A church I once attended had a guest preacher one Sunday. Earlier that month he had published a book; I honestly don’t remember the name of it, but the title was something like Radical Gospel, catchy and streamlined.
The book had already been plugged during the service multiple times by the point he began his message, so we all knew who he was and what he had just written. His voice mimicked the cadences of Twitter: short sentences ready to be snipped and shared for an audience beyond our own.
Five minutes into his sermon, he arrived at his topic. “Jesus really preached”—he paused—“a radical gospel.”
Rather than preaching to me from behind an altar, it felt like he was pitching to me from behind a merch booth.
Celebrities for Jesus
I’ve been writing about the intersection of capitalism, influence, and ministry for about five months now, and my obsession with this topic only became greater when Katelyn Beaty’s book Celebrities for Jesus: How Personas, Platforms, and Profits are Hurting the Church entered the world a month ago.1 I don’t think I’m being hyperbolic when I say she wrote the exact book I have been looking for.
She has a concise word for the combination of capitalism, influence, and ministry: celebrity. She defines it as “social power without proximity.”2 Celebrity is gained at the expense of relationship or intimacy; it is the accumulation of power without the binding ties of community or accountability. She writes, "A warning sign for any lead pastor and their church is to be increasingly important and increasingly unknown."3
The reality of celebrity is that it’s image-driven. The larger someone becomes, the more they are forced to hide behind a persona, and for someone who has not built-in safeguards and real community, it can be nearly impossible to drop that persona over time. Beaty writes, “The path away from persona and toward the true self is the path of humility. And humility usually requires some form of humiliation—stripping away the stories we tell ourselves to reveal a more vulnerable creature.”4
Celebrity suffocates. And unfortunately the algorithm for much of Christian influence runs on celebrity.
A Conversation with Katelyn
I reached out to Katelyn to see if she would be willing to chat about her book and celebrity / capitalism / influence / ministry / all the things that have plagued my mind (and this newsletter).
When I reached out to her, I figured I should be honest about not having a huge platform. Author interviews are usually a game of metrics—they have to promote their books, and typically they want to promote those books with people who have huge followings.
So I didn’t expect to hear back; my platform isn’t big enough to stand on, let alone ask someone to join me on it. (And, I mean, Katelyn is popular. There are plenty of bigger platforms she can stand on.)
But then, two days later, she said yes. Then, five days later, we talked.5
That was over a week ago now, and since then I’ve been trying to fit all of my thoughts about the book and my interview with her into one, neatly packaged newsletter.
I realized that probably wouldn’t be possible once I got to 1,500 words and still had a bunch more I wanted to write.
SO, I’m breaking up my thoughts and my interview with Katelyn into three newsletters:
Capitalism—what happens when converts become customers?
Influence—what happens when fame is required for ministry opportunities?
Ministry—how do we be faithful to God’s calling within our unique contexts?
In Conclusion, A Music Video
After finishing Celebrities for Jesus and processing the ways the Gospel is co-opted to boost notoriety, paychecks, and social media followings, I can’t help but think of that Lonely Island song “I’m So Humble.”
Just because someone says they are humble doesn’t mean they are. Just because a pastor says he is serving God doesn’t mean he isn’t actually trying to serve himself.
Please enjoy your weeks and prepare for a light conversation about capitalism next week (lol).
Uuuugh I hate linking to Amazon for book recs, but I am human and know the reality of someone clicking purchase after a clickthrough sends them to another site…………..two-day prime is pretty…prime.
Celebrities for Jesus, 17.
Celebrities for Jesus, 55.
Celebrities for Jesus, 130.
Katelyn rocks and was incredibly kind to speak with me despite my platform. Like, incredibly kind. Her talking with me is actually an act of validating her book and her views on the subject. Seriously. There was very little incentive for her to speak with me. g&b (grateful and blessed)