Celebrity culture has invaded the church.

Pastors who should be shepherds serving the flock have become kings demanding us to serve them and commanding six and even seven-figure salaries.

What has happened to the church? How did we get here? And what can be done to counter church celebrity culture? Welcome to the Roy's

report, a podcast dedicated to reporting the truth and restoring the church. I'm Julie Roy's. And joining me

today is Caitlin Beatty, author of Celebrities for Jesus, How Personas, Platforms, and Prophets are

hurting the church. As Caitlin explains, platforms and influence can be used

for good. Many point to Billy Graham, for example, who used his star power to reach millions for

Christ. And thankfully, Billy, unlike so many other Christian celebrities, never succumb to public

scandal or sin. But it seems monthly or even weekly we hear about another celebrity

pastor or Christian leader who's fallen into sin and revealed as a bully or fraud. And with each

revelation, there are scores of people who are disillusioned. There's often a pile of bodies,

so to speak, behind the bus. But perhaps even worse is what's done to God's name and his

reputation. Instead of glorifying him, as we should be, the church and its representatives are dragging

his name through the mud. What's happening is grievous, and it's anti-gospel. As author and theologian,

Scott McKnight said at our last restore conference, the church has one

celebrity and his name is Jesus. Well, I'm so looking forward to exploring this topic with

Caitlin, and I think you'll find she has an eye-opening perspective given her years in Christian

media and publishing. But first, I'd like to thank the sponsors of this podcast, Accord Analytics, and

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But what do you do when you suspect misconduct? Hopefully, you do the opposite of many of the

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