From Conference Stages to Moral Failures: A Warning About the Celebrity Pastor Culture

It has been almost 20 years since I attended the first Together for The Gospel Conference in 2006. At the time, I was a newly reformed college kid considering seminary. This particular conference was specifically attended by pastors, seminary students, and prospective seminary students. It seemed aimed at celebrating, emphasizing, and building up the local church. For this reason, I was extremely excited about attending, and it was excellent.

However, by the time of the 2008 conference, the impact and influence of T4G had grown significantly. While I do not know why the organizers of the event decided to shift, expand, and allow anyone to register, I think we can hypothesize that they likely realized there was a broader interest from laypeople that the discussions at T4G could benefit not just pastors but all believers who were passionate about theological depth and church unity. In parallel, reformed theology was becoming more popular. Men like John Piper, CJ Mahaney, and RC Sproul were culturally and nationally relevant. In turn, attendance nearly doubled. It went from around 2,750 to 5,000 attendees.

By the final year of the T4G conference (2022), the event boasted an attendance of around 12,000 people. What began as a reasonably sized event for ministers of varying denominations to unify became a shining star on the reformed, celebrity-pastor preaching circuit.

At the time, I was thankful and encouraged that the conference flourished the way it did. But in hindsight, as I watch celebrity-pastor after celebrity-pastor commit moral failure, I am more convinced than ever that we need to unravel, re-evaluate the celebrity-pastor preaching circuit, and urge men and women to press harder into their local churches. But we have some challenges.

We live in a unique age where one can develop a robust theological education without stepping foot in a church or seminary. For example, in a season when I had a long commute for work, I managed to listen to all of John Piper’s series through the book of Romans – over 200 sermons!  Never has it been so easy to listen to sermons/lectures from incredible teachers. Yet, in consuming such content, it is deceptively easy to get a sense that you are growing in grace and faith. But without heart change and application, it is just knowledge.

I will add that just because we have an emotional response doesn’t mean our hearts are being permanently changed. In Matthew 13, Jesus speaks about seed that falls on various types of ground.  Jesus points out how one can even receive the word with joy, and though it endures for a while, it has no root in the person. Notice what Jesus says about the intellectual and emotional responses of the people within the parable:

 “Hear then the parable of the sower: When anyone hears the word of the kingdom and does not understand it, the evil one comes and snatches away what has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown along the path. As for what was sown on rocky ground, this is the one who hears the word and immediately receives it with joy, yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while, and when tribulation or persecution arises on account of the word, immediately he falls away. As for what was sown among thorns, this is the one who hears the word, but the cares of the world and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and it proves unfruitful. As for what was sown on good soil, this is the one who hears the word and understands it. He indeed bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty.” (Matthew 13:18-23)

There is a subtle danger in excessively consuming content for the sake of content. It’s nearly effortless to devour great, gospel-centered content and give a hearty “amen,” but it is difficult to deny oneself daily, take up the cross, and follow Jesus. Such work requires more than lectures and powerful sermons; it requires careful shepherding and heart-work.

I suspect many of those who have “deconstructed” have done so because after several years of intense doctrinal education and seeking something with life-changing substance, they walk away disappointed and dissatisfied.  The content may have been excellent, but they never learned how to apply it correctly to their heart. As the author of Hebrews says, they “tasted the heavenly gift” (6:4), but in the end, they have walk away from the faith. Without local pastors and elders to shepherd, guide, and lead knowledge alone sows not into the Spirit but into the flesh. Galatians 6 points out that one who sows into the flesh reaps “corruption” (6:8).

This emphasizes the importance of the local church and the danger of creating celebrity pastors.  We need pastors, teachers, and preachers who exercise their gifts into a specific set of people with a specific set of needs. Certainly, there are universal truths that can be proclaimed from anywhere. But it is the application of such truths where shepherds, who know their flock, can make a big difference.

