#STRask - What Do You Think About Churches Advertising on Social Media?

Episode Date: January 19, 2026

Questions about whether there’s an issue with churches advertising on social media, whether it’s weird if we pray along with a YouTuber, and whether Christian social media influencers are going against Matthew 6:1–2 when they film themselves doing good deeds.   What are your thoughts on churches advertising on social media? Is it weird that I often find myself praying along with a YouTuber when he ends his videos with a prayer? Are Christian social media influencers going against Matthew 6:1–2 when they film themselves doing good deeds?

Welcome. Thank you for joining us for hashtag STR Ask. This is Amy Hall and I'm here with Greg Kokel. And we're going to talk today about various social media questions. Okay. So the first one comes from Sandy. Our church with solid expository preaching has started advertising itself on social media. A friend is very concerned about this. What are your thoughts on this matter? I'm wondering what the concern is. Maybe you know initially, I mean, my initial response is what would be a problem with that? Churches are in the yellow pages when yellow pages were functioning. And I guess they still are out there, but, you know, now it's digital. And when you have a digital presentation, you can do all kinds of things that highlights what your church does, the community, the worship, the closeness between people, all of these things seem to be to be good conveyances or representations of the community

life of a church that can be appealing to people who want to watch. People don't go to the yellow pages or anything like that anymore. They find things online. So if people are looking for things online, then going online would be a good idea to represent your community church to other people. I don't, I'm just, no, duh. That's what I'm thinking. So I'm not sure what could be the liability of using social media to promote your church. I, well, there's no specific here concern. Given. You mean given by the question? Given by the person asking you. Right. I wonder if the concern has more to do with how they're advertising on social media, because it's one thing to have, let's say you have a picture of your church and it says, here's when our service times are, here's where we're located, whatever it is, and maybe your mission statement or, you know, something like that.

That I wouldn't have any problem with that. I get flyers all the time from churches at home, physical flyers, and I don't think that's different than seeing something like that on social media. But if they are trying to match the, what's the word I'm looking for, the ethos of social media, that's where I think I would start having a problem. So maybe they make a meme or maybe they do something that fits into social media. media, not just using it as a way to give information about who they are or show people who they are, but rather to fit into the style, maybe they're doing videos that are, I don't know, maybe more silly or whatever it is. That's when I might start having concerns. I would have to see what they're doing. But anything that is, I think, conveys either a snarkiness or a silliness, then I would say,

maybe don't do that because you remember you're representing who God is and there should be a certain weightiness to it and there should be a certain beauty to it. You should be representing the character of God not only in what you're saying but how you're saying it. So I think there needs to be thought about that. But just have, I mean, I'm trying to think if there's a mere fact about being on social media that would give me pause and I'm not sure there is. Maybe. Maybe there's a certain kind of social media that might. I'd have to hear more details, I think. Well, way back when back in the 60s or whatever, Marshall McLuhan said, the medium is the message. And so a lot of times there was a question about the nature of the medium itself. I don't think that's true anymore as if the medium itself conveyed a certain message by the nature of the medium. and when we're on social media standard reason is in all different kinds of ways.

So how is it, I mean, if that's a questionable way of doing business, as it were, then, you know, we'd be guilty of impropriety if that were the case. If the kind of thing you just mentioned, it seemed to me, this can show up in different forms anyway. I remember there was a whole thing about gospel blimps. I don't know, there was a, this is a long time ago, but they had the gospel blimp. And some thought, well, this is kind of a frivolous way to be advertising your church. And there might have been a point there because it was a gospel blimp. But at the same time, there are people advertise on TV or local TV stations or whatever.

Certainly we do this and stand to reason with social media. I don't think that the medium is suspected itself. And if somebody's using the medium in a way that's ill-advised, then they should change the way they use the medium. The problem isn't with the medium. That's the marketplace now. The digital world is the marketplace. And I mean, who goes, you know, who goes to yellow pages or anything like that? Local newspaper has, you know, here's the churches in the community or whatever.

I don't think that's the way people find churches. So I don't. I guess I'm still looking for the problem in the medium itself. I think I could probably sum up by saying that it would be a good idea to hear the person's concerns specifically, not just so. Is it something about her friend's concern? Okay. Is the concern that they're changing their message to fit the medium in a way that is unbecoming of a church? If that's the case, then I think it is worth talking about.

