Why Celeb Pastors Might Not Be Our Biggest Problem
We Are 80%!
Celebrity pastors have grabbed the church’s attention. This is probably not news to you. If you don’t pull up videos of your fave mega-pastor on youtube out of respect, you might be doing it for a bit of cringy entertainment. I might be guilty as charged on the latter.
The other day, my colleague Yoon Shin reposted a link from Katelyn Beaty’s Facebook page about what makes a church healthy or unhealthy. (I would link the post here, but either Facebook doesn’t allow you to link a specific post outside of the platform, or I just can’t figure out how to do it). In sum, the post suggested that celebrity pastors and celebrity churches are what makes for an unhealthy church.
I have two thoughts:
First, it is important that people like Katelyn Beaty and so many others are drawing attention to the inherent problems in celebrity Christianity. The Rise and Fall of Mars Hill podcast comes to mind as another worthy example. This is a conversation that we need to keep having. I am here for it. So many have pointed to the dissonance between celebrity-style church and the Homeless Lord, Jesus. It’s all there explicitly in the Gospels’ stories. But it is also there implicitly. As far as we know, Jesus never visited Tiberias, which was one of the largest cities in Galilee. In other words, Jesus avoided one of the major cultural, political, and economic centers of his time and place. Think about that.
Second, having acknowledged the problems with celebrity church pastors and culture, I am not yet convinced that celebrity Christianity is in fact the major issue facing the church in American contexts. This is not necessarily what Beaty or the Mars Hill podcast are suggesting, but the amount of airtime celebrity Christianity is getting might lead one to begin thinking that.
Let me explain.
80% of Assemblies of God churches have an average Sunday attendance of 200 or less.1 I don’t think that’s a problem like some people do. I’m never going to believe that the overwhelming majority of churches in my denomination don’t break the 200-person attendance barrier because they lack the know-how to do so. Anyone who has pastored in rural or urban contexts knows what I am talking about.
But here is my point: These churches are not at risk of having a celebrity pastor. Small church pastors don’t make a lot of money. They don’t get book deals. They aren’t preachers in sneakers.
That’s not to say that there aren’t unique toxicities that come packaged in small churches. And that’s not to say small church pastors can’t be narcissists. Small churches have legit problems.
In view of all of this, I have a request, and I think it’s a really simple one: Let’s talk about the problems of the majority of churches. We by no means need to stop criticizing celebrity church culture because it does have a negative impact even on the 80% of the church. But let’s focus where the rubber is hitting the most road.
Perhaps the problem is not that most pastors want to be celebrities, but that they can’t put 30 to 40 years of their life into a single community because their paycheck might dry up at any moment.
I’ll say more later.
Based on the Assembly of God’s Church Distribution Report (2021) by Mike Clarensau. Thank you, Austin Jacobs, for getting me the source on this. The Assemblies of God General Council’s Treasurer, Choco de Jesus pointed out this stat at a recent denominational meeting.
Can we also stop talking about 80% of our local church pastors by using a diminutive? They are not less-than, worse-than, or the like. No one wants to talk about the problems in the local church if we're already telling them their mere existence is already a problem (since bigger = better in America).
Okay I know the whole money dispropriation thing is a big issue but let me say this, if the sneakers bring the young people to the altar then let the pastors wear the sneakers and bring the word. I mean isn't that their job to put the word out in the world? I mean America loves big shiny and over the top. Why not give them a pastor that speaks to that, perhaps more people will listen, especially this generation who almost can't see anything if it isn't digital, but OMG those sneakers did you see them!? Also, what about the it doesn't matter how you get there or who takes you there as long as you wind up in the right place? Okay those are just a few of my first thoughts. I did find it rather interesting that you mentioned a negative impact on 80% of the church. By the church do you mean 80% negative impact on all churches in america? I'd like to see the reference to that one! Okay no hard feelings just sharing thoughts, can't wait to hear more!