Pastor Joel Osteen recently sat down with Logan Paul and Mike Majlak on a recent episode of the Impaulsive podcast. The conversation touched on faith, mental health, self-doubt, and what Osteen believes is driving a generational return to Christianity.
When asked why Gen Z appears to be increasingly drawn to the faith, Osteen offered a simple but pointed response. “I think people are hungry for more,” he said. “I think they feel like there’s something missing. Some of this, you know, social media, you’re not fulfilled just rising high or competing or comparing, and that leaves you empty. And I think there’s that void in every person that only God can fill.”
Osteen also pointed to authenticity as a driving force behind the trend. “They’re authentic and they want to find God for themselves,” he said of the younger generation.
Co-host Mike then noted that many of them are growing up immersed in technology and are beginning to recognize its limitations. “They’re growing up on iPads, and by the time they’re of age to start dictating their own usage, they’re pushing it away.”
He also noted that Gen Z currently attends church at a higher rate than Baby Boomers, attending roughly twice per month on average compared to the older generation’s lower frequency. “They are definitely coming back to church in a meaningful way,” Paul said.
Osteen also reflected on how his approach to ministry, rooted in positivity and the goodness of God rather than fear, connects with people who may have never stepped inside a church. “50% of the people that listen to me, they’ve never been to church,” he said. “I want to reach people that didn’t know him.”
He pushed back gently on the idea that Christianity must lead with warning and condemnation to be effective. “Why wouldn’t we want to serve a God that gives you peace and strength and joy and that can help you through difficult times?” he asked. “There’s a scripture that says it’s the goodness of God that leads to repentance.”
The conversation also turned personal when Mike Majlak revealed that his mother leaned on Osteen’s ministry during his years of struggle with heroin dependency. “She turned to you,” Majlak said. “It was during those days that we learned don’t call mom on Sunday morning because she’s busy.”
Osteen responded with characteristic humility. “I feel very, very humbled, very, very honored to just be able to help people that you’ve never met,” he said.
Throughout the interview, Osteen reinforced the idea that his message is about equipping people rather than diminishing them. “When I let people know God’s got a purpose for their life, that you haven’t made too many mistakes and you ain’t got too far off course and you’re not too ad**cted, that you can still become who you were created to be, I believe that draws people,” he said.