And I think that's possible. That could be happening. So that's what I think what I would look out for. So if I went to my own church, a living house church in Thousand Oaks area, if I went there and went on their website, I'd see this characterization of times and services and activities. And there'll probably be short video clips too. So this is all online stuff. It's just not in kind of a social media location, but there's all kinds of stuff that's there that it seems to me would be entirely appropriate.

Now, sometimes when a church has an event, there's a video. I see them because I'm in different churches, and so they're promoting an event, and they might have a clever video with testimonies and stuff to promote the event. And if it's appropriate in front of the church, even if it's kind of clever or creative, then it would be appropriate on their website, then it seems it would be appropriate as a social media posting. So I just, I think the issue ought to be with the way this is characterized in any given instance, not the location it shows up on. So take it seriously and get as many details as you can and just consider what,

what you're conveying through the way you're conveying it, what you're conveying it, what you're conveying about your church, about the people in your church, whatever it is. You know, I can think of one in a sense negative example. We both are deeply concerned about the He Gets Us campaign, and that was a video driven and online and all kinds of places it showed up. But the problem there wasn't the method or the location. It was the content. So what can happen on social media is you can cater to the people who aren't Christians. you change your message a little bit. Maybe you hide things. Maybe you take on the attitude of a lot of people on YouTube where you're dismissive of other people or, I mean, who knows? There are liabilities to things that are on social media right now. And there are certain trends and the styles and all those sorts of things that I would object to. So again, I think you have to take, I would take the concern seriously and look at the specifics. Yeah, good for you.

Okay, this next question comes from Anselm. Anselm? Anselm. Oh, okay. A YouTuber will often end his videos in a prayer. I haven't heard that name for a thousand years. All right, go ahead. Okay, let me start over.

A YouTuber will often end his videos in a prayer. I tend to watch them days after he records them, but often find myself, quote, praying along, as if I would when praying with others in person. I like doing this, but it also seems weird to me. Is it weird? And what, if any, perspective should I have about this? I've done it. I've done it. I have to.

Okay. I mean, God doesn't, it's not, I don't know why. I can see how it might feel odd, but I don't see how anything could be odd about it. I mean, in one sense, you never respond to anyone's prayer in real time. That is, there's always a lag. time from the time it's spoken to the time you hear it. I mean, if you want to get really precise about it, you never see anything in real, you never see the sun in real time. You know, it's like, what is that? What's the lag time between the speed of light from the sun does? You don't see.

And so, I mean, that sounds like a corny illustration, but let's just say there's a millisecond between the time you hear it and then the time you say amen, or two minutes between the time you hear it and the time you say amen. Or maybe two hours or two days or two weeks. As long as the content of the prayer is something you can pray with integrity, give your amen to, your agreement to. I don't see why any lag in time. How many minutes is it from this? See, I'm stuck on that now, five minutes. Anyway, I don't see why any lag in time is going to make a difference.

I think, in one way, I think this is no different than reading written prayers from the past. You know, we've done this since the beginning. Someone will write a prayer and then people will read it later and pray with it. So in that sense, I don't think it's any different from that. I think the reason why it feels weird is because there's kind of a faux community happening because you're not really with that person, just like you're not with the person who wrote the prayer if you're reading a written prayer. But the weird thing is, but you're seeing them. and so there's this kind of faux community happening that's not really community.

So I think that's where the weirdness comes in. But I don't think there's anything wrong with praying along. I think it does lack that community aspect. I would rather you be praying with them in person, but chances of that happening are not going to. Well, that's not going to happen because the person's isolated in the broadcast arena, so to speak. I mean, even if we do something like this and pray for respond to a prayer request that comes into the radio, when somebody listens to the show the next day. It was the same kind of thing.

I had not thought about the written thing, but I've recommended before a kind of a devotional that I use, a Puritan devotional in the morning. And all that is is Puritan prayers. It's called Valley of Vision. I had this valley of decision in my head, and I said, where did that come from? Valley of Vision, thank you, Amy.

