Joel Osteen isn't looking very saintly these days as his nice dry church, which holds about 16,000 people, was closed to those looking for shelter in Houston. He did offer prayers in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey. When social media first got wind of how the people looking for help were directed to area shelters when they showed up at Osteen's big empty church, the good pastor was quickly lambasted online.

Osteen shut them out

The massive Lakewood Church, which is a megachurch that has made Joel Osteen very wealthy, was put to the test and failed terribly as far as many across social media are concerned, according to CNN News.

At first, the excuse was that the church was dealing with its own flooding problems, but when people started posting pictures online showing the church sitting on dry land, the uproar continued, as reported on ABC News.

No room at the inn

Then Osteen said he was just waiting for the shelters in the area to become full before opening up the church to evacuees, but that didn't fly with the folks online. Many are asking how he could call himself a man of the church today. The test is on again as Fox News live just announced that the shelters in the Houston area are at capacity today.

On Saturday the church issued a Facebook statement conveying that that Osteen's church was "inaccessible due to severe flooding." That is when some local amateur detectives captured pictures of the church seemingly untouched by flood waters, according to People Magazine.

The Facebook post is seen below.

Social media tears Osteen apart

Osteen quickly got into damage control mode and contacted ABC News, telling them he was just waiting for the "shelters to reach capacity" to welcome those displaced by the hurricane floods.

At this point Osteen said:

“We have never closed our doors. We will continue to be a distribution center for those in need,” he added.

“Lakewood will be a value to the community in the aftermath of this storm in helping our fellow citizens to rebuild our lives.”

As one Twitter user put it, she would "love to see him try to explain this one to God."

Not a church-going thing to do

Social media was relentless and some even had a field day with the cut and paste tools, putting Osteen in all types of situations showing him for what they believe he really is.

One creative social media user posted a sign on Joel Osteen's picture saying "I lied about my megachurch being flooded when Harvey victims needed shelter." That post can be seen below.

People pointed out that his church is nothing more than a bank to him and that his real intentions showed up when people needed his help and he turned his back on them. Osteen continued on as if nothing had happened, telling people that the church has now become a distribution center for supplies and that his prayers are with the evacuees.
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