Why Being a Christian Feels Harder Than Ever Before…. I’m Worried
September 1, 2026
AI Summary
5 min readWhy Being a Christian Feels Harder Than Ever Before
Jeanine Amapola Ward opens with a confession: when she steps away from her phone and into real life, Christianity doesn't feel particularly hard. The difficulty comes from somewhere else—from the Christian social media landscape, which she describes as "getting a little scary" and "exhaustive." The problem, as she sees it, is not that Christians care about truth, but that the way they express that care online is pushing people away from faith rather than drawing them toward it.
The Performance Trap and the Social Media Pharisees
The central mechanism Ward identifies is a kind of performative Christianity that thrives on platforms like TikTok and Instagram. Christians post aesthetic morning routines—waking at 5 a.m., making matcha lattes, reading Bibles in perfect lighting—and the cumulative effect is that viewers feel they are never doing enough. "Because I follow this person, I don't feel like I read enough, or I don't have the aesthetic morning routine, or I didn't make a perfect chai matcha latte this morning," Ward says. The result is a faith that feels like a checklist rather than a relationship.
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What you'll learn
- 1 (00:30) **The Problem: Why Christianity Feels Hard Online** - Jeanine introduces the core tension: Christianity feels difficult and burdensome online, but not in real life, and she wants to unpack why.
- 2 (05:20) **New Believers Attacked Instead of Nurtured** - Jeanine argues that baby Christians are being shamed for not instantly having mature faith, which drives people away.
- 3 (09:57) **The Rise of "Social Media Pharisees"** - Performance and public shaming have replaced private, loving correction, making Christianity feel like a checklist.
- 4 (14:50) **The Bryce Crawford Model of Private Correction** - Jeanine highlights a better way: going directly to a person rather than making a public video or comment.
- 5 (20:29) **The "Holy Girl" Aesthetic and Performative Burnout** - The curated, aspirational Christian content creates a sense of inadequacy and a burdensome checklist.
- 6 (22:45) **Finding Your Specific Burden, Not Solving Everything** - The overwhelming amount of need in the world can be paralyzing, but God calls you to one thing at a time.
- 7 (25:23) **Simplify: Abiding Over Striving** - The solution to Christian burnout is to stop performing and simply abide in Jesus.
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Guests on this episode
Show Notes
Okay you guys, I have THOUGHTS on this one. 😂 The Christian social media landscape has been feeling a little exhausting lately, and I think we need to talk about it.
In this episode, I’m unpacking why Christianity can sometimes feel so complicated online when, in real life, following Jesus is meant to bring freedom, joy, peace, and transformation. Somewhere along the way, I think we’ve started confusing personal convictions with biblical commands, turning faith into a performance, and putting pressure on people to look like the “perfect Christian” before God has even had time to work in their hearts.
We’re talking about everything from Christian comment sections and publicly correcting people to comparison, aesthetic quiet times, personal convictions, drinking, spiritual gifts, serving your community, and what Romans 14 actually says about disputable matters.
God cares so much more about your heart than your perfectly curated Christian routine. His ways are not burdensome, and following Him was never supposed to be another exhausting performance.
Let’s be people who care about truth AND grace, who lovingly point people back to Christ, and who trust the Holy Spirit to do the convicting only He can do. 🤍
Scriptures mentioned
- Philippians 2:12
- Romans 2:4
- Matthew 6:33
- John 14
- 1 John 5:1–5
- Romans 14
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