Valley of Vision. and I've recommended it, and that's what it is, it's peer prayers, that I make my own. Now, sometimes I make alterations because I can't pray with integrity, in other words, agreement with every single phrase there. And sometimes I cross them out, write my own phrase. So it becomes my prayer, but I'm really hitchhiking on that prayer. I'm praying along with them, and I find this really helpful. In fact, in Colossians, there's a prayer that Paul prays that Paul says, I pray that you would be filled with the knowledge of God's will and all spiritual wisdom and understanding so we can walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, et cetera. I know this whole section, because I prayed that for members of my family.

Well, that's 2,000 years old, but it's still a great prayer. And it's, you know, I have a little bit more divine authority behind it. It's not a promise, but it is the words of Paul inspired by God, and so it covers some really great basis. And so I pray that prayer. And there's nothing wrong with that either. That's helpful to me. I think there is a sense of longing to be praying with other people.

So I think missing that element will make you feel a little bit weird or maybe a little bit of loss. But there's certainly nothing wrong with praying along with someone. with a video of someone praying. That's according to my view anyway. And so, and I like the name, by the way, even though I haven't heard it for a thousand years. This is great. Okay.

The next one, let's see, the name here, I hope I didn't lose any of it, but it looks like L.S.J is the name. How should we think about Christian social media influencers doing good deeds and filming it? They seem altruistic and often use the proceeds from the videos to be able to do even more good deeds and inspiring others to be charitable. I have Matthew 6, 1, and 2 in mind. Well, I don't have Matthew 6, 1 and 2 in front of me, but I think that's where Jesus is abrading the Jews for doing things, giving alms, for example, in front of men to be noticed by them. Is that it? Yes. Beware of practicing your righteousness before men to be noticed by them. Otherwise, you have no reward with your father who is in heaven.

Okay. So now this is very important because I think this can be misunderstood. All right. He doesn't say you shouldn't be practicing righteous things before men. He's not talking about the activity. He's talking about the motive to be seen by them. And so you're doing it for the reason not, and this is the hypocrisy. is a faker. You're being a faker. That's where a hypocrite is. It's not somebody who's just, were you going to jump in? Well, I was just going to read the second verse because it goes on to say, so when you give to the poor, do not sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets so that they may be honored by men. Truly, I say to you, they have the reward in full. Yeah. Okay. So this is the key. The key is that a hypocrite is a faker, wearing a mask, so to speak. And that's different from being inconsistent.

Most, all Christians are inconsistent to their values at one point or another. But, but they're not fakers. They're not putting on a show. Jesus was addressing people who are putting on a religious show, not because of their deep convictions about God and religion in a proper sense, but rather to be seen by others, to get the accolades and applaud from others for, their religiosity. And this is why he says they have the reward in full. Okay, you got your reward. Somebody, some man is applauding you. God's not going to applaud you. That's what you should be after.

Some man is going to applaud you. You get your reward in full. Okay. So the issue there is not what one does in public, but the motivations that they are doing it for. Now, I can't speak to every person who's videotaping something they're doing and putting it on the YouTube or wherever. But many times, look at Ray Comfort. Ray Comfort does a lot of street evangelism with a video, videographer over his shoulder. John Noyes does noise on the street for a standard reason. And what he's doing is he is modeling a certain type of approach to sharing in that kind of environment, and it's meant to train, by example, other Christians to do the same.

And plus, watching it is very edifying because you see Ray work over. maybe 15 or 20 minutes with one individual starting with from zero and bringing those people to a point where they actually seem to put genuine trust in the Lord. All right. Now, I have no reason to think that Ray is doing this so people can say, hey, Ray, great guy, blah, blah, blah. You might say that, but that's not his motivation. And I mean, I know Ray. The guy's just one of the most, he's biblie, man. He's just overflowing with the gospel all the time. And he'll talk to anybody about Jesus because he loves them and he cares about the gospel. So he wouldn't fall into that category.

