Questioning Celebrity Christianity and Political Prophets
As much as Christianity has dwindled in recent decades in America, there has also been much success and growth.
None of this is more visible than in our mega-churches, with multiple congregations numbering in the tens of thousands. Some of these churches gather in immense, beautiful, mega-expensive buildings, complete with the latest and best technology and the finest accoutrements, from fancy coffee shops in the lobby to first-class gyms in the basement.
But I do not say this to be critical. I have preached in some of these churches and I have been blessed to see a real love for worship and a genuine honor for the Word of God. I rejoice in their success and do not belittle their numbers. To the contrary, some of these churches are doing much good in their local communities, helping the poor and the needy, reaching out to the lost, and sending millions of dollars to support overseas missions. I truly thank God for the good they are doing.
Other churches and leaders have massive TV and radio and internet ministries, with tens of millions of followers and viewers worldwide. Here too I rejoice if the Lord, indeed, has given them growth and favor. May His name be exalted through them.
At the same time, it is very easy to be misled by numbers, to be impressed by outward appearances, to be seduced by crowds and wealth, to measure things by human standards rather than by the standards of God. All that glitters is not gold, and often what is highly esteemed among people is an abomination in the sight of God (see Luke 16:15; this is what Jesus said). Sometimes we have turned things completely upside down.
Quantity is great, but not at the expense of quality. Numbers are wonderful, but only when they represent real disciples. Prosperity is a blessing, as long as it is not a goal or a measure or a trap. Success is terrific, but only if it comes because of obedience rather than compromise. As Paul himself warned:
By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ. If anyone builds on this foundation using gold, silver, costly stones, wood, hay or straw, their work will be shown for what it is, because the Day will bring it to light. It will be revealed with fire, and the fire will test the quality of each person’s work. If what has been built survives, the builder will receive a reward. If it is burned up, the builder will suffer loss but yet will be saved—even though only as one escaping through the flames (1 Corinthians 3:10-15).
What a shame it will be if, on that great day, all our work goes up in flames as the fire reveals our pride, our ambition, our manipulation, our fleshly performances. What a shame it will be if the words of Jesus, rebuking the hypocritical religious leaders of His day, will be found to apply to us: “Everything they do is done for people to see” (Matt. 23:5). Does that describe you or me?
Whatever Happened to the Power of the Spirit?
On December 1, 2020, I tweeted, “In the New Testament Church, the leaders were marked by purity of life, devotion to the cross, the power of the Spirit, and perseverance in the midst of persecution. Many of our church leaders today are marked by slick outfits, slick presentations, and slick marketing slogans.”1 Do you think I’m exaggerating?
I’m all for being physically fit. (Since when is being fat or dressing like a slob a sign of holiness?) I’m all for staying current. (Why use a typewriter when you can use a laptop? And why record your messages on cassette tapes if no one today owns a cassette player?) And there’s nothing sacred about church names like “First Assembly.” (One of the young men I help mentor has a really cool—and biblically based—name for his congregation. Why not?)
My issue is the idea that being cool is somehow a Christian ideal, that being relevant takes the place of being anointed, that knowing what is trending is equal to knowing the voice of the Spirit. To the contrary, this is nothing less than the wisdom of the world and the power of the flesh. And I can assure you that an old-fashioned preacher using a King James Bible and wearing an out of style three-piece suit, but anointed with the fire of God and flowing in the power of God, would get more done in one week than our celebrity preachers get done in one year. The truth be told, we have gone from consecration to commercialism and from surrender to sophistication. Am I not telling the truth?
Where is the evidence of the power and presence of God in our ministries and our lives? What are we doing that could not be done without the supernatural grace of the Spirit? Where is His demonstration in our midst? And why is it that the early Church could do nothing without the power and presence of the Spirit, and that the persecuted Church worldwide knows that it can do nothing without the power and presence of the Spirit, but we have managed to figure out how to do everything without that same power and presence?
