Beaty, Katelyn, Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits Are Hurting the Church. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Books, 2022, Pp. 208, $24.99, hardcover
This book focuses on the growth and effects of celebrity preachers and speakers upon the church. Chapter 1, “Social Power without Proximity,” describes celebrity and its fundamental problems, starting with the influence of celebrity culture outside of the church on modern evangelicalism. And states that, “celebrity is a feature, not a bug, of the contemporary evangelical movement” (Chap. Ebook Central 1).[1] The book has three parts: “Big Things for God,” chapters 1–3; “Three Temptations,” chapters 4–6; and “The Way Up is Down,” chapters 7–8.
While some Christians have gained fame, they use this prestige as a tool, but it is not their primary goal, others make celebrity their goal. Beaty says that, “the very nature of celebrity…hides its power behind the illusion of intimacy” (Ch. 1). The right kind of fame, “arises from a life well lived, not a brand well cultivated” (chap. 1, Ebook Central). God does his primary work through ordinary saints. However, “A celebrity is known for their well-knownness—and we feed the problem” (chap. 1, Ebook Central). Some people reflect the image of God. Others, however, become idols, which draw our eyes away from God. Idols embody values and myths that oppose God, like sex, money, and worldly power. While we don’t have shrines set up for our favorite celebrity, for many, our attention, money, and fascination with celebrities fill our hearts more than attention to God. Beaty defines celebrity as “social power without proximity.” The author asserts that, “the American church has overall mimicked celebrity culture rather than challenged it” (chap. 1, Ebook Central). Many fallen Evangelical leaders did not start out seeking celebrity, but once it came, they were not held accountable for their actions. True accountability is a theme throughout the book.
Chapter two, “The First Evangelical Celebrities.” For many church goers, celebrity pastors and speakers were, “more dazzling than Pastor Jim in his pleated khakis” (chap. 2, Ebook Central). Billy Graham and others took full advantage of mass media to spread the gospel and news of their revival meetings. Graham’s Modesto Manifesto protected him and its other authors from the very sorts of sins we see celebrity pastors and speakers committing today. Graham saw that Christian leaders can come to see their ministry as more important than the local church, and the Manifesto seeks to avoid that. Now, “celebrity power in our day has far eclipsed the power of institutions, including the church” (chap. 2, Ebook Central). Celebrity pastors make their churches platforms to increase their influence outside the local church and ignore the very people they are supposed to be serving. Megachurches show clearly how leaders, with few gatekeepers and little accountability, can succeed “on the basis of charisma, hustle, or a good game rather than a genuine desire to serve like Christ” (chap. 2, Ebook Central).
The subject of chapter three is “Megachurch, Megapastors.” Megachurches are defined as churches with more than 2000 members, and are a “dynamic story of ministry success…in an age of religious disaffiliation” (chap. 3, Ebook Central). The chapter profiles the efforts of people like Bill Hybels, Robert Schuller, and Rick Warren, in their efforts to make a church feel more like a theater or the mall. Megachurches emphasize, “buildings, budgets, and butts (seats in the pews)” (chap. 3, Ebook Central). While traditional churches may have messages of guilt, judgment, and sacrifice, megachurches offer messages of human potential. Megachurches have made their pastors into celebrities. Then, the pastor becomes more important than the church, and the church views its success as dependent upon the success of the pastor. This leads to believing that the church cannot go on without the celebrity pastor, as though God depended on the pastor.
