How do you spot a Christian on social?
Step 1 - See their stories littered with Bible verses
Step 2 - Watch them comment ‘Amen’ on encouraging posts
Step 3 - See them document their daily devotions, Bible studies and overall Christian activity
The result? The church and other Christians nod in approval because you can’t have a feed and not post Christian content if you’re supposedly a Christian.
Here’s a harsh truth: Posting Bible verses on IG stories doesn’t make you more of a Christian. Posting pictures of your daily devotions or a preach you’re watching doesn’t mean you check the box of a perfectly holy Christian. I have to ask people who do this, What do you want the world to know? Is it being shared to encourage those watching? Or perhaps, are you trying to oversell yourself as holier and more spiritual than you actually are?
A few months ago, I saw a teenage girl posting a photo of her devotions and saying ‘Devotions ✅ and it got so many good reactions, and I just wondered, to whom is she trying to prove that she’s a good Christian? I often feel like when people post spiritual content - it doesn’t have a gospel-centric goal. To me it looks like a ‘Holier than thou’ false picture of their spiritual life. It shows a little insecurity that people are constantly trying to prove they’re more spiritual than they actually are.
Sometimes I post Bible verses too, and I very often share spiritual content, I follow Christian instagram accounts and share their content. But that’s not because I’m pretending. I do that because I was convicted, encouraged or uplifted by reading that and because I want to support Christian Instagram platforms because I feel like we often see so much fakery on social media, but it warms my heart to see influencers using social media to spread the Gospel.
I believe that my social media tells a story. And I have to constantly ask myself before I post, “What story am I trying to tell?” “Am I advertising my spiritual life and throwing it in people’s face that I’m a Christian? Or do I genuinely hope that people, non-Christians even, will be inspired by the stuff I share?” And if there’s ever even a small possibility that it’s the former, and that I may be trying to prove to my church or to someone that I am a good Christian then I refuse to post at all. People like to and expect to see Christian leaders posting Christian things, a Hillsong playlist, a verse from Psalms or some Prophetic word. It acts as some kind of proof that you’re a follower of God. But often posting this kind of content excessively can show that you’re more insecure in your faith, rather than an active follower of Christ. And God checks our heart, he doesn’t care about the amount of times you shared Bible verses on Instagram.
“And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”
Mathew 6:5
I urge you, read the Bible and spend time with God authentically without feeling the need to capture that moment for social media and show the world that you’re a devoted believer. You may fool the world, but you’ll never fool God.
Ask yourself, am I posting this because I want the world to see me in a certain spiritual light? Am I posting this to appear holy, or because I genuinely want to use my platform to influence and evangelise? And if it’s the latter, I encourage you to go ahead and bless the world, one account at a time. But if you ever feel like you may be showing off your faith, remember that God rewards those who seek God in private - not the ones who do it for display.
And also, I can’t stress this enough: Being a Christian doesn’t necessarily mean you always have to post Christian content. Our platforms are a reflection of our daily lives, where we share moments to remember and we need not feel guilty for populating our accounts with secular content from our daily lives. We don’t need to fit into a mould of Christianity. We are already accepted by the living God - it doesn’t matter if the church does not approve, as long our account has appropriate content that doesn’t send ungodly messages or promote a sinful lifestyle. We are not called to masquerade under a facade of fake Godliness - we are called to worship in Spirit and truth and God looks at the true intentions of our heart, before he looks at our use of media influence.
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