"Celebrities for Jesus" (Katelyn Beaty)

TITLE: Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits Are Hurting the Church
AUTHOR: Katelyn Beaty
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2022, (208 pages).
 

How do celebrities for Jesus hurt the Church? Is it not a good thing to use celebrity pastors, preachers, and professors to draw in the crowds in order to listen to the gospel preached to the masses? Didn't Paul say in 1 Corinthians 9:22 that he would "become all things to all people" that people might be saved through the gospel? Well, the arguments are compelling that God could use anyone, especially flawed individuals to draw people to Him. That said, would God approve of the Church copying the ways of the world in the name of ministry? Does the ends justify the means? It all depends on motives. It also depends on which is the greater influence: Culture or Christlikeness? In this book that reflects on the virtues and vices of fame and celebrity-style ministries, we reflect on the root values that are driving people to do what they do. Three dangerous temptations lie at the root of the worldly celebrity mindset. The first temptation is the unholy use of Power. Beaty names how the famous (or infamous) Ravi Zacharias was able to captivate large audiences with his persona and persuasive words in public. Yet, his private life is filled with shameful abuse of power. Before his death, he was accused of sexual impropriety. After his death, his organization broke down after in-depth investigations exposed a history of cover-ups and multiple abuses of positions and power. Other celebrities include Mark Driscoll, whose charismatic preaching drowns out other accusations of abuse. Another charming celebrity involved in sexual scandals is the lead pastor of the famous Hillsong Church, Carl Lentz, who deceived not only his congregation but also his own family. Prosperity gospel preachers often gravitate toward the rich and the influential at the expense of the poor and needy. Their motive is the very thing they often preach about: Health and Wealth. Beaty reminds us that celebrity not only deceives people, it shields one from being investigated, and eventually isolates themselves from people. 
The second temptation is about chasing platforms for fame and recognition. Some do it through publishing while others look at profits as their driving factor. If one can get famous, it will draw more people to pay attention to them. Unfortunately, when fame takes priority over the promotion of Christ, the ministry suffers eventually. Associated with fame is also the power factor. Once authors become famous, they use their name to negotiate better deals with publishing houses, especially the bigger ones. From the desire for fame lies other associated temptations like plagiarism, deception, and using dubious sources like ResultSource to gain the upper hand in the ranking of bestseller lists. The point is: Be aware of anyone using publishing to look impressive on the outside. 

The third temptation is about creating persona for recognition and personal gain. The aim is to look good and project an image that people like. Such people typically try to hide their inner insecurity with impressive outer shells. While people admire such people from the outside, deep inside, one pays a high personal cost, the chief of all is loneliness. 

When one yields to one or more of these temptations, eventually the ministry and the Church suffers. 

My Thoughts
Katelyn Beaty has given us an important reminder that the higher one climbs, the harder one falls. Ministry leaders are often faced with a stark choice: Are they serving God or are they self-serving? Let me offer three thoughts. First, ministry leaders must ask themselves: Do they want ministry success via celebrity-style or integrity-style? Before one can choose integrity, one needs to resist the temptation to chase after celebrity status. One could argue that they could do both, justifying a win-win scenario for Christ and for themselves. This is the way of the business world. Whatever the means, if one gets the result, why not? Celebrity-style ministries tend to minimize the virtuous means as long as they get the result they wanted. Captured by the temptation for success, they substitute personal integrity for public fame. Beaty warns us that while celebrity conversions can make Christianity cool, they unwittingly lead people to bark up the wrong tree. Worse, they entice others to copy what they do, repeat what they say, and imitate how they look. Integrity-style however stays true to the ways of Christ. Resisting the temptations of the world, integrity keeps one grounded in the Truth of the Gospel.

Secondly, ministry leaders must ask: Is their ministry platform built upon their identity in Christ or the worldly persona they crave after? Beware that their icons of fame do not become idols of the world that distract people from the Christ they preach or claim to preach for. With identity, one grows out of a truthful self. Otherwise, the danger is to let persona eat us up from the outside in. There will come a time in which worldly success if it comes will have no inner foundation to stand upon. Like the famous phrase, "Empty vessels make the loudest noise," if our inside is empty, what we say may become hollow words that not only lead people astray, it destroys us further.

Thirdly, we are to ask ourselves if our motivations for ministry is humility-led or pride-driven. This calls for us to consider our motives right from the start. Even then, we need to regularly do self-examinations to clear the weeds of pride. As Beaty points out to us at the end of the book, we need to take heed of what Henri Nouwen calls, the temptations of relevance, being spectacular and powerful. All of these feed off the root of pride. Instead, the way to humble ministry lies in resisting all of these. 

There are lots of good stuff in this book. If you are a ministry leader, you need to read this book. If you are aiming for greater recognition in your ministry, let Beaty's book bring you back down to earth, to walk in the ways of Christ.

Katelyn Beaty is a writer, journalist, editor, and keen observer of trends in the American church. She has written for the New York Times, the New Yorker, the Washington Post, Religion News Service, Religion & Politics, and The Atlantic and has commented on faith and culture for CNN, ABC, NPR, the Associated Press, and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. She also cohosts the Saved by the City podcast (Religion News Service). Beaty 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.

Rating: 4.5 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book has been provided courtesy of Baker Academic and NetGalley without requiring a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.