Part Two is “Three Temptations.” Chapter Four, “Abusing Power,” looks at celebrity power and how it corrupts. It details the “connection between celebrity and abuse and mistreatment of fellow image bearers.” Beaty considers the case of Ravi Zacharias. Beaty poses the rhetorical question, How could someone who preaches the gospel “be capable of such harm behind closed doors?” Since Zacharias fell so far, many wonder if they can still accept his message. Often, such powerful celebrities are surrounded by powerful men who protect their secrets. Celebrity power, as seen in Mark Driscoll, means you can say anything and get away with it. Beaty speaks of the way celebrity pastors flaunt their wealth. Jesus did not become wealthy to speak to wealthy people and he treated everyone alike. Some celebrity pastors use their wealth to hire lawyers to protect them from victims or buy the victims’ silence. Even with a board or institution, abusers can still act out. In fact, many organizations and institutions defend the celebrity and harass the victims. RZIM refused to investigate accusations. Instead, it went after the victims and was harsh on employees who sought to get to the truth. Boards and institutions should not accuse victims of lying until they have done a thorough investigation. Many do not for fear that if the accusations are correct, the organization will fall apart, as happened with RZIM.
Chapter 5, “Chasing Platforms,” addresses issues when celebrities seek to build their platform through book publishing. Beaty suggests that readers need to be aware that just because an author’s book is published, the author may not have been vetted at all, theologically, doctrinally, or in any other way. Serious plagiarism has occurred among some prominent Christian celebrities. Not only does intellectual theft raise serious ethical issues, but “highlight[s] the way modern celebrity can lure individuals and companies to skirt ethical standards while feeding the lucrative celebrity machine” (chap. 5, Ebook Central).
In the section, “Evangelicals are People of the Books(s),” the author speaks of reading as both a spiritual act and a consumer act. Increasingly, books from Evangelical publishers are by celebrities and readers want to read about those people and their success. Mass Media makes a celebrity well-known, “without the celebrity necessarily having to do anything noteworthy or virtuous” (chap. 5, Ebook Central). Beaty describes deceitful tactics celebrities and others use to get their books sold.
Chapter Six, “Creating Persona,” examines the cost of celebrity to the celebrity and why and how others place this burden on celebrities. Being famous can also mean isolation and loneliness. The celebrity may practice character-splitting: one is the public persona, the other the true self seen only in private with trusted friends and family. Many Christian celebrities suffer from “narcissistic personality disorder.” In some cases, the leader and the followers or congregation have a mutually reinforcing “collective narcissism.” The author asks, Why do we keep putting leaders on pedestals, asking them to fulfill their own parasocial needs?
Part three of the book is, “The Way Up is Down.” Chapter 7, “Seeking Brand Ambassadors,” begins with a description of Kanye West. His conversion was a surprise, but he removed bad elements from his rap. Christian leaders encouraged people to take him seriously as a believer, even though we cannot see his heart. Christians see such conversions as a “win.” Christians speak about celebrity conversions and platforms in order to stand against the culture’s pressure. Celebrity conversions validate the Christian faith for some. It enables Christians to still be “cool,” especially important for teens. Beaty concludes that, “Before we hope to convince those outside the house of faith that we are still relevant, we need to clean up our house from within” (chap. 7, Ebook Central).
“The Obscure Messiah and Ordinary Faithfulness,” chapter 8, rounds out the book. Beaty, considering how many in her generation have exited the faith and leaders have fallen, states that she is not a Christian because of some Evangelical celebrity. It is because of ordinary people around her who, “find their lives taken up in an eternal reality larger than themselves [which] can carry out small acts of love that will have a greater significance in the next” (Ch. 8). We are to become “little Christs.” The mindset of growth is a distraction from what God wants us to be.
Beaty acknowledges that some readers will be disappointed or bothered that she does not lay out a plan to fix the mess, though she has hinted at means throughout the book. She warns against seeking to be relevant or spectacular. In order to go up, we need to go uncomfortably low.
This book is definitely worth reading, though it may be unsettling. Elders could use it to help them take steps if their pastor becomes a celebrity. “Ordinary” Christians will see warnings about creating celebrities.
Read more from the inaugural issue by downloading the full pdf or accessing the articles below.
[1] I am accessing this book as an ebook. Ebook page numbers are dependent upon the font size. Therefore, this review will not list pages, but every quotation comes from the named chapters in the review.