The Gospel According to Oprah?

Talk-show host Oprah Winfrey (whom Time and CCN called “arguably the World’s most powerful woman”) was listening to a sermon in a Baptist church on the characteristics of God.

Oprah was shocked to hear that God is “a jealous God” (Exodus 20:5, NIV). She claimed this led her to search for the truth: “God is jealous of me? And something about that didn’t feel right in my spirit because I believe that God is love… And so that’s when the search for something more than doctrine started to stir within me.” That’s when she allegedly “took God out of the box”. (Source: http://www.probe.org/)

Sadly, her quest led her to turn her back away from the Biblical faith she claimed she had since childhood. She became “an evangelist for smorgasbord spirituality.” Now, over 2 million people from 139 countries have already participated with Oprah Winfrey in a live Web-based seminar on Eckhart Tolle’s bestseller, “A New Earth Awakening to Your Life’s Purpose.” (Due to space limitations, I cannot discuss the contents of the book.)

Oprah asserts that, quoting one of her favorite quotes from Eckhart, “Man made God in his own image. The eternal, the infinite, and unnamable was reduced to a mental idol that you had to believe in and worship as my God or our God.” But Oprah is guilty of doing just exactly that. She declared, “I don’t believe that Jesus came to start Christianity… Well, I am a Christian who believes that there are certainly many more paths to God other than Christianity.” She crafted her own idol because of a misunderstanding of the “jealousy” of God. I am not in any way questioning Oprah’s sincerity. Yet, she is seriously wrong. Definitely she is preaching a different gospel.

Our Lord Jesus declared, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) Even if it doesn’t feel right, even if one does not believe it, it does not make it wrong. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:12) This is the true Gospel.

Brethren, let us share the Gospel of Christ, not that of Oprah.

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