Toxic, insensitive, entitled

One Cameron Stang has stepped down from leadership of Relevant magazine, some kind of hipster Evangelical thing, apologizing for his “toxicity and insensitivity.” Apparently, a few people get it:

The controversy around Strang reflects the tendency of many evangelical leaders to focus on giving their “consumer base” what they think they want, said Aaron Hanbury, who was editorial director for Relevant from 2015 to 2017.

“This is how we get Instagramish, cliche-riddled evangelicalism,” he said in an email.

…

He said he thinks that Strang’s success despite his lack of skill reflects a broader problem: Evangelical leaders are promoted for reasons that have nothing to do with their competence as faith leaders.

“Cameron, like countless evangelical celebs, is only a leader in the faith space because he started and leads something [in this case, a media company], and he’s attractive, hip and publicly charismatic,” he said. “We evangelicals have been far, far too quick to [equate] apparent financial-organizational success and aspirational personalities with faith leadership.”

It probably is worth noting the hereditary aspect as well: Cameron’s father, Steve, runs Charisma magazine.