We live in a world where Justin Bieber almost became the Pastor at Hillsong Church. Or, more accurately, we live in a world where—spurred on by some bad reporting—evangelical Christians briefly believed that the teen pop sensation could reasonably be picked by the elders of a major church to be their new leader. His professional qualifications? He’s one of the best-selling music artists of our generation and a regular member of Forbes’ Top Ten Most Powerful Celebrities list. His theological ones? None. Zip, zero, zilch, nada. But the rumor still caught on. From the press to the Twitterverse, evangelicals wondered if they were becoming Beliebers.

Journalist Katelyn Beaty expounds on this phenomenon in her new book Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits are Hurting the Church. The social role of the pastor and the celebrity have become intertwined in the contemporary evangelical movement. In fact, in evangelical circles it’s a feature, not a bug. Beaty dives into the history of the celebrity in American Christian culture, building from Billy Graham to the modern mega-Church. The latter, she claims, has altered our understanding of the pastor as the power of these charismatic, exceptionally gifted individuals eclipses their institutions.

Traditionally, the pastor is a shepherd of souls, and to shepherd a soul, they have to know that soul. Pastors have proximate roles, tied to their local church body—regularly and intimately. But the mega-Church pastor, with book deals and speaking tours and a stage as a pulpit, lacks these traditional connections. It’s a matter of scale. Celebrity is “social power without proximity” and for any Church buying into the Willow Creek model of rapid church growth—packaged and widely sold through one of their many offshoot ministries—a celebrity becomes more likely to fit naturally at the helm. It’s why people reasonably believed that Pastor Bieber might become a reality.

While pastors take the center stage, other forms of Christian celebrity are also implicated in Beaty’s work. She uses real-life examples of comedians, musicians, nonprofit leaders, and others from recent news and her own reporting to draw out the three major temptations of any celebrity Christian: abuses of power, fixation on profits, and cultivation of persona.

While her book is an expansive critique—definitionally calling out those in the Christian world with the largest followings and most resources—Beaty presents it self-consciously, aware that she is a Christian public figure, gaining audience and influence by writing a book critiquing other popular Christians for their abuses of such power. Full of grace for those recently toppled from glory, she reminds readers that their souls too are imperiled by their celebrity status. Instead of ire, she inspires pity for the too-persuasive pastor. Beaty grants that most people don’t go into ministry with ill-intent; they intend to submit to authority and serve humbly.