Who changed the formula? Who came up with a new secret code? How is it that we now know better than Jesus and Paul and the anointed saints of past generations? Or could it be that we have become so accustomed to the absence of the Spirit that we don’t even realize that He is gone? As I wrote in It’s Time to Rock the Boat:
Oh yes, it’s easy to be “busy” for the Lord, running here and there, going to meetings and special events, counseling, preaching, teaching, raising funds, doing good works, “ministering” with all of our might for Jesus. But let the whole truth be told! Much of our ministry today is a concerted, sometimes frantic attempt to make up for the absence of the Spirit. We are trying instead of tarrying, working instead of waiting, doing instead of dying, sweating instead of seeking. Our “spiritual” ministry reeks of the flesh. What the Lord does is holy, holy, holy; what we do is hollow, hollow, hollow. [2]
But lest you think I’m pointing a finger at others, I’m also preaching to myself (although, to be candid, I have never had to worry about looking slick!). I can do a good radio show because I’m a natural talker. I can win a debate using my intellect and skills. I can impart all kinds of wisdom on difficult theological topics based on my years of study. I can respond to the secular critics and the hostile mockers having had lots of personal experience sitting in the hot seat. And I can do all this without the power of the Spirit and not even notice He is missing.
That’s why I have often fallen on my face in prayer and cried out to the Lord with passion and brokenness, “Lord, where is the demonstration of Your Spirit in my ministry? Where is the evidence that Jesus has risen from the dead in my own personal life?”
It’s not that I am primarily called to be a healing evangelist, curing the sick and raising the dead. That is not my specific divine gifting. And it’s not that I want to change the name of my radio show from The Line of Fire to The Miracle Hour of Power. That is not why the Lord has me on the air.
I’m not denying the Lord’s grace on my life to debate or to take on the critics (with love and truth). And I’m certainly not downplaying the importance of decades of serious study. But I am saying that if I am to make an eternal impact and Jesus is to be truly glorified, it cannot be by human words and human strength alone. The Lord must be anointing and directing and working and intervening. The Spirit must be the operative force in my life. Otherwise, the fruit of my labors will be skin deep.
In the same way, I’m not throwing stones of judgment at my fellow leaders and pastors and preachers and teachers. I’m not saying, “Don’t be innovative. Keep the old traditions. By all means, look and sound of out of touch.” Not a chance.
But I am saying this. It is all too easy for us to lean on the arm of the flesh, all too easy to measure our effectiveness by the number of our YouTube views, all too easy to be great in the eyes of man and little (or nothing) in the eyes of the Lord.
Paul’s Boast vs. Ours
When I write a new book for a publisher, the publicity team (which also prays and seeks to be an effective tool in God’s hand) will reach out to me. “How many social media followers do you have? Why should a major media host want you on the air? What is the extent of your reach?”
By God’s grace, I can certainly report that we have good numbers, with a substantial social media base, with my articles being reposted all over the internet, and with an endless list of TV and radio appearances on my resume. But does this prove anything? Does this really mean that God is with me? And does any of this mean that even one single soul has been eternally impacted by my life? Absolutely not.
Not only so, but when you compare the fame of our best-known celebrity preachers (by which I mean the Christian leaders best known to the world) to the fame of the biggest worldly celebrities, there is no comparison at all. For every million people who know our names (I say “our” not because I’m a celebrity but because I’m referring to Christian leaders), there are ten million or 100 million who know the names of the worldly star.
Really now, whoever said that having a million Instagram followers was a sign of divine favor, let alone a sign of anointing, let alone a sign of dedication to God? Hardly! In reality, the biggest Internet stars are often famous for being base, vulgar, and even perverse. Yet how many times have we boasted: “My latest video has gone viral,” or, “My latest message is being liked and shared like crazy,” or, “My latest book just hit #1 on Amazon in the category of Inspiration.”
I’ve certainly done that, not because I felt this was proof of God’s favor, but because I felt it indicated that we had hit a nerve or struck a chord. Yet it is a very small (and subtle) jump from recognizing that people are resonating with our message to believing that the shares or likes or views or sales are a proof of heavenly blessing or divine anointing. Based on that metric, one of the most “blessed” and “anointed” songs of 2020 was a rap song so vulgar and sexually explicit that I cannot quote a line of it here.3 Based on that same metric, the most “blessed” and “anointed” people on the planet are the Kardashian sisters, especially when they pose in the nude. Can you see, my friend, how misguided we have been?
