It is my opinion that one of the more detrimental developments in modern evangelicalism has been the rise of the celebrity pastor. While the church has always been tempted to elevate gifted and influential leaders beyond their proper place, our digital age has amplified that temptation in unprecedented ways.
Take the language of the “Christian influencer” or, more recently, “digital disciples,” for example. Both expressions would have sounded strange only a generation ago. Yet today they have become common features of the evangelical landscape. The former describes those who build ministries and platforms through social media, while the latter refers to those who increasingly receive much of their spiritual input through online personalities rather than through the ministry of their own local church. While technology has undoubtedly created remarkable opportunities for spreading the gospel, it has also introduced new temptations. Increasingly, pastors are encouraged to build platforms and cultivate personal brands, while Christians are tempted to look beyond the ordinary ministry of their own congregation for their primary spiritual nourishment. The result is a ministry culture in which visibility is easily mistaken for faithfulness and influence for pastoral fruitfulness.
Within this context, journalist and editor Katelyn Beaty, in Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits Are Hurting the Church, offers a thoughtful assessment of a problem that is now widely acknowledged within evangelicalism. With a journalist’s eye for compelling stories and careful cultural analysis, Beaty argues that the church’s celebrity problem runs much deeper than a handful of high-profile scandals. Rather than treating the moral failures of well-known pastors as isolated incidents, she contends that they expose deeper patterns within modern evangelicalism that have elevated platforms, personas, and influence above the ordinary work of local church ministry. In doing so, she invites readers to see that the issue is not simply the failure of a few prominent leaders but a ministry culture that too often prizes reach over relationships, visibility over accountability, and influence over faithful shepherding.
Analysis of the Book
One of the greatest strengths of Celebrities for Jesus is that Beaty refuses to assume her readers know what a celebrity actually is. Before critiquing celebrity culture within evangelicalism, she carefully defines the term itself. This proves to be one of the book’s most important contributions.
Drawing on the work of historian Daniel Boorstin while refining his definition, Beaty argues that celebrity is more than mere fame or public recognition. Rather, she defines celebrity as “social power without proximity” (17). This means that a celebrity possesses the ability to shape the thoughts, affections, and actions of large numbers of people without actually knowing them or living in meaningful relationship with them. Such a dynamic creates unique dangers because, as Beaty observes, “we are engaging with a presented, mediated self.” The issue is not simply that we know only a carefully curated version of a person but that this lack of genuine proximity also limits meaningful accountability.
As a result, we can come to trust someone we have never met while having little ability to evaluate the character behind the platform. At the same time, those with significant influence can become increasingly removed from the ordinary patterns of accountability that God has established in the local church. Beaty’s concern, therefore, is not with public influence itself but with influence that has become detached from the relationships and accountability that are essential to faithful Christian ministry.
At this point, however, Beaty’s definition of celebrity could have benefited from greater precision. While “social power without proximity” is a helpful starting point, it does not sufficiently distinguish celebrity from other forms of broad public influence. Throughout church history, God has used pastors, missionaries, theologians, and writers whose ministries extended far beyond the people they knew personally. In fact, taken on its own, Beaty’s definition would seem to apply not only to Beaty herself but to anyone who publishes a book or writes for a broader audience. By that measure, it would even include me as the author of this review. Simply exercising influence beyond one’s immediate relationships does not necessarily constitute celebrity. The more important question is whether that influence remains tethered to the ordinary accountability and oversight Christ has established in his church.
After defining celebrity, Beaty traces its development within American evangelicalism. She argues that the phenomenon did not begin with Instagram or YouTube but has much deeper historical roots. Beginning with revivalists such as Dwight L. Moody, Billy Sunday, and later Billy Graham, she shows how evangelical leaders gradually came to exercise influence that extended far beyond the ordinary structures of the local church. Through the rise of revivalism, mass media, and parachurch ministries, prominence increasingly became detached from ecclesiastical oversight. In Beaty’s telling, this shift helped create the conditions in which celebrity culture could flourish within American evangelicalism.
Importantly, Beaty does not argue for a simplistic one-to-one line of causation between these earlier evangelists and more recent ministry failures. Rather, she traces a broader trajectory. Her point is that as evangelicalism increasingly rewarded influence beyond the local church, it also cultivated a ministry culture in which platform could more easily become detached from pastoral accountability. That trajectory, she argues, helps explain why the scandals of figures such as Bill Hybels, Ravi Zacharias, and Mark Driscoll were not merely isolated failures but exposed deeper structural weaknesses within modern evangelicalism.
