Tuesday, May 16, 2006

Oprah-Spiritual Guru

Welcome to Every Thought Captive, I’m Phil Steiger.

A recent article in USA Today notes the popularity of Oprah Winfrey as one of our culture’s top spiritual leaders.  One writer called her a “hip and materialistic Mother Theresa” and our “symbolic figurehead of spirituality.”

Now, it is true that Oprah has done with her wealth and influence what few do; she has worked to better the lives of a lot of people, many of whom absolutely need her kind of help.  But we need to be careful and discerning about who qualifies as a spiritual leader.

As Christians we need to note that Oprah believes there are many paths to God.  That means it doesn’t matter which religion you believe to be true-they all get you to God.  We also need to note that a spiritual leader needs to be in touch with the truth of the God of the Bible, not just some amorphous form of personal spirituality.  We should choose our spiritual leaders through the lens of Scripture, not through popularity polls.

This has been Every Thought Captive.  I’m Phil Steiger, pastor at Quail Lake Community Church and Director of Dayspring Center for Christian Studies.  For more information please visit everythoughtcaptive.org.

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