The views expressed in this article are of the author only and do not necessarily represent those of the Center for Pastor Theologians.
Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits Are Hurting the Church
Katelyn Beaty
Brazos (2022). 208 pp.
Katelyn Beaty is editorial director for Brazos Press. She previously served as print managing editor at Christianity Today and is the author of A Woman’s Place: A Christian Vision for Your Calling in the Office, the Home, and the World. Her new book, Celebrities for Jesus, is a piercing analysis of the ways celebrity has compromised the contemporary evangelical movement.
The book is divided into three parts. In chapter one, Beaty juxtaposes fame and celebrity. Fame is connected to the desire to be responsible for something that will inspire or otherwise bless future generations. Fame arises from a life well lived and is at its finest when it comes to those who are not chasing it. “Celebrity is fame’s shinier, slightly obnoxious cousin. It shows up to the family reunion in a Tesla, expecting a red-carpet roll-out. It will definitely share the whole thing on Instagram Live” (p. 11). Building on the work of historian Daniel Boorstin, Beaty argues that celebrity is a uniquely modern phenomenon that feeds on mass media. Unlike fame, celebrity is not a by-product of a virtuous life, wise leadership, or humanitarian accomplishments; rather, it relies on magazines, film, the internet, and social media to create an aura of well-knownness. Celebrity is a shortcut to greatness, renown without the cultivation of virtue, “social power without proximity” (p. 17). For Beaty, this final feature is the most troublesome. The absence of true knowledge and accountability leaves abundant opportunity for social power to be misused.
Chapter two focuses on the first evangelical celebrities. Beaty gives special attention to Billy Graham, arguing that while Graham sought to resist celebrity, his approach to ministry stimulated the dynamics of celebrity that now pervade American evangelicalism. Graham joined a tradition of charismatic communicators who preached an individualistic gospel, used mass media, and aligned themselves with mainstream celebrities to make their message more relevant (p. 25). The subsequent chapter traces the development of the megachurch, which, according to Beaty, has “altered our understanding of the pastor in powerful and concerning ways” (p. 46). Here, she recounts the story of Willow Creek and Bill Hybels, showing how the church explicitly sold its celebrity pastor approach to other churches.
Having defined celebrity and provided historical context—how did the American church get here?—part two of the book concentrates on three temptations associated with celebrity: abusing power, chasing platforms, and creating persona. Chapter four presents Ravi Zacharias, Mark Driscoll, Carl Lentz, and John Crist as examples of the spoliation that can occur when we put people in special, spiritual categories of power without ensuring the accountability that all power requires. In chapter five, Beaty critiques (unflinchingly!) the Christian publishing industry, showing how publishers often prioritize those with celebrity status. “The pressure to turn a profit gives platform an outsized role in who gets book deals. Quality of writing, educational credentials, and hard-won wisdom are not enough to get a contract. Writers are told they must also have platforms . . . By contrast, someone with a large social media following, who can’t write or doesn’t have much to say, will find plenty of publishers and agents who want to publish their book. Numbers rule” (pp. 102–3). Chapter six examines the costs of celebrity for the celebrity, while also considering why we look to Christian celebrities to fulfill our spiritual and psychological needs.
In the final part of the book, Beaty demonstrates how the church has sought to fight celebrity with celebrity. Instead of critiquing the wider celebrity culture, the church has simply adopted it. “In a time when church attendance and affiliation are declining, Christians hope representatives with megaplatforms might turn the tide. This explains why some megachurch pastors have cozied up with pop star Justin Bieber, who regularly speaks of his faith in Christ. . . . He’s a good spokesman for the Christian brand” (p. 148). The church of the next generation, Beaty says, is better off abandoning the obsession with cultural relevance or credibility and pursuing ordinary faithfulness instead.
This is an insightful and timely book; in writing it, Beaty has done the church a great service. In our celebrity-obsessed culture, pastors likely will be tempted to create an aura of well-knownness, to pursue whatever path might lead to a megaplatform, all the while thinking they can wield the power of celebrity for gospel purposes. Beaty does a masterful job of showing that, like the One Ring made by Sauron himself, celebrity cannot be wielded without it changing us into someone, or something, else.
Dillon T. Thornton is the Lead Pastor of Faith Community Church in Seminole, FL. He holds a PhD in New Testament Studies from the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. Dillon’s latest book is Give Them Jesus: Raising Our Children on the Core Truths of the Christian Faith. He is a member of the St. Peter Fellowship of the Center for Pastor Theologians.
