Saints and Celebrities

I recently read an article discussing the origin of celebrity. The author argues that the first great awakening was not only the birth of evangelicalism in America, but also the birth of celebrity (Jonathan Edwards and George Whitefield as celebrity). Although academics debate the origin of celebrity as a socio-cultural cateogory, it is clear that evangelical leaders have adopted the model of celebrity.Pastors and speakers manage PR machines, or outsource their public personae to firms like WDC Media. Just check the websites of a few evangelical leaders to see how Christian self-promotion functions.*

Conversely, Celebrity can be viewed in continuity with the traditional category of Saint. In Cult of the Saints Peter Brown argues that saints were a physical connection with the divine, even in death (relics). Saints were famous in life, and even more famous in death. People visited their tombs in search of healing and connection to God. Saints served as exemplary figures, and their hagiographies were wildly popular.

When I heard about the masses that came to Strawberry Fields in Central Park to commemorate the thirtieth anniversary of John Lennon's death, the connection between celebrity and sainthood was unavoidable. Celebrities function as physical connections to the gods of vapid materialism and fame.

Can we borrow either of these categories to think about evangelical leaders? How could they be useful in critically examining our leadership practices? What alternative ways are there to understand how leaders function in our market driven, image obsessed culture?

*N.B I chose these links because I respect and identify with all three leaders, have read their books, and am familiar with their fruitful lives.  I am not questioning their effectiveness, I simply want to examine the way in which the social category celebrity works in the evangelical microcosm.