Furthermore, Men and women who regularly listen to gifted teachers/preachers like John Piper, Matt Chandler, John Macarthur, and so on run the risk of becoming conditioned to such teaching and feel like they “aren’t getting fed” at their local church. So, they either stop going, increase the listening to of celebrity pastors, or church hop looking for the next theological sermon “high.” Worse yet, this can be done under the guise of trying to be more sanctified or pious. But at the end of the day, your pastor is the one who knows your heart.

Dr. Mark Jones recently wrote, “We also need to re-evaluate the celebrity-culture that continues to exist because parachurch organizations persist with their selective inbreeding whereby the same men are platformed repeatedly so that we begin to think that they have something to tell us that ordinary pastors can’t.” He’s right.

God has placed over you specific leaders to keep watch over your soul. A celebrity pastor, no matter how well-spoken, can never do this. It is not their place. This is why the author of Hebrews commands you to “Obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls, as those who will have to give an account” (13:17). For the sake of the flock, we need to do what we can to build up and emphasize the local pastor over the celebrity pastor.

Another element of the reformed celebrity pastor culture that concerns me is the danger for the pastors themselves. Consider the amount of endless praise and admiration that comes when a famous pastor speaks at an event. At one of the T4G events, I recall a line of 100+ waiting in line to talk to John Piper and get their book signed. If you have never been, this is a common scene at reformed/Christian conferences.

I cannot imagine the impact this constant praise and attention has on a wicked heart prone to sin and wandering. Very few could live this lifestyle without moral failure at some point. It is a death by 1,000 tiny cuts of praise. I fear the celebrity pastor circuit is setting these men up to fail. We would do well to remember the sobering warning of James 3:1 and ask ourselves, “Are we serving these men?” James writes, “Not many of you should become teachers, my brothers, for you know that we who teach will be judged with greater strictness.”

Here, we see clearly that teachers of God’s Word are held to a higher standard. They will be judged with “greater strictness”. I genuinely ask, were we doing men like Steve Lawson, Mark Driscoll, Tullian Tchividjian, Ravi Zacharias, CJ Mahaney, or Art Azurdia any favors when we promoted their names on billboards and posters? It is hard to make an argument that we were. Such endless praise can lead a man to feel like a god.

Not to mention, the very life of one who travels a great deal seems like a recipe for temptation and disaster. How are we helping men by asking them to regularly leave their homes and local churches? Moreover, if these men are pastors/elders at their home church, are they also potentially forsaking their God-given responsibilities to their local flock? Remember, as the Hebrews text says, they have to give an account for these flocks. The scriptures do not say they will have to give an account for random attendees at a conference, but the flock they have been given to shepherd.

That is not to say there are times that a pastor should travel and teach. There is a place for that. But it should never be the norm; it should not be a promoted and celebrated expectation. Any pastor can fail, but when we elevate men with endless lofty praise, we are setting them up to fail.

If you have been blessed by someone else’s teaching, be careful not to give them too much praise. Love them enough to know that they do need your reassurance, they need the reassurance of the gospel and hope in Christ. If given the chance, remind them of that. We should all be signposts pointing to Jesus. There is wisdom in Nikolaus Von Zinzendorf, who once encouraged us all to “preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten.”

A few years ago, I was speaking with a friend of mine who is also a pastor. He shared with me that he struggles with wanting to be “name.” He would often catch his heart longing to be in the limelight and somewhat jealous when others had it. He was grateful he never became famous because he knew, for him, it would lead to corruption. Satan is eager to find pastors and destroy them. Why add the weight of being a celebrity to one’s life? Is not being a minister of God’s Word a high enough calling and responsibility?

In conclusion, let me say plainly that I am not calling for the canceling of all reformed and/or Christian conferences. But I am suggesting that we re-evaluate and consider how we do them. They need to become less about the speaker and more about the content. We should not attend a conference because Kevin DeYoung is preaching. We should attend a conference because it is on the topic of church health. Furthermore, we need these conferences that highlight and emphasize the local church. This is where real ministry is done.

Christian, press into your local church. Pray for your pastor and submit to their leadership.