Instagram Christianity
The Faith We Perform vs. The Faith We Live
Let's talk about the Christianity we perform versus the Christianity we live.
Scroll through Christian social media for five minutes and you'll see:
- ✨ Perfectly styled Bible flats
- 📖 Aesthetically pleasing prayer journals
- 💭 Captions that sound like they were written by the Apostle Paul on his best day
Everything is filtered, curated, and designed for maximum inspiration.
I'm Guilty Too
And I'm not judging—I've done it too. Posted the sunrise prayer photo while conveniently cropping out the fact that I hadn't opened my Bible in a week. Shared the worship lyrics while my heart was miles away during actual worship.
But here's my question: Are we creating a version of faith that's impossible to sustain?
What Jesus Didn't Instagram
- Jesus didn't Instagram His temptation in the wilderness
- Paul didn't post aesthetic photos of his shipwrecks
- Peter's denial wasn't a viral testimony thread
- Job's suffering wasn't a #blessed story
Real faith is messy, inconsistent, and often invisible.
The Cost of Curated Faith
I'm watching young believers burn out trying to maintain a spiritual image that even the disciples couldn't have kept up. They think everyone else has it figured out because everyone else is only posting their highlight reels.
What If We Were Honest?
What if we posted about:
- The prayers that feel unanswered
- The doubts we wrestle with at 2 AM
- The Sundays we didn't feel like going to church
- The verses we don't understand
- The spiritual disciplines we're failing at
What if our faith content included the boring middle parts, not just the breakthrough moments?
"Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed." — James 5:16
The Gospel Doesn't Need Better Marketing
The gospel doesn't need better marketing. It needs authentic witnesses.
I'm not saying delete your Bible verse posts. I'm saying:
- Make sure your real life matches your feed
- Share the struggles, not just the victories
- Show the process, not just the results
- Be honest about where you actually are
Because the teenagers in my youth group are watching, and they can smell fake from a mile away.
They don't need your highlight reel. They need your honesty.
