“The latest round of discussion on celebrity pastors, or, for brevity ‘CP’s’, is coming compliments of Mark Driscoll and the maladies of Mars Hill. But if some virus is circulating out there, then one should be content that it’s already been isolated, spread on a slide, and put under the microscope of public scrutiny. I’ve already tossed out some ideas on what Mark Driscoll needs from most of us, and little has happened to amend my view.”

It’s not about popularity, this celebrity thing. If that was the case, then Jesus himself could have been censured for having a public ministry with mass appeal, capped by fans waving palm leaves and laying their cloaks before him. Personally, I hope the folks in our church listen to certain popular pastors like Keller, or DeYoung, or Chandler, or Piper. Especially Piper. Popular spells available, so I’m glad they’re popular.

Popularity is not the problem.

Skye Jethani wrote a very insightful blog post in which he blames the celebrity pastor culture on the Evangelical Industrial Complex (EIC). Don’t be put off by the term; it’s just a creative way to describe some economic and sociological forces within evangelicalism which contribute to the “celebrity” pastor phenomenon. It’s a good read, but it’s not the whole picture. Skye addressed the broader evangelical environment, but I want to look elsewhere.

The latest round of discussion on celebrity pastors, or, for brevity ‘CP’s’, is coming compliments of Mark Driscoll and the maladies of Mars Hill. But if some virus is circulating out there, then one should be content that it’s already been isolated, spread on a slide, and put under the microscope of public scrutiny. I’ve already tossed out some ideas on what Mark Driscoll needs from most of us, and little has happened to amend my view.

No, my interests here lie in examining what causes a pastor to move from simply being a popular pastor, to being a celebrity pastor. I want to move beyond big personalities to me, you, and the local church.

But first, some definitions:

A celebrity is one who seeks fame. A popular leader is one who has fame thrust upon him. For the former, fame is a goal. To the latter, fame is an undesirable but understandable effect of faithfulness. Celebrity pastors seek platforms. Popular pastors know platforms collapse easily under the weight of human glory, so they build their local church, one soul at a time. Sure, a little fame may visit the popular pastor, I mean, that’s implied by the word “popular”. But faithfulness (1 Corinthians 4:2) is his passion. Fame is the by-product (1 Peter 5:6).

These are simple distinctions, to be sure, but they ultimately reveal a fault line that divides the human heart. Also, there is a vast gray area between the poles separating the popular pastor from the celebrity pastor. Most pastors (myself included) have a colorful assortment of mixed motives (Jeremiah 17:9). Only God really knows the pastor’s heart (Jeremiah 17:10).

Lest the reader be tempted to think I have any particular person in my crosshairs with these observations, let me be quick to say that I most certainly do….Me! That’s not to say I’m even at risk of being popular. In my case, becoming a celebrity pastor would require the transplant of several gifts that I do not presently possess, including a humongous church, a sizable intellect, and a good set of white teeth. But I need look no further than the mirror to see a popular wanna-be. And a popular wanna-be is nothing more than a celebrity who lacks opportunity.

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