As one journalist wrote regarding “celebrity” pastors:
I am not religious, so it is not my place to dictate to Christians what they should and should not believe. Still, if someone has a faith worth following, I feel that their beliefs should make me feel uncomfortable for not doing so. If they share 90 percent of my lifestyle and values, then there is nothing especially inspiring about them. Instead of making me want to become more like them, it looks very much as if they want to become more like me. [4]
Here’s how Paul “boasted” of his own ministry when he needed to separate himself from the carnal “super-apostles.” He wrote:
Are they servants of Christ? (I am out of my mind to talk like this.) I am more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again. Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches. Who is weak, and I do not feel weak? Who is led into sin, and I do not inwardly burn?
If I must boast, I will boast of the things that show my weakness. The God and Father of the Lord Jesus, who is to be praised forever, knows that I am not lying. In Damascus the governor under King Aretas had the city of the Damascenes guarded in order to arrest me. But I was lowered in a basket from a window in the wall and slipped through his hands (2 Corinthians 11:23-33).
Somehow, this sounds a little different than a publicist asking me, “Dr. Brown, how many Facebook followers do you have? And on how many radio and TV stations does your broadcast air?” Somehow, this sounds a little different than the way I’m introduced at churches, “Dr. Brown has written more than forty books, preached around the world, and taught at seven leading seminaries.” I don’t think the Lord is impressed.
Today, being an “apostle” is a sign of prestige, of lofty stature, of being “somebody.” Being a senior pastor is really big, but being an apostle is bigger still! Somehow, Paul didn’t have that memo when he wrote:
For it seems to me that God has put us apostles on display at the end of the procession, like those condemned to die in the arena. We have been made a spectacle to the whole universe, to angels as well as to human beings. We are fools for Christ, but you are so wise in Christ! We are weak, but you are strong! You are honored, we are dishonored! To this very hour we go hungry and thirsty, we are in rags, we are brutally treated, we are homeless. We work hard with our own hands. When we are cursed, we bless; when we are persecuted, we endure it; when we are slandered, we answer kindly. We have become the scum of the earth, the garbage of the world—right up to this moment (1 Corinthians 4:9-13).
He also wrote this:
We put no stumbling block in anyone’s path, so that our ministry will not be discredited. Rather, as servants of God we commend ourselves in every way: in great endurance; in troubles, hardships and distresses; in beatings, imprisonments and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights and hunger; in purity, understanding, patience and kindness; in the Holy Spirit and in sincere love; in truthful speech and in the power of God; with weapons of righteousness in the right hand and in the left; through glory and dishonor, bad report and good report; genuine, yet regarded as impostors; known, yet regarded as unknown; dying, and yet we live on; beaten, and yet not killed; sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; poor, yet making many rich; having nothing, and yet possessing everything (2 Corinthians 6:3-10).
I doubt that Paul would be impressed with many of our big, contemporary leaders. Yet writing from a prison cell, he has made more of a lasting impact on the world than the “biggest” ministries on the planet today. Beware the seduction of success. Beware the snare of outward growth. I urge you to build what will last, not just into the next generation but into eternity. Do not get your eyes on numbers.
Where Is Our Focus?
To say it once more: There are fine mega-churches and large, anointed media ministries. We should use all the tools we have at our disposal, especially the internet. Financial provision is a great blessing, something for which we should be thankful, and numbers can be a real sign of divine favor. My constant prayer is to make the maximum impact on the maximum number of people, all for the glory of God.
But, as we have emphasized, all that glitters is not gold, and there is a very dangerous, even deadly, foreign mixture that has invaded many of our churches and ministries today. It even dominates them.
Go to the latest leadership conference and see if there is an emphasis on prayer, on holiness, on the power of the Spirit, on burden for the lost, on world missions. Or is the emphasis on how to grow a successful church? Or how to market your ministry? Or how to construct a sermon? Or how to manage your budget? Or how to use social media?