I found Beaty’s historical survey to be one of the strongest sections of the book. While some readers may question whether every connection is equally persuasive, her broader argument is compelling. She demonstrates that the church’s current struggles with celebrity are not simply the product of social media or a few charismatic personalities. Rather, they have emerged over decades as evangelicalism increasingly prized influence that extended beyond the ordinary ministry and accountability of the local church.
In the middle section of the book, “The Temptations,” Beaty moves from diagnosis to analysis by exploring three of the defining features of celebrity culture: power, platform, and persona. Throughout these chapters, she grounds her analysis in numerous examples drawn from contemporary evangelicalism. One of the more helpful and refreshing aspects of this section is her willingness to turn a critical eye toward the Christian publishing industry, a world in which she herself has long worked. This self-awareness lends credibility to her argument, demonstrating that the problem is not confined to the pulpit but is sustained by a broader evangelical ecosystem.
A Fitting Prescription
In the final chapter of the book, Beaty offers a way forward by calling Christians, and pastors in particular, to pursue ordinary faithfulness rather than celebrity. Her prescription is both refreshing and needed. In a ministry culture that often prizes visibility, influence, and personal branding, Beaty reminds readers that the ordinary means of grace, the local church, and long-term faithfulness remain God’s appointed pattern for Christian ministry.
I believe Beaty is fundamentally correct. At the same time, I think she missed an opportunity to ground this vision more explicitly in the positive theology of Scripture. At times, her call can sound primarily like a rejection of celebrity rather than an invitation to something better. The New Testament does not merely warn pastors against seeking prominence; it presents the beauty of ordinary pastoral ministry. Christ calls his shepherds to know their sheep, feed them with his Word, pray for them, administer the sacraments, and patiently labor among them. This vision is compelling not because it promises obscurity but because it promises fellowship with the Chief Shepherd and the privilege of serving his flock. The strongest antidote to celebrity culture is not simply avoiding a platform but embracing with joy the ordinary calling Christ has entrusted to his church.
A Personal Reflection
Reading Celebrities for Jesus also prompted me to reflect on my own ministry. While I do not swim in the broad evangelical waters that Beaty primarily addresses, I do think those waters have shaped Reformed churches more than we are often willing to admit, especially within our own memberships.
The book also challenged me to consider the ways I might unintentionally contribute to the very culture Beaty critiques. Every pastor must wrestle with the subtle temptation to seek a wider platform or to measure faithfulness by public recognition. For that reason, I have tried, however imperfectly, to adopt a number of practices that intentionally limit my own visibility and reinforce the ordinary nature of pastoral ministry.
One example, though perhaps an unexpected one, is my decision to wear a Geneva gown when leading public worship. I do not believe ministers are required to wear a robe, nor do I think doing so makes one more faithful. My reason is pastoral rather than aesthetic. The gown helps deemphasize my personality so that the attention of the congregation is directed more fully to the ministry of the Word than to the minister himself. It serves as a quiet reminder that what matters most in worship is not the man in the pulpit but Christ, who speaks through his Word.
Every Lord’s Day, my congregation sees me wearing the same robe. They are not invited to notice my fashion or watch me express my personality. They are instead reminded that the man standing before them is simply a minister of the Word. My hope is that, over time, this small practice helps cultivate a church that is captivated less by the personality of its pastor and more by the voice of Christ in the Scriptures.
Another example is that I do not broadly distribute my sermons on social media. In fact, our church does not maintain a sermon archive, though we do livestream our services for those who are providentially hindered from attending. This decision is not born out of the conviction that sermons should never be shared more widely. Rather, it serves as a subtle reminder that the primary audience for my preaching is the congregation Christ has entrusted to my care. If others happen to benefit from my ministry, I am grateful. But I do not want the pursuit of a broader audience to shape the way I prepare, preach, or evaluate my ministry. My calling is first to shepherd a particular people in a particular place, trusting that faithfulness in the ordinary work of the local church is enough.
Pastors, I would encourage you to prayerfully consider what practices might help guard your own heart against the subtle pull of celebrity culture. Those practices will likely look different from mine, and they need not be dramatic. The goal is not to pursue obscurity for its own sake but to cultivate habits that continually remind you that Christ has called you to shepherd a particular flock, not to build a personal platform. In an age that prizes visibility, deliberately limiting your own visibility may be one of the most countercultural acts of pastoral faithfulness.
©DeMyron Haynes. All Rights Reserved.
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DeMyron Haynes
Rev. DeMyron Haynes (MDiv, Reformed Theological Seminary) is the pastor of New City Fellowship (PCA) in Grand Rapids, MI. He is married to Hayley, and together they are blessed with five children.
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