Category: Blaze Media
Influencer culture is poisoning the pulpit — and the fallout is catastrophic
Joel Osteen preaches a heretical prosperity gospel; Timothy Keller’s “third way” softens biblical truth for acceptability; and Rick Warren’s seeker-sensitive approach waters the gospel down into a self-help guide.
What do all three of these pastors have in common?
They “were really not preaching so much for the people in the pews but because they wanted a broader cultural acceptance from more mainstream or academic or globalist institutions,” says BlazeTV host Steve Deace. “And so they altered their approach as pastors within their own churches in order to appeal to an audience that was actually not sitting in their churches.”
While Osteen, Keller, and Warren belong to an older generation of preachers, Deace is concerned that that same hunger for approval is cropping up in younger generations of pastors who have been seduced by social media fame.
On this episode of the “Steve Deace Show,” Deace interviews senior pastor of East River Church in Ohio, Michael Foster, about how influencer culture is slowly creeping in and corroding the pulpit.
Some of these young pastors, says Deace, are “not really preaching to Michael in the third row whose marriage is on the rocks, and he’s lost the respect of his kids, and he doesn’t know how to get it back. [They’re] preaching to @dontjewmebro43 on X.”
“I’m not really preaching the gospel to him, but I’m preaching some nascent gospel applications that may or may not be adjudicated properly in order … to feed his fury, to give me the engagement that I want,” he rails, imitating these people-pleasing ministers.
Foster, who’s written several essays on this subject, says that it’s critical that pastors know their individual sheep.
“He’s got particular sheep. You see this in the New Testament when you have Paul preaching the same gospel, the same teaching, but he addresses problems in Colossae that aren’t in Corinth and problems in Corinth that aren’t in Colossae,” he says.
On the other hand, “Influencing speaks to … broad generalizations over a national level.”
“Because the influencer online social media culture is such a huge part of our lives, it is reshaping ministry right now where people are speaking to not maybe the actual issues in their church but the things that they’re hearing other people talk about in their feeds,” says Foster.
“It’s training people to not be pastors anymore, just to be talking heads, to be commentators.”
“Is there a way for you as a pastor to avoid falling into this trap without a really solid elder board and accountability in your life personally?” asks Deace.
That question, says Foster, is the equivalent of asking: “Could you ride a roller coaster without a roller coaster bar and survive it?”
There are three tips he gives to ministers that will help ensure they stay in the lane of pastor and not veer into the influencer lane:
1. Strong elders who are involved in sermons and accountability.
2. Tailor sermons toward specific congregational needs, not broad issues/topics.
3. Reject fame and notoriety if they come.
On the latter, Foster says, “You have to have an abusive relationship with celebrity as a pastor. I think you have to hate it, right? Spit in its face. If it comes back for more, well, that was its choice.”
To hear more of the conversation, watch the video above.
Want more from Steve Deace?
To enjoy more of Steve’s take on national politics, Christian worldview, and principled conservatism with a snarky twist, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.
Liberal media spins ‘homicide’ narrative after ICE detainee death — but DHS sets the record straight
A detainee died after attempting to take his own life while in federal immigration custody at a detention facility in El Paso, Texas, according to the Department of Homeland Security. But that was not what the Washington Post and other liberal outlets originally reported.
On Thursday evening, WaPo shared an article on social media, reporting that a local medical examiner might soon classify the death of Geraldo Lunas Campos at the Camp East Montana facility on January 3 as a “homicide” and that another detainee had witnessed the man being “choked to death by guards.”
During the intervention, Campos ‘violently resisted’ staff and continued trying to harm himself, the DHS said.
The DHS offered a different version of events.
The DHS described Campos as a criminal illegal alien and a convicted child sex predator. Agency officials said detention security staff immediately intervened when Campos attempted suicide.
During the intervention, Campos “violently resisted” staff and continued trying to harm himself, the DHS said. In the ensuing struggle, Campos “stopped breathing and lost consciousness.” Medical personnel were called to the scene and attempted resuscitation before emergency medical technicians pronounced him dead at the facility.
ICE said it takes the health and safety of all detainees seriously and that the incident remains under active investigation, adding that more details “are forthcoming.”
Blaze News reached out to the Washington Post for comment.
ICE CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images
According to the DHS, Campos was arrested by immigration authorities July 14, 2025, during a planned enforcement operation in Rochester, New York.
The DHS said he entered the United States in 1996 and has since been convicted of multiple felonies such as sexual contact with a child under 11, criminal possession of a weapon, reckless driving, possession of a controlled substance, and sale of a controlled substance.
RELATED: Historic ICE hiring surge adds 12,000 as agency kicks off 2026 with major busts
Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
An immigration judge ordered Campos removed from the United States on March 1, 2005. The DHS said he was not removed at that time because the government was unable to obtain the necessary travel documents. ICE later transferred him to the Camp East Montana detention facility on Sept. 6, 2025.
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