These things can have a place, because being practical is important too. The Book of Proverbs is quite practical, isn’t it? But it is our dependence on earthly things and our lack of dependence on heavenly things that is our undoing. The greatest proof of this is simple—we desperately need a divine visitation, yet we don’t even know it. “We’re doing just fine without You, Lord!”
Of course, in our charismatic circles, we go to the other extreme. Our conferences are often marked by themes like: how to have an angelic encounter; or, understanding the mysteries of the third heaven; or, seven new prophetic revelations; or, trance evangelism. (OK. I exaggerated just a bit with the last one.) And all the while, in the midst of our packed-out events, we have people bound by porn, marriages falling apart, believers struggling with depression, and teens on the verge of suicide. Yet the message of repentance is not sounded, sin is not dealt with, and the deepest needs of the attendees go largely unmet.
Consequently, in our charismatic circles, it’s not so much that we don’t recognize our need for visitation. It’s that we think we are experiencing an ongoing visitation. “The Shekinah glory is here,” we exclaim, “and angels are handing out new anointings as I speak! Who needs revival?”
We have even substituted good music and talented musicians and singers for Christ-exalting lyrics and God-filled worship leaders. As expressed by David Wilkerson in 2002:
I look at the whole religious scene today and all I see are the inventions of ministries of man and flesh. It’s mostly powerless. It has no impact on the world. And I see more of the world coming into the church and impacting the church rather than the church impacting the world. I see the music taking over the house of God. I see entertainment taking over the house of God…an obsession with entertainment in God’s house, a hatred of correction, and a hatred of reproof. Nobody wants to hear it anymore. [5]
What makes this Wilkerson quote so powerful is that he appreciated good music, and Times Square Church in New York City, which he pastored for many years, had some excellent musicians and singers. And everything was done at the highest quality with real excellence. Yet in the scores of times I preached there from 1991 to 1995, there was always a deep sense of reverence, there was fervent prayer before the services started, and there was a sense of real dependence on the Lord. And when I would stand to preach, I would do so in the awe of God. I knew I was standing on sacred ground.
I personally love music, coming to faith as a rock drummer in 1971 and having written a whole book on The Power of Music.6 For the last five decades, some of the most joy-filled encounters I have had with the Lord have been during times of singing upbeat praise songs, while some of the most tearful encounters I have had with Him have come while singing soul-stirring songs of worship. In many ways, there is no more powerful tool on the earth than the tool of music.
Yet it is so easy to prostitute our musical talents, to lean on our musical excellence, to so package each song with intros and solos and complex melodies that our gatherings feel more like concerts than worship services and our worship leaders look more like performers than servants. Is this not a very real trap? And with meetings programmed to the minute for the sake of our satellite church broadcasts, have we not also programmed out the moving of the Spirit?
I fully understand the constraints of multiple services where you have to exit the building at a certain time in order to empty the parking lot and clear the seats, lest you end up with a massive traffic jam blocking your community’s roads. I understand how the meetings must be coordinated between worship and announcements and preaching and altar ministry, coupled with children’s services and the like. And I applaud the workers and leaders who give themselves tirelessly to serve their flocks, often doing five worship sets in a weekend, preaching five sermons, ministering to group after group of children. This is certainly kingdom work, and when I preach in those settings, I nail the timing to the second, trying to sync the final “Amen” with the final zero on the clock. (After all, I’m a radio guy.)
But where, pray tell, is there room for the Spirit to break in? Where does He have control of our agenda? Where can He visit and speak and act, even if it means singing one less song or shortening (or even eliminating) a sermon?
There are churches that have leadership gatherings on Monday to evaluate their Sunday services, and I believe they do this with good motivation, wanting to honor God and serve people. And so they ask: How did the songs flow? Were the vocals too loud? Was the worship team color-coordinated? What about the lighting? And did the pastor’s jokes enhance the message? What about his movie illustration? Was that powerful?
Yet all the while, the Spirit is asking His own set of questions: How much time did you spend seeking Me? How much room was there for My ministry? How did the songs exalt Jesus? How did the preaching magnify the cross? Where was the sacred encounter? Where was the dependence on My anointing and power rather than your talent and effort?
