I'm Not Looking for Christian Celebrities
Jesus doesn't need the help of famous people to spread the Gospel
In Embracing Curiosity, I step away from writing about travel to comment on the bigger journey of life, exploring my faith and politics with curiosity and nuance.
I came home from my friend Katy’s house after an afternoon of listening to Madonna’s newest album, True Blue, on her little pink boombox. We had spent the afternoon listening to the likes of “Papa, Don’t Preach,” our elementary-aged selves completely oblivious to lyrics that we could come to understand as we got older.
When my mom asked what we had been doing, I told her. After all, why would I need to hide the fact that I had been listening to the Material Girl in the house across the street. My mom frowned, clearly not pleased that I had been introduced to the musical genius. In an attempt to make my mom feel better about my decision making, I said, “Mom, you know that she’s Catholic? Doesn’t that mean that she’s a Christian?”
It was my first ever attempt to rate celebrity acceptability by the public faith history or proclamations of a famous individual. It wouldn’t be my last.
It became a regular ritual as a Christian child and teenager of the 1980s and 1990s. Part of it was growing up in a culture obsessed with finding “alternatives” to every secular offering. Want a band that sounds like X? Listen to this band. Do you like this television show? How about this instead? Do you devour this book series? Bet you’ll find this book series just as engaging.
I eagerly anticipated each month’s issue of Brio, full of Christian music artists and advice columns that directed us away from questionable media that would tempt us to follow a life of sin. I remember our youth group leaders once giving us a long list of bands—many of them bands that we all regularly listened to on the radio or at school dances—and telling us why we needed to stop listening to the music so that we could have clean hearts and minds. I struggled as I wanted to show that I was a good and faithful Christian but I also wanted to roll my eyes because what would that scene in The Mighty Ducks be like if they weren’t playing the song “We Are the Champions” in the background?
We looked for people in the public square who were Christian, who shared our belief system and wouldn’t participate in entertainment or politics that opposed those beliefs. We weren’t just looking for bonafide Christian celebrities who were making names for themselves in Christian industries. We were looking for Christians in the secular world who were standing up for our mutual faith. And we had our pick.
Candice Cameron followed in her brother’s footsteps and spoke out about her Christian faith, earning her place on my bedroom wall as my favorite of the Tanner sisters. Jessica Simpson gave all of us hope as openly talked about her desire to remain a virgin until her wedding night and then had a fairy tale romance with Nick Lachey, complete with a wedding broadcast on MTV and their television show chronicling their adventures as a young newlywed couple. Mel Gibson, who stole our hearts over and over again in film after film, highlighted his Christian beliefs as he directed The Passion of the Christ, bringing to life the twenty-four hours leading up to Christ’s death.
In short, we became like the Wisconsin girls in Love, Actually, believing that even a short mention of God or a “thank you, Jesus” meant that the celebrity in question was a Bible-believing Christian worthy of our admiration.
Except, it’s not that simple. It never was.
Candice Cameron Bure continues to speak about her love for Jesus, but she also continues to platform a brother who has turned his own celebrity into a platform for conspiracy theories, bad theology, and downplaying the impact of a global pandemic that has killed millions of people across the globe. Jessica Simpson’s marriage to Nick Lache quickly fell apart and her faith, professional, and personal life have been on a wild ride. Mel Gibson’s fall from grace included being arrested for drunk driving, caught using antisemitic slurs on video, and divorcing his wife of twenty-eight years, a marriage that produced seven children.
And that doesn’t even begin to scratch the surface of celebrities who have, at best, made excuses for MAGA political ideologies or, at worst, gone all in on the White Christian Nationalism frenzy that is sweeping up our loved ones and harming our collective Christian witness.
If there’s one thing I kept coming back to over and over again in Katelyn Beaty’s1 excellent (and short) book Celebrities for Jesus, is the potentially toxic nature of mixing faith with any kind of celebrity culture. There is nothing wrong with famous people being honest about their faith, but Jesus doesn’t need famous Christians to grow his Church. Nothing highlighted the problem with this belief better than the following Tweet:
I don’t want celebrities to shy away from openly living their faith; I just want them to stop using their Christian platform to talk about what they are against (sex scenes, abortion, LGTBQ characters and rights), and instead be open about how they are living their faith in community (helping women getting out of sex trafficking, policies that make having a baby easier, an ethic that treats all humans beings as their equal, even if they don’t agree with them). In her book The Ministry of Ordinary Places,
challenges readers to make Christian love an action instead of relying on platitudes. She writes:While sharing the hope of Christ is certainly not wrong, there’s a better way to connect with overlooked people. It involves not just a loving gesture, but actual love that cannot be put on, taken off, or packed up at the end of the day.2
I want them to show they are Christians by their love in action, not their political and social stances. I want us to hold accountable those we turn into celebrities, correcting and deplatforming them when their words or actions have been proven harmful, such as with the Duggar family. And I don’t want to stop the presses for every celebrity who claims a sudden change in faith and perspective. (Kanye West, anyone?)
If our own words and actions are not enough to convince our neighbors that Jesus is worth their time and consideration, then the latest hot celebrity with whom they have no relationship isn’t going to be enough either.
We don’t need more celebrity Christians. We need more Christians acting like Christ. Why don’t we try that, instead?
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Martin, Shannan. The Ministry of Ordinary Places: Waking Up to God's Goodness Around You. Thomas Nelson Incorporated, 2018, p 114.
I grew up Catholic and attended a Benedictine high school where I was taught by monks- quiet piety was the expectation. And just in general, no one was ever ‘in your face’ with their religion. In Texas it is so different and a little offensive to see shirts with ‘sweet tea and Jesus’ etc. I agree- less talking the talk, more walking the walk.
Thoughtful read, Sarah♥️ the love actually cameo made me start laughing 😂 such an underrated character arc. Warning: short novel ahead. This was very thought provoking .
Religion or spirituality at it’s best can be a driving force for positive change and openness to having dinner with those who are different than us or dwelling in our discomfort as we try to contribute to a more positive future.
Religion + spirituality at its worst can be a power trip, controlling, manipulative and a prop for those who have no true interest in spiritual benefit.
This highlights that well. I was listening to a podcast recently specifically about fundamentalism( specifically church camps) and there was a discussion about the way forgiveness is dished out freely. I think this is true no matter what- we all have the power to forgive ourselves- but specifically in fundamentalist churches, how it doesn’t matter what you do, you will be forgiven and praised for confessing and having forgiven and how that plays into the power structure in a lot of them. ( speaking from my own understanding , not trying to over-generalize). But that specific idea reminds me of all of these celebrities that aren’t necessarily embodying Christian ideals. It’s normal to leave and come back to rigorous religious and spiritual practice I think, but where’s the line between using a religion as a crutch and being a human? Who gets to decide ?🤔