Rebecca Miller had a good post the other day about Celebrity Christians and how other Christians do and should deal with that little wrinkle. I personally have never been a big fan of that concept. It’s part of the feminine aspect of the modern church that I find squicky. That whole “Ooooh, It’s BETH MOORE!!! Let’s go hear her speak” makes me feel like we are turning Christianity back into High School and have annointed Popular Kids whose parties we all want to get in to. It’s especially weird to me that these people are preaching some form of the Gospel and charging a lot of money for it. But this is America and finding a way to charge a lot of money for something is what we do here. As long as nobody is FORCED to pay I’m good with it. From a distance.
But then I was in the checkout line at Publix the other day and I saw my all-time favourite Christian Celebrity on the cover of People Magazine whinging about how she will no longer be able to feed the eight children she chose to bear now that the third (or fourth) iteration of TV show has been cancelled. I remember how, well into the run of the last iteration, round about the same time she and her (now ex) husband were buying a mansion in Pennsylvania on the QT, they were STILL going to various churches and crying poormouth, passing the offering plate and charging $20 for photographs. People were enthralled by their celebrity and women on Social Security and women who make no money at all were all forking over to keep the Gosselins in high style.
My mom was one of the women who, for a long time, thought Kate Gosselin was a great Christian with a wonderful testimony. After all, she didn’t abort any of those babies and there were Bible verses taped to the refrigerator of the Gosselin home. But then when Christian Celebrity wasn’t good enough and Kate made a play for “real” stardom, my mom and all those women like her soured on the whole idea.
Now, though, that the TV money is no longer rolling in, I suspect we’ll see Kate back in the church. Oh, I reckon she won’t come to local churches anymore but those churches will advertise her speaking engagements at whatever auditorium is large enough to book enough seats to make it worth Kate’s time. Because Jesus always welcomes back His lost sheep. Even when their main aim is to fleece the other sheep in the pen.
I think that’s why I get nervous about Christian Celebrities. I remember being a kid and watching my Grandma Doc by cooed at and petted by Tammy Faye Baker on the PTL club. I knew my grandma had no money to pay her bills (my dad and his brothers and sister were forever on the phone about it) and rarely gave presents to us but she still was happy to keep Jim and Tammy Faye’s “ministry” funded. We all know how that turned out. I guess it seems to me that more often than not the Christian Celebrities start serving that Other Master, that love of Mammon. And then we’re all in a weird place because these people we’ve programmed ourselves to revere as prime examples have morphed into the prime example of what Jesus told us to avoid.
Just Another Pretty Farce 
The whole “Christian conference” culture is filled with this garbage. I will never go to one of those. Amen.
Ummm, not really, Jay. Which conferences have you gone to? The ones I’ve gone to have shown me that the authors, publishers, editors, and agents have mostly been humble and kind and helpful.
Katherine, I admit I was sorely disappointed when Thomas Nelson published a book by Kate after her divorce. I’ve never seen the TV show. Even if I watched TV I don’t think I’d watch that. It feels like it’s exploiting children to me.
I didn’t mean publishing conferences, I meant “Jesus pep rally” ones. They seem like circus acts, but that’s a subjective valuation. Someone might see it completely different.
Oban.pl Polskie Forum Warez! Najnowsze linki, codzienne aktualizacje! Gry, Muzyka, Filmy, Download, Warez, Erotyka, Forum, Linki
Thanks for the link, Katherine. I just responded to the comments over at my site before coming here, and compared the whole thing to the high school popularity scene, too! 🙄
Think back to when Brittany Speares came on the scene. She was touted as a Christian, which brought a good many Christian girls flocking to her fan base. We’re losing perspective who we really should admire, who we should really care about pleasing.
And yet, this is the culture in which we live. So I think it’s good to think about the issue.
Becky
I had a dream once that Christians could be divided between Frankensteins and Frankenstein sniffers. It’s definitely a manifestation of the clerical/laity culture where we think some folks have more of God and some don’t.
Many celebrity Christian artistes love Jesus but aren’t really following moral or Christian laws. Or maybe they accept Jesus as “saviour” but not as their “Lord.” And many don’t read or understand their Bibles. And some Christian theological celebrities love the world so much that I suspect everything they say. I can spot someone who likes being media darlings all too well.
As for those who make a living doing the Christian conference thing either teach wobbly Churchianity or — if they are right– are worshiped and praised for having some “mantle” on them. Paul Washer for instance.
I do understand how tough it is to stand for Christ in the big world out there so I guess I should praise the Christian artists types but when it comes to Christians being praised in the Christian culture… the entire Christian celebrity thing is reminiscient of the herd mind. Christians can honor these people but we often go overboard into cult of personality and merely believing something simply because it’s hip to ride on that Christian trend.