Human beings have always wanted someone to look up to who is bigger than themselves. The infatuation we have with superheroes in America proves the point. We realize that as frail, feeble human beings, someone else must provide what we indeed do not have for ourselves. This celebrity status of vesting our hopes and dreams in another is something we are all tempted to do. 

I would define a celebrity as someone who draws a following thanks to who they are or what they can do that remains out of reach for “regular people” – like a Hollywood star, professional athlete or politician. Throughout my life I have met a handful of celebrities, and you really don’t know what to say around them. You just do not want to look like a fool. 

Although church leaders have usually been the most influential Christians throughout the history of the church, an unhealthy addiction in the church today is to elevate pastors to quasi-Messianic, celebrity status based on their gifting. In fact, I would rank the celebrity pastor mentality among the top five problems afflicting the Evangelical world today.

I want to go on record and say this is a bad idea, because pastors are meant to be servants, not celebrities! When a pastor is overly celebrated for his gifting, he grows unaccountable and untouchable, and perhaps worse, his church becomes pastor-centered and not Christ-centered. 

We need to ask, why do people come to our churches? Is it to see a man perform? Or meet with Christ and His people?

How do we combat such a celebrity status mentality in the church? 

Let’s start with pastors: Brothers, whether you and I have 5,000 or 50 in attendance, there are people in our churches who will want you to become a celebrity pastor. 

Do not let it happen. Don’t let it happen because we are not worthy of that status, because it goes completely against our calling, and it robs our flock of the shepherd – and Shepherd – they really need. If we allow ourselves to be exalted to celebrity status or don’t try to hinder it, we are guilty of subverting Christ’s place among our people. 

If you or I dropped dead tomorrow, someone else would assume our pulpits this Sunday. Let us not make our churches dependent on us. They need Christ. 

So we must work hard to build our churches on Christ and not our gifts of preaching, and here are four simple suggestions on that score:

First, let us empower our members to use their own gifts in the church. In passages like Ephesians 4:12 or 1 Corinthians 12, Paul demonstrates that the Spirit-indwelt members of the church all have gifts and pastors are to help them develop them. People need to know that pastors are just a part of the local body using their gifts. While the pastor’s gifts may be more public, it is certain from a Biblical perspective that all gifts are equally important and have their place. 

Second, let us share our pulpits with other qualified men. Ideally, these would be men in our own local church but if that is not an option (e.g., due to lack of trained or experienced leadership in a small church) wisdom would dictate having visitors speak. Sharing our pulpits will teach the church that we are not the only one in the world who can do what we do, while giving us a chance to sit under the Word to have your own soul fed. 

Third, emphasize the Lord’s Supper. How often a church should celebrate this essential ordinance/sacrament is up to that local assembly, but it should be a big deal when we partake. Evidence from the book of Acts indicates the early church took the Supper every week. This is not a mandate that every church partake every week but it is a demonstration of how important it was to the early church. I hope to write a blog on the frequency of the Lord’s Supper in the life of the church soon. However, it is a sure sign of celebrity pastor status if a church’s emphasis is on the preacher week-in and week-out and the Supper is never or rarely observed. 

Fourth, let us be approachable. I would not want to be a celebrity because of all the fanfare and time constraints that come along with it. Friends, shepherds can’t be celebrities because they must be accessible and must smell like the sheep of their churches. 

And very simply, to the Church: stop looking for your pastor to be for you what only Jesus can be. Get your eyes on Christ because at the end of the day, your pastor is a poor substitute for Jesus. 

Soli Deo Gloria!