I started a list of famous flops, often quoted by their names alone, from the current stars down to the ancient disasters.
Joel Osteen is the most recent big star. He began falling apart when people questioned his faith in Christian doctrine. Anyone who saw a glimpse of his circus routine would anticipate the slow motion wreck to follow, a loud, gay, jazzy version of ELCA. No wonder the Glende-Ski WELS coalition had to rush down South for an Osteen entertainment event. Osteen is the commodity, and the "conservative" Lutherans soaked it up like floor-rags after a drinking party.
Glende-Ski continues, years later, with trying to be Unstuck, a commodity hilariously funny and bankrupt at the same time. I would enjoy the strategy parties where they figure out the next fad. "There's got to be a morning after," the paid singer warbled.
Robert Schuller started this, except for pioneers before him. Norman Vincent Peale - who plagiarized The Power of Positive Thinking - became the template for Boomers who wanted success rather than the cross. Schuller used Peale as the commodity, until Schuller himself became the nurturing Hour of Power commodity.
Lacking, until that special moment in time, was the thrill of being Rick Warren's Purpose Driven! - an offspring of Robert Schuller (though often denied). Wandering around after an insurance meeting, Christina and I saw a street sign - Purpose Driven. Could it be? - the elixir of of WELS, LCMS, ELCA and worse?!
"The Warrens planted Saddleback in 1980, pioneering a then-revolutionary method of starting a church that has since become the accepted model. He borrowed tricks from entrepreneurs and CEOs, using market research and census information to determine what a church specifically tailored to the needs of its community would look like."
Warren was a Babtist, we found out, as we parked the car and found a place to participate. How odd, we thought, as many also said, to hide his faith so spinelessly. Warren was having a "paid event," so we were not allowed. Christina told the doorman that I published a lot of articles on the topic, so we got in free. Warren told jokes and we slipped out as soon as we could.
Many people could add a few more names, which never seem to pop up and dissipate. I am including a graphic for all the Lutherans, who grovel before the super-stars. Aimee Semple McPherson disappeared for a few weeks in 1926. Her super-stardom faded away too.
