PreachersNSneakers creator says American churchgoers have demanded celebrity pastor culture By Jeannie Law, Christian Post Reporter
GNN Note – As Casting Crowns so eliquettely says in their song “Start Right Here” – “We’ve got a rock-star preacher, who won’t wake us from our dreams.” /END
PreachersNSneakers founder Ben Kirby never conceived that a casual social media post about celerity pastors’ high-priced sneakers would become a global phenomenon.
Kirby, who was no internet sensation at the time, initially took to Instagram to document the expensive footwear worn by some of the celebrity pastors he followed, listing the brands and the cost of each pair. Soon after, his Instagram following blew up and put the world of celebrity pastors under a new microscope.
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The celebrity pastor craze, Kirby said, began because church attendees required a level of celebrity and entertainment from their shepherds.
After gaining over 144,000 followers on Instagram in just a week, Kirby knew he had struck a nerve by highlighting the latest designer footwear and clothing trends worn by mega pastors and church leaders around the globe.
Kirby has since written a book titled, PreachersNSneakers: Authenticity in an Age of For-Profit and (Wannabe) Celebrities (Thomas Nelson), which gives readers a chance to take a sober look at whether they have bought into the celebrity culture of Christianity.
“I was literally on my couch … using my phone, that’s about all the effort I put into it and it blew up into this global conversation over the years,” Kirby told The Christian Post in a recent interview.
He thought his account would garner some comments and laughs, but never thought PreachersNSneakers would become a hub of conversation about how parishioners view capitalism, consumerism and celebrity in the church.
Kirby maintained that he never set out to judge others — that wasn’t his intent.
“There are plenty of people in the comment section that judge all the time,” he said. “I still hold strong that I was never judging. I had questions and I had some critique about how you can present the Gospel better. But I’m resolute in the fact that I wasn’t saying, ‘You should never wear $1,200 shoes — that’s evil.’ I’m nobody to say who can [and can’t] do what on stage. But I’m also very much allowed to ask questions about public figures and public facts.”
