Can celebrity endorsements or involvement hurt your reputation as a Christian author?

When you're thinking about celebrities to pitch for endorsements, what points do you consider before asking them to be involved in your project? Obviously, prominent figures can help you reach a much broader audience, especially if you're just starting out, but is any endorsement from someone famous a good one? What if they, like many celebrities do, go on to be involved in a scandal? What if their views align with yours closely enough on some issues, that they love your book, but you don't hold the same views as them in other aspects of life? I mean, there's no way to find a celebrity who's a cookie cutter of my perspective, but where is that line, as a Christian especially?

I'll be a bit more specific. I wrote a children's story/ fable that speaks to a heated cultural issue, so I want to handle it carefully. I don't have any books published yet, so however I present this debut book could really make or break my brand as a new author.

My book is a fantastical fable about a community of creatures who live in harmony, until one discovers something unique about himself. He decides that he's a victim and deserves special treatment. In his pride and greed, he lives in self- inflicted loneliness until one of the other creatures reaches out to him in love, and draws him back to a fulfilling life of contribution and service.

I had originally hoped that Matt Walsh, for example, with his strong opinions against DEI, would endorse or help me promote this book. He's a Catholic and I'm a Mennonite, so while I see many of the same cultural issues as he does, I have some different ideas about how they should be handled. I'm just using this as an example, because there are a lot of other prominent figures who weigh in on DEI as a cultural issue, as well.

What are your thoughts, as Christian readers and authors? I feel that my book has great market potential among Christians in this cultural moment, but I'm not sure how selective to be in pitching for endorsements, so I avoid sacrificing my own integrity. Should endorsements be only by other Christians, or just anyone famous who's against DEI, and stands for meritocracy? I feel that my story accurately portrays the way Christ teaches us to respond in love to injustice, and I don't want to be seen as merely trying to ride the wave of hype surrounding DEI. That said, I know endorsements are considered to be generally helpful, and I think this story has the potential to land some prominent ones, if I can learn to pitch effectively. I look forward to hearing your thoughts on this. How have any of you handled similar predicaments?

And, all of that said, it's real easy to sit here and be selective, when I haven't even pitched anyone yet! They might all ignore me, and then this whole issue becomes irrelevant!😄

Also, I don't have an agent yet, and I'd really like to go the traditional publishing route. Do you think I should try to get endorsements, so that an agent takes me seriously, or should I pitch an agent first, and hope that with their connections, they can help me get endorsements?