Mister Rogers would not be happy with Pastor Osteen

When megachurch pastor Pastor Joel Osteen took to the airwaves on “Good Morning America” Wednesday morning, I expected him to apologize, admit he blew it by not immediately helping and housing Hurricane Harvey victims at his massive church building and move on. I also thought he might immediately open up his $10 million mega-mansion (Celebrity Net Worth says he is worth $56.5 million).

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That didn’t exactly happen, however. Osteen’s megachurch has stated that its 17,000-seat building (formerly a basketball stadium) had safety and flooding issues when the storm first hit (past storms flooded areas used to shelter people). Since then, Osteen says his Lakewood Church has been used as a shelter and a volunteer center.

But as Osteen went into PR mode and explained why his church was initially closed, he also said something that isn’t sitting right with me. In a recent NBC interview, he said that his church didn’t act as a shelter immediately because the city didn’t ask it to.

WATCH: “We were just being precautious, but the main thing is the city didn’t ask us to become a shelter then.” -Pastor @JoelOsteen pic.twitter.com/Qdn5vgm09H

— TODAY (@TODAYshow) August 30, 2017

As you can see from the clip, Pastor Osteen explains he hadn’t been asked to help.

That’s not the message I grew up with when I was going to church. Jesus never asked if the people wanted to eat, he just fed them. Peter never asked if people needed comfort from persecution, he just led them. Ultimately, the biblical story tells us that the son of God never asked if people needed to be saved, he just bled for them.

I don’t know if that’s all true. I’ll leave that up to you. What I do know is this is the doctrine that Pastor Joel Osteen shares from his pulpit as he talks to 7 million people a week worldwide during his sermons. Another 53,000 show up to his church in Houston, Texas.

I grew up in church and was taught these principles, but I also grew up watching Mr. Rogers. Here is what he said children should do when seeing scary news, like Hurricane Harvey. He said his mother told him “to look for the helpers.” Here is the clip.

He didn’t say “ask for helpers.” He said to look for the helpers. Without being asked, so many Americans and Texans have showed up without being asked.

One great example is the “Cajun Navy.” This is certainly not the U.S. Navy. According to Heavy.com, “They are good-hearted folks from LA who strike out in their fishing boats, their hunting boats, their shallow draft duck boats, their air boats, their canoes, their kayaks, to rescue those in need of rescuing.”

This band of Cajuns traces its roots back to the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. When the federal government did not initially show up, The Crazy Cajun Navy did and they have been a welcome sight to flood victims all over the South ever since. They have saved thousands of lives.

Growing up in church, I was taught to always ask what Jesus would do. Personally, I think he would skip church on Sunday, grab some boots, wave down a duck boat, and join this band of brothers from Louisiana.

I know where my next donation is going.

Hang on Houston.

~ Don