{"id":6164,"date":"2022-08-17T17:33:15","date_gmt":"2022-08-17T17:33:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/farefwd.com\/?p=6164"},"modified":"2022-08-17T17:33:23","modified_gmt":"2022-08-17T17:33:23","slug":"celebrities-for-jesus","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/farefwd.com\/index.php\/2022\/08\/17\/celebrities-for-jesus\/","title":{"rendered":"Celebrities for Jesus"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Pastors with Power<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
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The social role of the pastor and the celebrity have become intertwined in the contemporary evangelical movement.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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Review by Vienna Scott<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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We live in a world where Justin Bieber almost became the Pastor at Hillsong Church. Or, more accurately, we live in a world where\u2014spurred on by some bad reporting\u2014evangelical 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\u2019s one of the best-selling music artists of our generation and a regular member of Forbes\u2019 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.<\/p>

Journalist Katelyn Beaty expounds on this phenomenon in her new book Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits are Hurting the Church<\/em>. The social role of the pastor and the celebrity have become intertwined in the contemporary evangelical movement. In fact, in evangelical circles it\u2019s 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.<\/p>

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\u2014regularly and intimately. But the mega-Church pastor, with book deals and speaking tours and a stage as a pulpit, lacks these traditional connections. It\u2019s a matter of scale. Celebrity is \u201csocial power without proximity\u201d and for any Church buying into the Willow Creek model of rapid church growth\u2014packaged and widely sold through one of their many offshoot ministries\u2014a celebrity becomes more likely to fit naturally at the helm. It\u2019s why people reasonably believed that Pastor Bieber might become a reality.<\/p>

While pastors take the center stage, other forms of Christian celebrity are also implicated in Beaty\u2019s 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.<\/p>

While her book is an expansive critique\u2014definitionally calling out those in the Christian world with the largest followings and most resources\u2014Beaty 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\u2019t go into ministry with ill-intent; they intend to submit to authority and serve humbly.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Beaty believes that there is no programmatic way to fix the problems that come with celebrity. The best she can do is affirm her commitment to the Church and to Christ, and offer small suggestions for reform.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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But for the charismatic and capable few who became rapidly successful, those who should have provided accountability are instead distant congregants and elder boards who must manage the operations of the ever-expanding mega-Church while the pastor travels and tours and deals with the newfound demands of success. The lack of proximity leaves room for sin to go unchecked. These leaders failed their ministries. And these ministries failed their leaders. It would be satisfying and far too easy to promote kingpin toppling as the way forward. Instead, Beaty investigates the structures of Church finances, elder boards, related industries, and theology, searching for all the ways that accountability and institutions break down. She finds problems that are more wide-reaching, less centralized, and much more difficult to solve than mere pastoral failings.<\/p>

For those seeking answers, the end of Beaty\u2019s book will be a bit of a letdown. She doesn\u2019t design a \u201cSeven Steps from Yeezus to Jesus\u201d program that resolves the structural issues. She can\u2019t\u2014Beaty believes that there is no programmatic way to fix the problems that come with celebrity. The best she can do is affirm her commitment to the Church and to Christ, and offer small suggestions for reform (psychological testing for ministry leaders, periods of time fully off the grid, a robust review of present accountability practices etc.).\u00a0<\/p>

This book comprises the first part of a larger dialogue. Beaty lays out the history and stakes of the current institutional practices of the celebrity Christian. Alongside her diagnosis of where the Church stands, she offers three principles to guide the next part of the conversation about the future of the evangelical church in America:<\/p>

  1. Growth: The Church doesn\u2019t exist just to grow budgets and buildings and attendance numbers; it exists to make people like Christ. Growth in holiness should be valued alongside growth in size.<\/li>
  2. Deontology: The biblical story of the temptations of Christ in the wilderness teaches us that Jesus refuses to do great things in the wrong way. The ends do not justify the means; how we build the kingdom matters.<\/li>
  3. Modesty: While often only applied to sexual purity, Beaty recalls the evangelical movement to a modesty that transcends its traditional confines, encouraging the church to discipline itself in obscurity and ordinary faithfulness. The book is dedicated \u201cTo the number \u2018who lived faithfully a hidden life and rest in unvisited tombs.\u2019\u201d<\/li><\/ol>

    While readers may hope for answers to all the ills that plague the American Church, Beaty is a journalist at her core\u2014a professional collector, organizer and disseminator of information. She gives the audience just what they should expect in a journalistic book: a thorough description of the problem. Like the title proclaims, it\u2019s a book about how<\/em> personas, platforms, and profits hurt the Church. She leaves it up to her readers to find the solutions.<\/p>

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    Vienna Scott<\/strong> is an MAR student in Religion and Literature at Yale Divinity School. She graduated from Yale College in 2021 with degrees in Religious Studies and Political Science. In her free time, she enjoys baking, hiking, and hanging out with friends. <\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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    Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits Are Hurting the Church<\/strong> was published by Brazos Press on August 16, 2022. Fare Forward appreciates their provision of a review copy. You can purchase your own copy on their website here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The social role of the pastor and the celebrity have become intertwined in the contemporary evangelical movement. 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