Many Christian leaders use their fame and influence to great effect. Whether that popularity resides at the local church level or represents national or international influence, many leaders have effectively said to their followers, 'Follow me as I follow Christ.' But fame that is cultivated for its own sake, without attendant spiritual maturity and accountability, has a shadow side that runs counter to the heart of the gospel. Celebrity-defined as social power without proximity-has led to abuses of power, the cultivation of persona, and a fixation on profits.
In light of the fall of famous Christian leaders in recent years, the time has come for the church to reexamine its relationship to celebrity. Award-winning journalist Katelyn Beaty explores the ways fame has reshaped the American church, explains how and why celebrity is woven into the fabric of the evangelical movement, and identifies many ways fame has gone awry in recent years. She shows us how evangelical culture is uniquely attracted to celebrity gurus over and against institutions, and she offers a renewed vision of ordinary faithfulness, helping us all keep fame in its proper place.
Women today inhabit and excel in every profession, yet many Christian women wonder about the value of work outside the home. And in circles where the traditional family model is highly regarded, many women who sense a call to work find little church or peer support.
In A Woman's Place, Katelyn Beaty, print managing editor of Christianity Today and cofounder of Her.meneutics, insists it's time to reconsider women's work. She challenges us to explore new ways to live out the scriptural call to rule over creation-in the office, the home, in ministry, and beyond.
Starting with the Bible's approach to work-including the creation story, the Proverbs 31 woman, and New Testament models-Beaty shows how women's roles in Western society have changed; how the work-home divide came to exist; and how the Bible offers models of women in leadership. Readers will be inspired by stories of women effecting dynamic cultural change, leading institutions, and living out grand and beautiful vocations.
Far from insisting that women must work outside the home, Beaty urges all believers into a better framework for imagining career, ambition, and calling. Whether caring for children, running a home or business, or working full-time, all readers will be inspired to live in a way that glorifies God.
Sure to spark discussion, A Woman's Place is a game-changing look at the importance of work for women and men alike.
