What an unpleasant surprise to see that Christianity is now an industry. Nowadays, not only music is being merchandised, but Bible resources such as books, sermons, dictionaries, word of the day, and christian counseling trough apps are also exploited and sold as a "help for you to "understand" or even worse "to get closer to God".
And what about the new term: Christian Influencer
The "body of Christ" have learned to love to be dependent on earthly resources and not God's presence. Moses, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob had altars to talk with God. Joseph, David, Salomon, are examples of what it means to carry real power. They are proof of why Christianity today is wrong.
Why aren't we walking on that power yet?
The old testament is full of wisdom and should be given the same importance as the new testament. It does not matter that Jesus fulfilled the law; the old testament teaches us that God is a personal God.
Christian Influencers
God can and will use everything for His glory. We have it clear.
But have you notice the amount of people trying to become the next Christian sensation? How many of these influencers are being genuine with their walk and even better, how many are truly living for the Lord and not for the monthly payment? If social media was not a path to earn income, would this people still feel so engaged with "spreading the word of God"?
Also, why are we relying in big conferences and events to feel God? Why are we exchanging the blessing of having a personal God for emotional experiences? It is a powerful thing to meet God in your designated area; your personal altar or prayer closet.
The Dangers of Being a Christian Influencer
1. Most people will think higher of you, that you can't do no wrong, and that you are a walking anointed oil. Therefore, they will expect good & great things from you. Christian influencers know this and it can lead to Salomon's and Sanson's not so happy ending; spiritual dead. Because life then become a well curated script and not a genuine walk with God. Also, Christian influencers are not aware of the horrendous penalty they will bring to themselves in case somebody stumbles because of their words & actions.
Being a teacher of the word is such a big responsibility. I honestly don't know how Bachelor Degrees are available for anybody to earn ($, that is the reason).
I used to follow lots of christian influencers to later be disappointed. Not only for things that were obvious to the eye, but for things people closer to these influencers (neighbors, nurses, fast food workers, nail salon technicians, etc) would share about them on Reddit and other forums.
Many influencers are "born again" today and in a week they open a Youtube Channel pretending to teach and to guide others. You are not born again till fruits starts to show. People should give themselves time to walk the path to really understand what being born again is about.
The best Bible channels I have seen, update their videos every 3-6
months. When a video is uploaded you see the fruits. Why? Because they
are not looking for profit. They are looking to share the kingdom. They don't even like the label of influencers.
2. Also, I don't believe we as Christians are called to share every single detail of our struggles online. That is not a wise thing to do. It is dangerous and can place you on vulnerable situations. On the other hand, we can share certain details in small groups, but God will bring the people that needs to hear your specific testimony together on an intimate environment.
I have committed so many mistakes that instead of feeling the urge/right to preach, I rather share my faith in pieces as a journey, as a learner, and not as a teacher. Someday, if God allows me to do so, I will be able to openly talk about some of my messes and how I walked out from them.
Do not share every single detail of your life, nor certain situations with everybody. I made this mistake to later deeply regret it. Not everybody cares about your situation. Not even your closest church people. I have experienced it and you feel stupid and fragile. But, I have gained wisdom regarding when to talk and with who I can talk to. I have learn to say "I am doing good, thank you for asking".
Why? Because I have learned to go to my altar first.
Also,
3. to take your personal experiences and turn them into a sermon is not Biblically correct. That is how the "Me Gospel" begins and this is how congregations start worshiping preachers more than God. This is how congregations start buying useless books instead of reading the Bible in their personal altar or prayer closet. This is how influencers and preachers are becoming rich; taking advantage of broken people instead of teaching without ceasing "go create an altar for God in your room and meet Him there".
Does Moses made a big deal his experience with Sefora? That was a
bloody Bible scene, yet, we see how Moses and Sefora handled this
privately. Moses did not called Israel to share that
experience with them. Christian influencers and preachers will milk
every aspect of their lives because of "content, baby, content", and
will teach error to the public.
Christianity today is teaching people to solely rely on industries and well established names, rather than depend on a personal genuine relationship with God.
There is wisdom in looking for counsel when you first ask God and you are lead to the right servants. Sometimes is one or three servants in order to bring confirmation.
But is not always the case.
Specially when you deny God time to answer.
This is how you have industries making money off from the gospel. It is funny to see preachers saying "I did not came here to sell you a book..." but when you start listening, they give a word salad never preaching about the topic because "in my book I talk about this...".
Christian influencers will talk about what others taught them, and lot less what they genuinely had learned with God. Because they are not learning from the source; they are repeating what others told them.
I believe this is what the church is called to do and we got it wrong. God never intended for the Christian community to be a big machine or industry. Nor He intended for us to have splendid buildings for our comfort and joy.
We are the splendid temple.
Mathew 24;2, Luke 21;6, Marc 13;2
He lives inside us. We are carriers of His glory. But this is not convenient to preach because the whole Christianity structure will crumble down to pieces.
This is the time to STOP consuming influencers and christian content as if our lives depend on it. The time will come when we will witness that almost nobody calling themselves "Christians" are going to be able to recognize the voice of The Shepherd. All of this because they have been "listening" trough a human filter which is nothing than doing what others tell you to do.
That right there is not a genuine relationship with your Creator. Not even having perfect assistance on sundays or serving for free on a building where you have people earning income for preaching.
2 Corinthians 11:9 Paul right there.
Because preachers and gospel singers love to use Timothy 5:18 to repel and to "call out" whoever tells them the truth. We are the modern table turners. They are the moderns temple merchants.
Final Thoughts
My life has been a roller coaster; (Russian roulette can explain it better) a little messy I can also say. But today, as weird as it sounds, I can say "thank you God". Why? Because all of it has served to carve a genuine path for me to get closer to God trough trial and error.
I have experienced mercy, revival, healing, understanding, true love, revelations, starting again, the feeling of shame going away, true freedom in Jesus Christ. From my past, from my mistakes I can tell what redemption feels like.
I have been able to better understand why I am here, my real purpose, and what life is about. It has helped me to understand my responsibility as a human being when taking decisions vs. God's promises, what God really want from and for us, that God is not a complicated God that requires me to spend money on Bible resources or apps nor watching endless podcasts or sermons or to spend 5/7 days on church/church activities exhausting myself and my family during the week believing that I need all of this to reach salvation.
I live for eternity, not for this life. When you see life this way everything falls into place and the load feels easier. Mathew 11:30
I have nothing to proof here, I have nothing to earn here.
Think Eternity (I used this phrase back in 2009, today it came more alive than ever. I feel fire in my belly).
Hoping to see you next time on my blog,
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