One of the strengths of American culture is knowing how to make everything bigger and better. Applying that same thinking to pastors and leaders is one of the weaknesses of the American Church. We know how to turn ministers into superstars.
This is a far cry from the New Testament, where top leadership meant persecution rather than popularity, rejection rather than recognition. In the early church, senior leaders were more likely to be executed than promoted. Today, pastorate is a path to stardom and success. How have we fallen so far?
It's one thing to have a platform that reaches millions of people, and we can thank God for that.
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Being a famous Christian is another story.
It is one thing to pastor a large congregation; it is a sacred calling.
It is another thing to cultivate the worship and praise of people as if you yourself were a superstar. Be careful! God does not share His glory with others.
Superstar leaders thrive on acclaim and find identity in their celebrity status.
They want to be noticed and celebrated.
They see themselves as a step above the rest and as special.
Their image is carefully cultivated, first by themselves and then by their teams, reminding the sycophantic crowd, “It is a privilege to have such a man/woman of God in your midst!”
(The moment I finished writing the first draft of this article, I came across this comment on YouTube, posted in response to a celebrity video on the same theme, the end of Christianity: “Thank you, Dr. Brown! A church I visited played a five-minute video of church members gushing about their pastor before he began his sermon. I was so shocked and upset. Glory to the Lord Jesus!”)
Superstar leaders often travel with large entourages, not because they need a whole staff for security and outreach, but because they are big, untouchable, and unaccountable. Isn't this blatant idolatry?
Who of us can maintain Christ-like humility in these circumstances? And it's much easier to maintain humility when you're thrown in jail after preaching than when you're hailed as God's gift to the world and watched by adoring eyes on a giant video screen. Fame comes at a price.
But as I write these words, I don't have any particular person in mind, other than that I'm preaching to the man in the mirror. Instead, I'm speaking about the mindset and culture that produces celebrity pastors, which is as dangerous as it is unbiblical. In the words of Carla Dial, editor-in-chief of Stream.org, we were created to worship, not to be worshiped.
As I wrote in 1991: What happened to God’s power?“Personal ambition must be crushed on the altar. The superstar mentality of a 'chosen elite' must be nailed hard to the cross. The only way up is to come down, and we must personally prostrate ourselves before we can stand up and speak in public.”
Frank Bartleman, the pastor and journalist who popularized Azusa Street, said, “When people really love obscurity and don't want to preach and just want to sit in the back, [pew] God can lift him up and use him better than he can get on the platform; he can't do that before that.”
Today, the idea of “loving the unknown” seems outdated and outdated. Instead, self-promotion has taken over. “All eyes are on me!” is the spirit of the times, which has pervaded and infected the church.
Scottish evangelist James Alexander Stewart once said, “I was once told that I would never be a very popular evangelist because I did not sell my personality enough. What a shame! Our job is to glorify the Christ of God, not to flaunt our own personalities. Dr. Herbert Locker pointed out the danger of man-worship in evangelism when he said, 'When a man has any charm, is blessed with an attractive personality, and has the power to influence large numbers of people, he is often more desired than the Lord.'”
What an insult to the Lord, who knows how wretched we are outside of His grace, and what a distortion of reality. The best of us, the most anointed, the most gifted, are servants of all, fully aware that the Lord is everything and we ourselves are nothing.
Of course, this doesn't mean we should despise or belittle godly leaders. On the contrary, we should show respect for those we serve, as the Bible encourages us to do (see, for example, Romans 13:7; Hebrews 13:17). And we should definitely be thankful for those who labor among us. I can personally tell you how easy it is to serve in places where people welcome you with open arms.
But under no circumstances should believers glorify spiritual leaders. We are flesh and blood like everyone else, fallen human beings who have been saved and transformed by an amazing Savior.
This is illustrated well in the story of the donkey that Jesus entered into Jerusalem: when the donkey returned to the stable, it was walking a little smugly, causing the other donkeys to wonder what on earth it had done.
He said, “Didn't you hear the people shouting, 'Hosanna' as I entered the city?”
They answered Jesus, “They were not praising you, but the man riding on your back.”
Enough said.
Those who are leaders or who influence large numbers of people must be careful to guard their hearts from craving praise and recognition, hungering for prosperity and power. Jesus warned, “For whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Luke 14:11).
Perhaps Paul can teach us something here as well, when he writes, “May I never boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which I have been crucified to the world, as the world has been crucified to me” (Galatians 6:14).
Today, as the American church is being shaken and the refiner's fire is purifying God's people, we must learn to embrace the cross. We must put to death the craving for celebrity status. And we must make every effort to turn all eyes to the only One who is worthy of worship and praise. Anything less is spiritual insanity, if not spiritual suicide.
If there was ever a time to get this right, it is now, for the Lord Himself has said, “Enough!”
Almighty God is purifying His bride. It means the end of Celebrity Christianity. May it never return again!
Dr. Michael Brown (https://thelineoffire.org/) is the host of the nationally syndicated radio show “The Line of Fire.” He has written over 40 books, including: Can you be gay and be a Christian?; Our hands are stained with blood; and Seizing the Moment: How to ignite the fires of revival. Dr. Brown is committed to giving you hope, nurturing your faith, and empowering you to speak up for moral health and mental clarity. You can connect with him on Facebook. Xor check out YouTube.
