We’ve all followed influencers on Instagram. You know the women with the perfect looking lives’ with their shiny handbags and organic meals, who take aesthetically pleasing, yet somehow perfectly candid photos? Yeah, the women who look like they have it all together who make Christianity look shiny and effortless.
We’ve all seen them, and we’ve all followed them, and for some reason we keep going back. Well I guess I’ll speak for myself. I kept going back —to catch up on their latest posts, to snag the recipe of the fancy meal they made for dinner, or to simply to see an encouraging word or relatable post.
I know what you’re thinking, “well that’s not necessarily bad.” No it was bad. It’s bad, because my habit quickly became unhealthy.
I actually took pride in following Christian influencers instead of the Kylie Jenner’s of the world. Idolizing more “upright women” gave me this false sense of self-righteousness. I’d hypocritically toot my nose up to the Cardi B’s and City Girls of the world, all the while, I was still idolizing women – which was still wrong.
Sis- don’t get me wrong, Christian influencers aren’t “bad.” In fact, they’re actually very necessary for the kingdom. BUT there comes a point when Christian influencer culture becomes toxic, and it’s important to know when to draw the line.
You are gleaning from people you don’t really know
I get that some people have amazing, relatable stories. Sometimes these stories are sold to you with vulnerability and authenticity that gives you this sense of connectedness to that influencer or person. Oftentimes, social media gives us the illusion of companionship, without the demands of “real” relationship. As a result, it may seem like you know them, when you really don’t.
Although they have catchy, Jesus-centered posts, you don’t know the extent of their relationship with Christ. You don’t know what they’re doing behind closed doors, and quite frankly you’re unaware of their intentions.
This becomes iffy, when we begin to glean from them. In the Bible a “gleaner” traditionally is someone who collects leftover crops after they’ve been commercially harvested. To put it simply, “to glean” means to gradually extract information from a specific source. But what if the “gleaner” only collected from an unclean or soiled harvest? What if we were gleaning from those with toxic ideologies or those who idolize marriage or sex? After so long, the “gleaner” will get sick from the collecting from poisonous crops. So, ask yourself, who are you gleaning from? And what kind of harvest has those “crops” or “seeds” produced in your life?
Sis – right now, there are Christian influencers charging 800 – 2,000 dollars for mentorship. Yes—you read that right; 2,000 d.o.l.l.a.r.s., for a relationship with a stranger from the internet. Why pay for a mentorship, when there are many God-fearing, qualified women who’re waiting to connect and mentor you at your local church? Please. I beg you. Stop paying women to help you find your purpose in the world, and get to work. Jesus is the formula and the gospels are your guidance. Let’s learn to glean from the powerful women around us and Jesus Himself – the greatest teacher of all time.
You run to people’s platforms to be spiritually fed
I get it, it’s easy to run to someone’s platform, when you’re looking to be spiritually fed. It’s easier to look at someone’s post who’s already dissected, prayed over, and studied up on the very thing you’re struggling with. It’s easy to run to the Heather Lindsey’s and Amanda Pittman’s of the world, when you just feel like you “need some guidance” on a particular topic. Sometimes, we are looking for a quick fix and a quick “word” that meets us where we are, in the moment.
Don’t get me wrong, this isn’t always bad. It’s not bad to stumble upon a post, video, or caption that touches you. –But it becomes a problem, when you begin to run to people’s platforms, before you run to Jesus. Because eventually, you will begin to depend more upon the revelation and interpretation of God’s word from others than from your own experience and relationship with Him.
I get it, getting into The Word on your own, can often feel like a bothersome chore, on your to-do list, and oftentimes, People “feel” more tangible than God. But – I promise you sis, it feels like that for a reason. As soon as you wake up, the enemy wages a war against you to keep you from the Word of God. Because He knows, how much power is in it. God’s word offers far more than we could expect, and it travels deeper into our spirit and being than we thought is possible. Reading and studying God’s word for yourself is invaluable, and I promise, it’s way better than the second hand, experience you get from Instagram or celebrity teachers.
It is a recipe for self glory and idolatry
Since the Heather Lindsey scandal, I’ve become more and more leery about the idea of “Christian influencers” I feel as though the role unconsciously leads people to coveting your lifestyle, possessions, relationships, accomplishments, etc. It inadvertently leads people to self, instead of Jesus –and that’s dangerous. We often forget ministry is a business, and businesses have brands. And brands are created to sell you an image or vision for a specific purpose that’s bigger than us. Unfortunately, online ministries unconsciously promote individualism and self- preservation through their branding. Every post they make was created to attract a certain audience, and whether it’s a product, service, or self help advice – branding offers their audience a solution. In most cases, Christian influencers “sell” Jesus to their audience, but in the some unfortunate cases, they sell themselves, and they become their audience’s solution.
And let’s not forget– you follow that person’s brand or ministry for a reason. Trust me, it’s not as simple as following someone for their feed’s aesthetic, cute family, or style. It’s deeper than that. Something about their ministry, their lifestyle, and the way that God uses them in the earth attracted you to them. Something about what this person has said or done resonated with your spirit, and you have found value in something they are offering. And to be honest, sometimes, it’s difficult not to get lost in the things that attracted you to them in the first place. We become more interested in the frivolities of their life and less interested in the word’s they are speaking.
This quickly becomes dangerous, because, the influencer or minister in this scenario is speaking on their page from a place of authority to followers that trust them. And this power dynamic, can create blurred lines that lead to an unhealthy glamorization of the influencer’s, ministry and lifestyle. But most importantly, we put more weight on their words, than we should. This power dynamic becomes dangerous when we don’t take into account that Christian influencers are human, and sometimes they teach in error. And when they do it impacts thousands of people.
If you are following Christian influencers, ask yourself, do you find yourself more interested in the revelation they give you, or are you more attracted to the glitz and glam, or events attached to their lifestyle? Are you following them in a healthy way or do you stalk their page often? Are you screenshotting every post they make?
Sisters, please beware of creating idols in your heart.
It pushes false gospels
In modern day Christian culture, there are a lot of ideologies and mindsets floating around. Unfortunately, there’s an onslaught of information and philosophies. Everyone has a different perspective, and not everyone’s ministry is truly is grounded in Truth and Biblically sound doctrine.
In this crazy world of social media, it’s easy to take in and soak up every “good” sounding thought, or re-postable faith-based quote from someone you admire, without knowing the real “fruit” or intention behind it. Listen, I’ve made this mistake, and have done it hundreds of times, at this point. If it resonated with my spirit somehow, and “met” me in a season I was in, I’d share and repost it. Although, sharing a good “word” with your loved ones sounds positive, sometimes it unexpectedly does more harm than good. Why? Because it not only gives bad examples of biblical teachings, but it also twists scripture and pushes false gospels whilst giving teachers praise they shouldn’t have been given.
We have to stop praising teachers who take scriptures out of context, and start studying and discerning the word for our own. When we study, and I mean truly study, we have to ask ourselves: Who is the author? Why was it written? When was it written? What is the real context of this message? What is God saying in this message and does it align with what this teacher is saying?
It becomes dangerous when we let illegitimate ministries continuously feed us for decades, and we find ourselves believing false “truths” that may take years for us to unlearn.