Perhaps His questions are more important than ours? Perhaps it’s time we review our priorities? And even if time constraints or building constraints make it difficult for us to have prolonged services (after all, if your services run five to six hours, it will be difficult to have three of them on Sunday), why can’t we build a culture of prayer that puts secret intercession ahead of public meetings? And why can’t we have encounter services on a regular basis where the Spirit can flow freely? And what is stopping us from cultivating a presence-driven mentality in our home meetings?
Let me say once more than I know of mega-churches that emphasize prayer and that really depend on the Lord during their set times of worship. I know of pastors with large followings who really give themselves to intercession and seek God earnestly for their messages. And it is God who is giving them the increase.
I simply ask if we have often substituted the arm of the flesh for the power of the Spirit and if we have mistaken earthly success for the blessing of God. Surely this hits home for many of us, both with large and small ministries. Surely this is always a human temptation, especially in our push-button, digital age.
The Politicizing of the Church
But there is something else that has entered the house of God in recent years, and it is a destructive plague that could totally derail us. I’m talking about cloaking the gospel in an American flag. I’m talking about equating patriotism with the kingdom of God. I’m talking about prophets being moved by a partisan political spirit more than by the Holy Spirit. I’m talking about evangelical and charismatic believers becoming better known for our support of a political leader than for our loyalty to Jesus. I’m talking about more prayer for the elections than for revival and more concern for getting our candidates in office than for getting our neighbors saved. This has made us into a laughingstock before the watching world, and sadly, we are often the last ones to know it.
I personally voted for Donald Trump in 2016 and 2020, having real reservations about his character and recognizing the damage he could do as our national leader but strongly preferring his policies to those of his Democratic opponents and recognizing the very real threats posed by the radical left. And, looking back at the end of 2020, I deeply appreciate the stands he has taken and the courage he has shown. In many ways, we are indebted to him.
At the same time, I asked in 2018 if our relationship with him as evangelicals was a match made in heaven or a marriage made with hell, while in 2020 I wrote a whole book asking whether we had passed the Trump test.7 I can now say that the answer to that question is a categorical “no.” We failed that test miserably. (What I meant by the “Trump test” was: 1) can we vote for Trump without tarnishing our witness? And 2) can we unite around Jesus even if we divide over Trump?)
I asked one of my evangelical colleagues, a lifelong Republican but a strong Never Trumper, to articulate his concerns about our relationship with Trump. He wrote (in part):
The evangelical world has made a similar deal with Donald Trump, who is operating in the same manner as Satan did with Jesus [in the wilderness during the Lord’s time of temptation]. He is offering the evangelical world what they want… Israel… Abortion… Economy… but at an unacceptable price. The evangelical world has fallen down to worship Trump, not as God, but as the means toward “good things” they seek and admire. In the process, they ignore his ungodliness, cruelty, manipulations, and lying. They made the living God into Donald Trump’s back up man. This is foul idolatry. And I mean this utterly.
The price they have paid for these “good things” they’ve gotten? The credibility of the gospel and of its messengers. Who can respect a gospel peddled by people who have sold themselves and their integrity so cheaply and hitched their wagon to such an evil, narcissistic man? In a real sense, Trump evangelicals made a deal with the devil. And everybody loses. [8]
Another concerned believer wrote:
…it is deeply troubling that Mr. Trump’s evangelical supporters refuse to condemn the president’s unethical behavior in office. That failure stands in sharp contrast to their reaction to Bill Clinton’s moral failings, boldly summed up in a 1998 Southern Baptist resolution. “We implore our government leaders to live by the highest standards of morality both in their private actions and in their public duties,” it read, “and thereby serve as models of moral excellence and character.”
This sentiment appears all but forgotten when it comes to measuring the current president.
He continued:
It is a sure sign of a church’s internal decay when the sum and substance of its religious activity becomes entwined with political partisanship, especially when loyalty to a political figure is equated with loyalty to God.
At that January Evangelicals for Trump rally [in 2020], the opening prayer included these words: “We declare that no weapon formed against him will be able to prosper and every demonic altar erected against him will be torn down” and that “he will rise high, and he is seated in the heavenly places.”
Christians have traditionally denounced such talk as idolatry.
