the messenger becomes more important than the message, trouble follows...
Posted on 08/02/2014 9:03:42 PM PDT by hiho hiho
It’s not easy being a celebrity pastor these days with that pesky Internet around.
Consider the struggles of Mark Driscoll of Mars Hill Church in Seattle. Faced with mounting accusations circulating online — plagiarism, misusing church funds to prop book sales, silencing anyone in his church with the temerity to question him — Driscoll has urged his followers to stay off the Web. “It’s all shenanigans anyway,” he explains.
Steven Furtick, a megachurch pastor in North Carolina, and Dave Ramsey, an evangelical finance guru, have been taking hits, too, as have the wheeler-dealers on the Preachers of L.A. reality show. This, against a backdrop of culture shifts creating strong headwinds against the leader-and-follower model typified by today’s Christian superstars.
What are a megapastor and his followers to do? Remembering the biblical admonitions against idolatry would be a good start.
Some media outlets have dubbed Driscoll a “rock star” among pastors. He is hip, brash, very interested in sex and, for a reverend, unusually irreverent. He doesn’t throw televisions out of hotel windows in the manner of bad-boy rock musicians. But he comes close in the rhetorical sense, tossing out insults about gay people, women and his theological rivals.
Also true to his rock-star status, Driscoll enjoys massive popularity. His Mars Hill Church (including its 15 franchised satellite locations) attracts nearly 15,000 weekly. Driscoll’s podcast has 250,000 regular listeners worldwide, and his 2012 book, Real Marriage, topped a New York Times best-seller list.
Ah, that chart-topping book. Driscoll has admitted to using more than $200,000 in church funds to hire a consultant to game the system, boost sales and add that magical reference — No. 1 best-selling author — to his glittering résumé. This questionable allocation of church money is indicative of a wider problem that rankles those in Driscoll’s growing flock of critics: the lack of transparency around Driscoll and church funds.
His salary? Unknown. Who controls church funds? Good luck finding that out. And because of the non-disclosure agreements that Mars Hill pastors and staff members must sign to receive severance pay when they depart, little is known about who holds Driscoll accountable on money or any other issue.
One of the problems with celebrity pastors is that it’s very difficult to draw a line between advancing the gospel and advancing the preacher. When a famous pastor grows his audience and fame, doesn’t this mean that more people are hearing his saving message about Christ? Well, yes. But as revealed by the long history of church authority and its periodic abuse, the dynamic also gives the preacher on the pedestal a too-easy justification for seemingly everything he wants to do. You don’t want to be against God’s will, do you?
Now, however, there’s a wild card that older-school religious celebrities did not have to contend with. Thanks to the Internet, any disgruntled current or former follower can write a scathing blog post, add nasty comments to reader forums or, as the creator of @FakeDriscoll does, voice a spoof Twitter account in the target’s name. This can take a toll — as demonstrated by Driscoll’s church, which has had to lay off staff due to declining attendance and giving.
Because of the Internet, “the audience is now at least as much of a celebrity as the pastor, if not more,” says Jim Henderson, a Christian author and producer in the Seattle area who is convinced that the era of the celebrity pastor as spiritual paragon is waning. Henderson produces a live show called Where’s God When … featuring a very different kind of “celebrity” Christian — William Paul Young, author of the megaselling faith-themed novel The Shack.
Young is, seemingly, everything the megapastors are not: small of stature and ego, quietly reflective, and open about his painful journey and struggles (including his being a sex-abuse victim).
Henderson might be right about this being the beginning of the end for celebrity megapastors. Until that process runs its course, however, fans of the Driscolls, Furticks and the rest have a big question to ask themselves. Who, ultimately, are they following? Jesus? Or their pastor?
Tom Krattenmaker is a Portland-based writer specializing in religion in public life and a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributors. His latest book is The Evangelicals You Don’t Know.
the messenger becomes more important than the message, trouble follows...
While I do not doubt that there are a lot of sleazy celebrity pastors, I can choose not to attend their churches and not put money in their collection plates. Wish I had the same choice with sleazy celibrity politicians.
Amen...
The internet has finally bought down The Tyrant Bill Gothard this summer!
These rock and roll country club mega churches with their rock star pastors, 50 piece orchestras and 100 voice choirs make me sick to my stomach.
I was raised in a strict Southern Baptist home where, it seemed, we went to church 20 times a week. Now I’m a backslider.
I was recently invited to a musical program at one of these mega churches. While there, I was scanning through the hymnal. Could not find one single hymn from my childhood. Every ‘hymn’ they sang had a rock and roll beat to it. Give me a break.
Steven Furtick, a megachurch pastor in North Carolina, and Dave Ramsey, an evangelical finance guru, have been taking hits, too, as have the wheeler-dealers on the Preachers of L.A. reality show. This, against a backdrop of culture shifts creating strong headwinds against the leader-and-follower model typified by today’s Christian superstars.
What are a megapastor and his followers to do? Remembering the biblical admonitions against idolatry would be a good start.
PFL
I read the article and still don’t know why Ramsey was mentioned. What hits has he taken? Also, as far as I know, though he uses church groups for his financial peace lessons, he’s not a minister. Why was he mentioned in the article?
Ditto. I really respect Ramsey for his advocating debt free living.
Anytime the photo of the preacher is bigger than the cross, you know its a BS “church”
I was wondering the same thing. Couldn’t find anything qualifying as a “hit” on the web. Some honest debate about some of his advice, and some kooks who claim he’s a fraud (and some funny satire “debunking” his advice). So why mix him in with “plagiarism, misusing church funds to prop book sales, silencing anyone in his church with the temerity to question him” by someone else?
Though this article does not mention Joel Osteen and Lakewood Church in Houston, my first thoughts were of him. He is the epitome of Mega Church pastors...
While our last church wasn’t a mega-church, it was a seeker-friendly church. This is a type of church where the gospel message gets watered down so as not to offend the seeker. It basically turned into a Sunday morning coffee shop, rock concert. Needless to say, we left this church and are now attending a Southern Baptist Church, where the Gospel message is proclaimed without political correctness or apology!
BTW, as another poster noted, the musical selections in some churches has become a true disappointment. Many services go by where no classic Christian songs are sung. Instead, we have a “Praise Band” blowing the roof off the church with songs nobody’s ever heard before. While I’m certain I’m the minority on this, I find Praise Teams to be a distraction to my worship. I find they take the focus off of God, and put it on themselves. Not saying they always mean to do this, but I find it does happen.
AND OSTEEN IS LIVING IN A 2 MILLION DOLLAR HOUSE!
As my son says, “Pastors and Priests should never preach in Hawaiian Shirts...”
I am sure using church funds to finance something personal would be a no-no anywhere sane.
I wouldn't be proud of that, dude
I’ve always thought there something not quite right with Mark Driscoll. The man just creeps me out.
I like Dave Ramsey
I am not Joel’s defender, however, how do you know that is not just a SMALL portion of what his ministy brings in??? I am very close to a family who are millionaires and live on only 10% of their earnings and sow into the kingdom of God the other 90%. Just sayin”
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