The Folly of Christian Celebrity

The information age has brought forth many excellent opportunities for Christian leaders to multiply their influence in a gospel-centered manner.

But recently I have become aware of a particular problem associated with the expanding impact of Christian leaders.

The issue here--if you haven't already guessed--is Christian celebrity.

Let me qualify what I mean by Christian celebrity really quickly: it is a Christian leader who has expanded their influence beyond the borders of their church or seminary or ministry and has gathered a national/international following to the point that followers are concerned as much about the Christian leader's personal life, his likes/dislikes, etc. as they are with his theology and his preaching/teaching.

There are several problems here as I'm sure you can guess.

First of all, consider allegiances. Paul was grateful that he did not baptize the believers in Corinth so that they would not hop his bandwagon or Apollos' bandwagon or Peter's bandwagon (1 Cor 1:10-17). He wanted the Corinthians to be unequivocally tied to Jesus Christ. A Christian leader is a Christian celebrity if he is not willing to say, when his new book has been published, to the particular region that he ministers in, "I am certainly glad that none of you have read my book because I don't want you to say I am of [insert Christian leader's name], but rather that you all are of Jesus Christ."

Secondly, consider the distinction between gleaning from and mimicking a Christian leader. If a Christian leader is gleaned from in the area of biblical truth, he does not become a Christian celebrity. The Holy Spirit uses the Christian leader as a means to an end; the end is the glory of God through preaching/teaching/writing. But if the Christian leader is mimicked in preaching/teaching/writing style or in likes/dislikes then the Christian leader becomes a Christian celebrity. There is a popular professor here at Southern who listens to secular music and has defended it. Others have used the simple fact that he, as a Christian leader, listens to secular music as a justification for their own endeavors. They have turned him into a Christian celebrity.

Finally, consider the Christian celebrity. By elevating some Christian leaders to celebrity status, we have put them in a difficult position. There are some that succumb to the temptation to act in particular ways because of the privilege that many Christians have led them to believe that they have. When we tie ourselves to the celebrity of a Christian leader and mimic them in our day to day actions and mimic them in our preaching/teaching/writing we have undermined a very important biblical principle that Paul also points out in 1 Corinthians 1:

"God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise; God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing things that are,"

Why?

"So that no human being might boast in the presence of God."

As Christians we should not give other Christians any inclination that they have the right to boast in the presence of God. None of us have the ability to do anything apart from God; not even Christian leaders who write gobs of books. We all wage war with the flesh; even the influential Christian leader who has been entrusted with the spiritual wellbeing of hundreds.

Now, more than ever, is a time where Christians can go online and read and listen to resources of hundreds if not thousands of doctrinally sound preachers and teachers. Please be aware that the things said and done that bear the mark of a particular Christian leader have the power to turn that individual into a Christian celebrity. And that is a precarious position for both the follower and the followed.