The Conundrum of Celebrity Christians

By Robb Brunansky

Published February 11, 2025

With the recent apostasy of Kanye West, the issue of celebrity Christians has once again surfaced. In addition to Kanye West’s high profile religious rise and fall, we might think of Russell Brand’s recent profession of faith. Brand has been vocal on social media, extolling Jesus and the gospel, although at times he has said and done things that leave believers scratching our heads, not quite sure how they fit with his claim to be saved. We have seen an exponential increase in the number of amateur and professional athletes publicly thanking Christ after competitions. How should Christians respond when a celebrity publicly embraces Christ?

Two responses often prevail when celebrities claim to have been converted to Christianity. On one end, we have people who excitedly embrace them, platform them, and treat them as de facto religious leaders. They see these celebrities as great spokespeople for Christ and the Christian faith. They believe that having such cultural influencers on the side of truth will result in massive society impact, with perhaps millions of unbelievers suddenly coming to faith in Christ.

One the other end of the spectrum, we have people who cynically reject celebrity professions of faith as marketing ploys, false conversions, or both. Some people take a guilty-until-proven-innocent approach to these stories. They refuse to believe that a celebrity could have become a genuine follower of Christ. They will declare that these celebrities should not be celebrated as true Christians, at least not until they prove otherwise.

Both of these responses are understandable. As Christians we want to name of Christ to be proclaimed throughout the earth, and when someone with a massive megaphone claims the name of Christ, we see opportunity for greater proclamation of the gospel. On the other hand, we’ve seen far too often famous people claim to become Christians only to quickly fall away, embrace heterodox theology, or persist in ungodly lifestyles. We are rightfully cautious when a high-profile individual suddenly claims to be a Christian.

While these responses are understandable, I want to suggest a different and, I believe, more biblical approach to celebrity conversions stories.

We must first proceed with some degree of caution when a celebrity professes faith in Christ. While this principle is true no matter who claims to have recently been converted, it is especially true when dealing with someone who is a high-profile new believer. This principle comes from Jesus’ parable of the four soils in Matthew 13. Jesus told a story about a farmer who went out to sow his seed. Some seed fell on a path, and the birds immediately came and ate it up. Other seed fell on rocky ground. Because the soil was shallow, the seed sprang up almost immediately, but the lack of roots caused it to wither when the sun scorched it. A third set of seed fell on soil covered with thorns, and eventually the thorns choked the life out of the plants growing on that soil. A fourth soil was good soil, and the seed produced a variety of quantities of fruitfulness.

When the disciples asked Jesus to explain this parable, he explained that the rocky soil pictures the professing believer who falls away in times of persecution because he has no depth to his faith. His faith is shallow and hollow, so it does not save. That is proven by his unwillingness to suffer. The third soil with thorns pictures a professing believer whose faith gets choked to death by riches and the cares of this world. The third person also proves to have a false faith because it ultimately does not overcome the world. Time proves that such faith is not saving but a sham. Only the fourth person has a fruitful, and therefore saving, faith.

This parable helps us understand why some people profess faith in Christ but then seemingly fall away from their faith. It’s not that they were believers who lost their salvation. They were false converts who were attracted to Jesus for various reasons but did not have a genuine faith in Him. The two catalysts that revealed them as false converts were suffering and success.

When we think about these two tests God uses to show who is truly saved and who is false, we have to recognize that celebrities are uniquely positioned to fail these tests in a spectacular way. The rich and famous are not used to suffering because their financial position typically allows them to avoid many of the ways those without resources suffer. Furthermore, Jesus was clear that riches have a pernicious way of choking out faith. He even said to the disciples, “It will be hard for a rich person to enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:23 CSB). The comforts and luxuries of the world are a real and present danger to salvation, and no one in society has more of these dangers than celebrities. The Apostle Paul, following Jesus’ teaching, reminded the Corinthian Christians that not many of them were among the cultural elites or the rich and famous (1 Cor 1:26).

Because of this biblical teaching, we would do well to proceed cautiously whenever a celebrity makes a profession of faith in Christ. We need to recognize that a profession of faith does not necessarily equate to genuine salvation. We know this is true from the many false converts that exist who are not rich and famous. We should not be naive enough to believe that celebrities that profess faith in Christ have heard, understood, and believed the true gospel when such faith is rare in the world at large.

Once we understand the potential reality of false conversion, we should treat celebrities who make professions of faith no different than any other person who professes to know Christ. James 2:1-7 clearly articulates the sinfulness of showing partiality. God can save the rich and famous, and sometimes He does save them. When God works in that way, we should not treat them any differently than when a poor person is saved by grace. That requires at least three things of us.

First, it requires that we not platform a new believer, celebrity or not. New converts need time to grow in their faith, to develop a deep love for Christ and His Word, and to understand the riches of the Bible. No one who is a new believer is ready for leadership in the local church or in other ministries outside the church. A celebrity who is converted should not be invited to speak at conferences or events, preach sermons in churches, or lead Bible studies or small groups until they are spiritually mature enough to handle that responsibility. Because celebrities are often charismatic figures (personality, not theology), it can be easy to think they are further along their spiritual journey than they are, and so we must proceed with an appropriate level of caution, ensuring that before they are handed a microphone to speak for Christ, they are spiritually prepared.

Second, we should insist that celebrity Christians integrate into a local church body as would any other Christian. They should attend Sunday morning worship and make that a priority, even at the expense of other projects outside the church unless providentially hindered. For example, an NFL player might have to find other ways to fellowship during football season since most games are played on Sundays. They should get connected with other believers in their local body. They should use their spiritual gifts in service to the church. And they should anonymously give financially as an act of worship to Christ. I realize that these are difficult things to ask because a church might be tempted to treat a celebrity differently. However, the church must resist every urge to treat someone famous with partiality. They must be treated like every other Christian, as another member of the body called to do their part in serving Christ and His bride.

Third, celebrity Christians should seek out biblical discipleship so that they can grow in their faith. This should be done in the local church context. Just like every other Christian, they need to grow to spiritual maturity. The best way to do that is to be discipled by a godly, mature believer. Such discipleship happens while sitting under the expositional preaching of the Word, in fellowship with other Christians discussing the Bible, in times of prayer in large and small groups, and by talking with another believer individually about life’s joys and struggles.

When we seek to discern whether a celebrity is a believer or not, these are some helpful things to keep in mind. Yes, God can and does save some among the rich and famous. But we need to be aware that such conversions are the exception, not the rule. That should give us a healthy dose of caution. But since God does save some who are celebrities, we should provide them the necessary path to spiritual growth and maturity by avoiding using them to platform our ministries and churches, by integrating them into the body as we would any other Christian, and by encouraging them to pursue discipleship as a lifestyle.

When we see someone well known profess faith in Christ, join himself to a local church, and demonstrate a commitment to discipleship within the local church, we can be encouraged that the Spirit of God has indeed wrought new life in the sinner’s heart.