In this light, it is no wonder that Trump-supporting evangelicals don’t comprehend the moral gravity of the lies and contempt that characterize Mr. Trump’s words, and that they excuse the manifold corruptions of his office. He’s a political messiah, after all; by definition, he can’t do wrong. [9]
I know some of the wording sounds harsh or even extreme, especially as Trump fought for our religious liberties, stood for the unborn, appointed solid judges to our courts, helped many poor people with his policies, moved the embassy to Jerusalem and brokered new Middle East peace deals, and faced down Iranian terrorism and the tyrannical rule of China. That’s why he got my vote and my support. But I also said this, over and over again: Jesus is my Savior and Lord. He died for me and has my heart and my life and my soul and my all. Trump is my president and he gets my vote. Let there be no confusion between the two!
Sadly, as the media grew more hostile to Trump, as Big Tech censored him and other conservatives, as the left became more radical still, many of us looked to Trump as our champion, the only man who could save America and the free world, God’s anointed especially raised up at such a time as this, the man appointed by heaven to fight for our cause. To question him was to question the Lord. To raise any criticism against him was to fail to heed the prophets. To differ with his narrative was to be spiritually disloyal.
This is a real form of idolatry. This is stealing the glory that belongs only to the Lord and giving it to a courageous but very flawed man. Worse still, our leaders became the poster boys for Trump, turning a blind eye to his reckless words and making excuses for his destructive behavior. We who once became famous for shouting, “Character counts! Morality matters! We are the Values Voters!” now said, “I can live with Trump’s nastiness. He’s saving the unborn. I can put up with his lies. He’s fighting global terror.”
And the world looked on with scorn. We brought reproach to Jesus’ name! How desperately we need a sweeping repentance movement, beginning with many of our leaders, beginning with many of our social media influencers, beginning with those of us to whom much has been given. Much will also be required!
Enough with our celebrity Christianity and our superstar spirituality and our partisan political preaching. As the Lord said through Jeremiah, “Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls” (Jer. 6:16).
Back then, the people responded defiantly, saying, “We will not walk in it.” Today I hear a fresh cry, as God’s people cry out, “Here we are, Lord, chasing after You! By Your mercy, we are returning to the ancient paths, to the good ways. Our ways have left us cold and dry.”
Notes
1. Michael Brown, Twitter @DrMichaelLBrown, December 1, 2020, https://twitter.com/DrMichaelLBrown/status/1333987623321399298.
2. Brown, It’s Time to Rock the Boat, 287.
3. See Michael Brown, “The Soon-to-Be No. 1 Song Underscores Why We Need a Moral and Cultural Revolution,” The Stream, August 13, 2020, https://stream.org/the-soon-to-be-no-1-song-underscores-why-we-need-a-moral-and-cultural-revolution.
4. Ben Sixsmith, “The sad irony of celebrity pastors,” December 6, 2020, https://spectator.us/sad-irony-celebrity-pastors-carl-lentz-hillsong/?fbclid=IwAR1a3CxZtvxhgMcB_eTM4E7Ll8_BijAbRb2oeMWZd44bZ1k37C-lRRpVi_E.
5. Wilkerson, “A Call to Anguish,” https://www.sermonindex.net/modules/articles/index.php?view=article&aid=32622.
6. Michael L. Brown, The Power of Music: God’s Call to Change the World One Song at a Time (Lake Mary, FL: Charisma House, 2019).
7. Michael L. Brown, Evangelicals at the Crossroads: Will We Pass the Trump Test? (Concord, NC: Equal Time Books, 2020).
8. Private Facebook message, quoted with permission.
9. Mark Galli, in Ronald J. Sider, The Spiritual Danger of Donald Trump: 30 Evangelical Christians on Justice, Truth, and Moral Integrity (Eugene, Oregon: Cascade Books, 2000), 7-8. Note that elsewhere I have taken issue with some of Galli’s comments; here, however, I strongly agree. See Michael Brown, “A Response to Christianity Today’s Call for the Removal of Trump from Office,” December 20, 2019, https://stream.org/a-response-to-christianity-todays-call-for-the-removal-of-trump-from-office.
