Celebrity Christians

RICHMOND — “Stay out of the limelight.”

That's Amy Grant's advice to celebrities who don't want their personal failures aired in public.

The successful Christian pop singer should know. After her very public divorce in 1999, details of her marital troubles appeared in print and cyberspace across the country, leading some Christians to stop listening to her music and even question her faith.

“I feel protective of young women who are celebrities today, because somebody makes a decision, and then the whole world discusses it, and it's a top story on the news,” Grant told the Internet religious news service beliefnet in a recent interview. “And I want to go, ‘Would you do that to your child, Mr. Anchorman? Would you want the whole world discussing your young 20-something when they screwed up?' Because we all did it. Who has not made a bad decision?”

What is it about high-profile Christians that leads some believers to accord them celebrity status — and what is it about their missteps that rivets the attention of their less-public fellow believers?

“I think we like high-profile Christian leaders for much the same reasons we like any celebrity in entertainment, sports or politics,” noted Scott Spencer, professor of New Testament at Baptist Theological Seminary at Richmond. “We like the glitz and glamour of the spotlight on certain charismatic figures. We like being ‘performed for' and entertained. And in most cases, very popular Christian leaders are public performers and entertainers.

“By and large, I think our attraction to Christian celebs is rather naive and superficial.”

Part of the appeal is that Christians who succeed in the culture seem to legitimize their faith, added George Mason, senior pastor of Wilshire Baptist Church in Dallas.

“Despite Jesus' assurances that the world will sometimes reject us and even hate us, no Christian likes to feel that their convictions make them odd or strange or marginal in the wider society,” Mason explained. “Some forces in society do contribute to those feelings — scientific snobbery about religion in general, media disregard for moral standards, and pluralism, to name a few. When celebrities come out in public with personal Christian claims, ordinary Christians feel a bit vindicated that they have people on their side in the culture.”

Keith Herron, senior pastor at Holmeswood Baptist Church in Kansas City, Mo., thinks high-profile Chris-tians — especially pastors — appeal to believers seeking absolutes.

“It comes as the price we pay for our need for someone powerful who can reassure us in an anxious time to speak authoritatively in the void of standing strong in faith,” Herron said. “The anxiety we feel in this new, complicated world is compensated by our need for certitude. Power and authority is offered by those in need of this false sense of security, and in exchange, power and authority are accepted by the pastor in the form of self-gratification.”

Widespread adulation of Christian celebrities may in part have replaced earlier Christians' honoring of well-known saints, whose virtues believers were encouraged to emulate.

Now, those role models are found in popular culture.

“Theologically, we look for role models because we are created in the image of God and therefore are looking for our own reflection in the faith of others so created,” Mason said. “We don't find it merely in shared ideas, because ours is an embodied faith. And so we look to behavior and example.

“We look to celebrities in part because we have lost the sense of spiritual mentoring that the church used to make a deliberate part of discipleship. And since we are inveterate imitators as human beings, we join the tabloid buyers and look for our role models there instead of in the church's ordinary saints.”

But relying too much on those high-profile models to strengthen faith creates its own problems, Herron cautioned.

“It's easy to see how a sense of neediness by either can be unhealthy for both,” he said. “Likewise, it takes courage on behalf of the church to have its own resources of strength and assurance without having to borrow these characteristics from some significant ‘other,' such as from a pastor.”

Some Christian celebrities — like vocalist Bono of the rock band U2, a believer who has been prominent in efforts to eliminate poverty and AIDS — use their influence to impact the world, and that's a good thing, Spencer said.

In contrast to superficial celebrities, “I would quickly bracket out those rare dynamic public Christian leaders — Martin Luther King springs readily to mind — who, while popular to a point and able to rally the masses, dare to challenge the people and speak truth to power,” he added. “They incite as many as they inspire. ‘Prophet' is a good designation for such truly Spirit-driven leaders — and prophets make poor celebrities.”

So, is it fair to hold Christian celebrities to a higher moral or theological standard?

“Not really,” Spencer conceded. “Christian standards should apply to all Christians, and human frailty and fallibility will apply to all Christians.

“It should perhaps be said, however, that high-profile Christian leaders should hold themselves to a higher vigilance — given the extra pitfalls they may face and wider scope of people they encounter.”

“Celebrities are often used to living from the outside in, instead of from the inside out,” Mason said. “And so they are not always well prepared for the role into which they are cast. Scrutiny of one's Christian life is intensified for those in the public eye. Failure is inevitable, given both their humanness and exposure.”

And that results in repercussions for their admirers, Herron observed.

“Once star power has been established and defined, it's hard to come to grips with the humanity of our celebrities,” he said. “Part of the power of having a star system is how we idolize such figures and yet put such distance between us and them. I guess it's our way of expressing our own self-uncertainty by elevating someone else beyond our reach.”

Although at times it may shake a Christian's confidence, the impact of a high-profile lapse can be a mixed blessing.

“The high profile ‘fall from grace' — with all the negative press it generates — can affect the faith of average believers, and nonbelievers, adversely and confirm the flawed nature of the whole celebrity system,” Spencer said. “But then, I'm less inclined to follow the next big thing after one falls — and that's a good thing. I've got enough to worry about dealing with my own flaws and spiritual ups and downs.”