I think sometimes – so in the case that was just described, again, it's hard to know a person's motives. But it's certainly possible to do that in a way that's completely commendable and appropriate. And, of course, in the examples that Jesus gave, people are sounding the way. horn, hey, I'm giving money. Everybody see me. And I great. Okay, da-da, there it is. And they love the front seats in the synagogue, the places of honor, and all these other ways that are all for the purpose of self-aggrandizement, okay? Self-aggrandizing, getting self-attention, and applaud for them, and not for the thing itself. And, you know, Proverbs says, let another praise you and not your own lips. Nothing wrong with accepting praise that's appropriate.

You can say thank you. I appreciate that. Whatever. But don't you be the initiator of it, be the author of it. And this would be an example, I think, of that proverb in play. These are people that are praising themselves in public so that people will think them religious and spiritual and think well of them for that reason, which that's their reward, and that's the end of it. And Jesus said, no, rather give a secret, and your father, who is secret, will repay you, you know. So that's the dynamic that's in view there. What do you think? I think it's hard for us to know why they're doing it.

And I also think even if they are doing it for bad reasons, it can still have a good effect for everyone else. I think about when Paul says in Philippians 1, he talks about the people who are preaching the gospel for nefarious reasons. But he says, but they're preaching the gospel, and I want the gospel to be preached. So if someone is demonstrating good deeds or they're giving to someone and they're teaching people how to do that and they're helping someone and they're helping someone and they're inspiring people to do that, even if they don't. have the right motives, I think there could still be a good effect. And in fact, I think about how, you know, here we are. We are on social media. We're talking about the answers to these questions. We're using our gifts to serve others. And someone could say the same of us, oh, you're just doing this to get accolades or whatever it is. But we're doing this to instruct others and serve them.

So if someone's gift is different from ours, let's say their gift is giving. The Bible talks about people who have the gift of helping others or of giving or of hospitality or whatever it is. And let's say they're using their gifts and they're filming them to instruct others and inspire others. I don't think it's that different from what we are doing. And I also think when someone does have bad motives, you tend to be able to pick up on that a little bit. So maybe don't admire them so much. But I don't know. I think if someone is being generous and helping others and doing it joyfully and celebrating it to the glory of God in front of everyone. And they're celebrating the giving rather than themselves. I don't see a problem with that. I can even, you know, I'm mindful of my own motives, but I'm aware that they're, you know, they're always going to be mixed in some measure. And you can't expect, in a sense, moral perfection out to anyone. And Jesus is talking about an extreme here and a standard motivation that's wrong.

And I think if our motivations are right, there are going to be times when we're going to be maybe, I think it's also entirely appropriate to feel good about a productive exercise of your gift. So when we have a good show together, I think, mm, got it, that's great, you know. It's like the football players, you know, how they go, wow, they do it. a little dance. Well, I'm not wild about the dance, but the point I'm making is you can celebrate your victories and take joy in appropriate victories. Now, sometimes that's going to be, there's going to be a mixture of drawing, maybe inappropriate attention to yourself sometime. We're saved by grace. You know, this is, it's good to be attentive to our motives and that, but not to be too demanding

of like, it's got to be perfect or whatever. Oh, it's all of God and none of me. Well, I saw your lips moving, you know, kind of thing. I think there's a propriety to feeling good about having done a good job, even for the sake of the Lord, and receiving when people are thankful for it, just graciously receiving the thanks. But there are some people that are profoundly motivated by the wrong things, and Jesus is talking about that kind of person. And I will add, just speaking directly to someone who is doing, that's a social media influencer, who is doing something like this online, I think you have. have to be very careful. You have to be, you have to have people who are, who can speak into your life

and can call you out if your motives start getting out of whack. I think you need to be very careful that your concern is for God's glory and not your own glory. And I think you have to be intentional about praying about that and guarding against that because this is a huge temptation on social media, a huge temptation. And you see people falling prey to it, right and left. So if this is you doing this, then I would say tread very carefully and make sure you're not doing this by yourself because that is very dangerous for your soul, I think. So some positive. All right. Thank you so much, Sandy and Anselm and LSJ. If you have a question, we'd love to hear from you. So send that on X with the hashtag STR Ask. Or you can just go to our

website at STR.org and go to our hashtag STR Ask Podcast page. We really do look forward to hearing from you. This is Amy Hall and Great Kokel for Stand to Reason.