Forgiveness Sunday
A recent survey found that when American kids grow up, they would rather be a vlogger or Youtube star before becoming anything else in life.
It’s also common to find kids who want to become influencers—people who are paid to live fancy lives and advertise trendy products—on Instagram.
By comparison, that same survey found that most children in China want to become an astronaut.
Our American culture is highly driven by the ego. It’s a “look at me!” mentality that promotes and puffs up the ego.
In fact, self-promotion is almost a required skill as we spend more and more time on social medial sites.
But, if we want to take our Christian walk seriously, we’ll have to take a closer look at this trend … and we may have to be willing to start living counter-culturally.
Scripture: Matthew 6:14-21 (click here to read)
Bottom Line: We don’t have to promote ourselves because God already sees us.
Discussion Questions
- There are great advantages to social media. What advantages to you see?
- Why might Jesus be against self-promotion? What harm do you think Jesus sees in it?
- How does one live humbly without being “run over”?
- How might one preach the gospel, as we’ve been taught, yet not become self-absorbed?
Moving Forward
Tomorrow, we officially enter Great Lent—a time of fasting, prayer, and almsgiving.
And, as we enter into this time of spiritual renewal, Christ asks us to continue to blend into society.
We aren’t to set ourselves apart as Christians, nor are we to promote our spiritual practices, or show off how well we’re “killing the fast.”
But, this is contrary to our basic instincts as Americans.
Since we were young children, parents and teachers have asked us to talk about ourselves: what we like, dislike, our hobbies, our favorite things.
Then, as we grew, we continued to talk about and publicize ourselves.
We puffed our college applications, we selflessly promoted ourselves at job interviews, and we got social media accounts.
This how what we learned from society.
And, for many of us, it spilled over into our religious lives as well—we started promoting how spiritual we are and what spiritual practices we undertake.
For some of us, it’s become a “Jesus, look at how well I show off my fasting, prayers, love of you” sort of thing.
But, like Zacchaeus, who climbed up into the Sycamore tree, or Nathanael, sitting under the fig tree, or even Matthew the tax-collector, Jesus sees us without the self-promotion … and calls out to us.
And, because Jesus sees us without the internet, whether we want to be seen or not, we have no need for pride or self-promotion.
We don’t need to post a photo of our prayer corners, our Lenten meal, or our brand new prayerbook.
Jesus has already called us his own through our baptism.
So, instead of joining in society’s vision of how we should conduct ourselves, we are called to live differently.
Jesus asks that we should be laying up treasures in heaven rather than on earth. There are no social media bonus points to get into heaven.
In short, we are to live humbly as Christians, not letting our left hand know what our right hand is doing.
Living humbly, and under the radar, is to be enlightened by the Holy Spirit.
And, as St. Paul says in our Epistle reading, “So let us cast away the deeds of the darkness and don the armaments of the light. Let us walk becomingly, as in daylight …” (Romans 13:12-13a)
Changing Your Mind
“But when you fast anoint your head and wash your face, So that you show yourself to be fasting not to men, but rather to your Father who is in secret; and your Father, who watches what is secret, will reward you.” (Matthew 6:17-18)