He talked for some time about not becoming weary and not fainting. He urged everyone to take life one step at a time.
After he finished “preaching”, he led everyone in the sinner’s prayer, and said that those who had not previously prayed it were not believers. And then asked for those people to stand; I would guess that about 150 people stood up. Then the band’s platform rose into vision again, they started playing, and the crowds started leaving.
