Is God on Instagram

I’ve noticed that on certain social-media platforms, people have a propensity to cherry-pick Scriptures more egregiously than elsewhere.

If you’re a Christian woman on Instagram, your feed is going to be clogged with these hand-lettered verses that are scrolled and embellished. They really are lovely and suitable for framing, but they’re often pulled completely out of context.

“On certain social-media platforms, people have a propensity to cherry-pick Scriptures more egregiously than elsewhere.”TweetShare on Facebook

I think that they can create the illusion that we are interacting with Scripture in a healthy way, but if you think about it, you’re only going to hand-letter certain kinds of verses out of the Bible. But the Bible is full of many different genres and covers many different subjects.

So for the purpose of the post, I tongue-in-cheek created an Instagram frame quoting about the cutting up of the concubine that you find in the book of Judges. I think I offended every hand-letterer on the Internet by doing so, which was not my intent.

Honestly, I love that people create beautiful art that is celebrating beautiful passages in Scripture. But when we begin to succumb to the illusion that all of the Bible is Instagram-worthy and is inspirational, that’s a dangerous place to go to. The Bible should exhort and convict, not just warm the cockles of our hearts.

Women, I think in particular, are drawn toward wanting an emotional boost from what they’re reading in the moment. I don’t know that that’s a uniquely feminine problem, but it does seem to color the pages of Instagram. So I wanted to challenge women in particular to think about what they’re reading, and to read what comes before and what comes after the verse that they’re seeing put into a frame out there.

But it’s not really just an issue with social media; it’s an issue with how we read the Bible in general. The Instagram Bible presents a devotional view of the Bible, and exclusively so — almost exclusively so.

The Bible does not lend itself neatly to devotional reading on many of its pages. If all Scripture is God-breathed and profitable, we should be reminding ourselves to spend time in all of it, instead of loving certain verses or certain passages to excess. Source

Devotions on Stage

Such a good word. How else has social media changed private Bible reading? I’m thinking of a personal-devo setup where the cup of coffee is full in a choice mug and creamed to the perfect shade of soft brown. The whole setting staged like a Thomas Kinkade painting, with light beams of sunrise inspiration beaming from one corner. The arrangement is perfect. What do you say about this staging of the devotional setting?

Yeah, I kind of get a kick out of seeing what women will put out there. Honestly, a lot of times it’s one of my books with a coffee cup next to it, so I have mixed feelings about it. I do think it is worth noting to take Instagram for what it’s worth.

“When you see Instagram as a place of realism, that’s when you run into trouble.”TweetShare on Facebook

I actually refer to Instagram as the last happy place within social media, because it’s still a place of optimism. But when you see it as a place of realism, that’s when you run into trouble. To understand that someone is creating a vignette is different than saying, “Oh my goodness, her life is so perfect.”

So to see it almost as a lay-level art form, that does not offend me. But to believe that someone’s life is that picture-perfect is where the problem comes in.

I hear people report frequently that Instagram is a source of woe to them because of the comparison issue. They compare their lives to other people’s, and they feel like their life comes up short. I would say that’s to miss the point of Instagram.

But also, obviously, be aware of your own weaknesses. If that’s an issue for you, then get off Instagram. It’s fine for those who understand it as a sort of idealized version of our lives. As long as we can acknowledge that, we can take it with a grain of salt and enjoy it like we would enjoy other forms of art, but not ask it to be more than it is.

The Lord is my shepherd, but He also has a sideline as an Instagram influencer. As congregations dwindle in mainstream churches, “hipster” worshippers are spreading the word on social media, bringing a young, cool crowd to Christ.

At first glance, these Christian accounts are hardly different to anything else on Instagram. Biblesandcoffee, an account run by a 27-year-old woman from Los Angeles, posts beautiful shots of her home, bookshelves artfully crammed with hundreds of Bibles. In another picture, she clutches an iced coffee, showing off a flawless gel manicure. In curling calligraphy, the cup has a message saying: “A little coffee, a lotta Jesus.”

Other Christian accounts post inspirational quotes laid over images of pretty landscapes. “The Lord is my light and my salvation”, says a post on daily_bibleverses, on top of a sepia-toned picture of New York. Another shows a woman with tousled hair and sunglasses slack-jawed with joy. “Nothing can separate you from the love of Christ”, says the caption.

Arguably the leader of fashion-conscious faith is Hillsong, a Sydney-based church established in 1983 by Bobbie and Brian Houston, an Australian couple with almost a million Instagram followers between them. Hillsong’s website and social media accounts are full of pictures of young, attractive types wearing ripped jeans – who just happen to be singing hymns.Advertisement

Christianity with Hillsong is aspirational, a habit to complement hot yoga. This genius marketing strategy has worked: they have built a global congregation of tens of thousands of people, with branches across the world. The Sunday services are set up like concerts, with preachers ditching the pulpit and speaking from a stage shining with neon lights.

The trendy megachurch has its own spiritual pop group, Hillsong United, which takes its music on tour around the world.

This slick marketing has attracted a range of celebrity followers including actor Chris Pratt and model Kendall Jenner. Actress Vanessa Hudgens told the New York Times that she loves attending services there, praising its nightclub-like atmosphere: “It feels like [rock band] Arcade Fire – it’s epic like that.”

The star most closely connected with the church is Justin Bieber. A few years ago he was a former squeaky clean child star on the rocky road to adult stardom: then, he found Hillsong. He was baptised by Carl Lentz, leader of the New York church, in an NBA basketball player’s bath at 3am.

Lentz is so much a presence on the celebrity circuit that he is well-known in his own right, and has more than 627,000 followers on Instagram. He preaches either in a leather jacket or in a short-sleeved T-shirt, showing off his heavily tattooed arms.

Hillsong’s message, however, is less modern. There is a separate organisation run for the women of the church, like the Anglican Mothers’ Union. And then there are their not-very-2019 views on LGBT people. “We are not a church that affirms a gay lifestyle,” writes founder Brian Houston. “Can [gay people] take an active leadership role? No,” he writes, adding: “I do have gay friends.”

Even tattooed hunk Lentz is out-of-step with woke views. In an interview with Vice News he said he does not agree with gay marriage: “We would say the Bible is really clear that marriage is between a man and a woman.”

For those who want another selfie-friendly option for Sunday mornings, there is the world of celebrity-only worship. Kanye West once complained: “If I talk about God my record won’t get played,” yet he has started running “Sunday services”.

Unlike normal churches where anyone is welcome, these appear to be highly exclusive, with guests selected from Hollywood’s finest. Like a lot of what West does, the services look fairly odd: the music is a mixture of sacred fare and his own records. Instead of pews there is an area cleared for dancing. People dress to a strict code: head-to-toe white one week, all black the next. Famous attendees film the prayers on their phones and post on Twitter.

Christianity’s new image isn’t just helping to get people through the doors, it is also lucrative. Brian Houston revealed in 2010 that he earned $300,000 a year, while its online shop sells tie-dyed T-shirts and sweatshirts sporting the church’s logo. I can’t say I recall reading much about branded garb in the Bible, but if religion does need a rebrand, this looks like the Instagram-friendly way to do it.Source

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StevieRay Hansen
Editor, HNewsWire.com

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