Faith Is Losing Followers
When the Gospel becomes content instead of calling,
We forget that faith was never meant to be consumed
It was meant to be lived.
Faith is everywhere right now — in bios, business plans, and brand partnerships.
A quick scroll through hashtags like #ChristianBusiness shows how easily belief can blend with branding. Many of these creators are faithful people trying to honor God through their work, but somewhere along the way, the message can shift. The language of discipleship becomes the language of marketing.
And to be fair, I’m not outside of that world either.
This reflection is published on a blog, shared through social media, shaped by algorithms like everything else. But my hope isn’t to sell something — it’s to hold space for honest questions about what faith looks like when it’s lived, not leveraged.
What begins as a ministry can turn into a messaging strategy.
Faith can become something to perform instead of something to practice.
#Christianbusiness
Examples from the “#ChristianBusiness” hashtag on Instagram, where faith and entrepreneurship often overlap.
Used for commentary and educational reflection.
There’s nothing wrong with Christians using their gifts in the marketplace — Scripture is full of workers and makers. But the Gospel was never meant to be a business model. When faith becomes content or commerce, it loses its depth. It stops transforming lives and starts performing for approval.
That kind of faith feeds the ego but starves the soul.
It turns the good news into a mirror, not a mission.
Jesus didn’t use faith to climb higher.
He used it to kneel lower — to wash feet, to welcome the outcast, to love the ones the crowd forgot.
The Gospel was never meant to be packaged or polished.
It was meant to be practiced.
And it’s still calling us — away from performance, and back to presence.
Real faith isn’t about reach.
It’s about relationship.
So what does that kind of faith look like — faith that’s lived instead of leveraged, practiced instead of posted?
Scripture gives us three stories that answer that question.
Faith that keeps praying
Luke 18:1–8 (CEB)
Jesus was telling them a parable about their need to pray continuously and not to be discouraged.
He said, “In a certain city there was a judge who neither feared God nor respected people.
In that city there was a widow who kept coming to him, asking, ‘Give me justice in this case against my adversary.’
For a while he refused but finally said to himself, ‘I don’t fear God or respect people, but I will give this widow justice because she keeps bothering me. Otherwise, there will be no end to her coming here and embarrassing me.’”The Lord said, “Listen to what the unjust judge says. Won’t God provide justice to his chosen people who cry out to him day and night? Will he be slow to help them? I tell you, he will give them justice quickly. But when the Human One — that’s Jesus — comes, will he find faithfulness on earth?”
In this parable, Jesus isn’t giving us a formula for prayer — he’s showing us what real faith looks like.
The widow has no influence, no power, no platform. Her only strength is persistence.
She keeps showing up. She keeps asking. She refuses to be ignored.
Her faith isn’t loud; it’s lived.
Faith that keeps praying doesn’t care about optics or approval.
It believes that justice still matters, even when it’s inconvenient.
It believes God still listens, even when no one else does.
The widow’s faith doesn’t trend — but it transforms.
Reflect:
Where in your life are you being called to keep praying, even when it’s easier to perform?
How can persistence in prayer shift your faith from something you say to something you live?
Faith that wrestles
Genesis 32:22–28 (CEB)
Jacob got up during the night, took his family, and crossed the Jabbok River’s shallow water.
He took them and everything that belonged to him and helped them cross the river.
But Jacob stayed apart by himself, and a man wrestled with him until dawn broke.
When the man saw that he couldn’t defeat Jacob, he grabbed Jacob’s thigh and tore a muscle as they wrestled.
The man said, “Let me go because the dawn is breaking.”
But Jacob said, “I won’t let you go until you bless me.”
He said to Jacob, “What’s your name?”
He said, “Jacob.”
Then he said, “Your name won’t be Jacob any longer, but Israel, because you struggled with God and with men and won.”
Jacob’s story pulls us right into the tension between faith as performance and faith as pursuit.
Jacob doesn’t look like a model believer — he’s anxious, afraid, and unsure.
But here’s what’s remarkable: he wrestles. He stays.
He doesn’t post about his faith; he lives it through exhaustion and fear.
He holds on when he doesn’t understand what’s happening.
And God stays with him — not rewarding perfection, but presence.
Faith that wrestles doesn’t fit neatly into a quote graphic.
It’s messy, sweaty, human — and holy because God stays through it all.
When faith becomes content, it looks effortless. When faith becomes a calling, it looks like a struggle that leads to blessing. The wrestling doesn’t make Jacob less faithful; it makes his faith real.
Reflect:
What part of your faith feels like wrestling right now?
How can struggle deepen your trust in a God who stays?
Faith that endures, grows, and replicates
2 Timothy 3:14–4:5 (CEB)
Continue with the things you have learned and found convincing. You know who taught you.
Since childhood, you have known the holy scriptures that help you to be wise in a way that leads to salvation through faith that is in Christ Jesus.
Every scripture is inspired by God and is useful for teaching, for showing mistakes, for correcting, and for training character, so that the person who belongs to God may be equipped to do everything that is good.I’m giving you this commission in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus, who is coming to judge the living and the dead... Preach the word. Be ready to do it, whether it is convenient or inconvenient.
Correct, confront, and encourage with patience and instruction.
There will come a time when people will not tolerate sound teaching... But you must keep control of yourself in all circumstances. Endure suffering, do the work of a preacher of the good news, and carry out your service fully.
Paul’s letter to Timothy could have been written for us today.
He warns against shallow faith — the kind that turns truth into sound bites, the kind that tells people what they want to hear. That’s what happens when the Gospel becomes content: it loses its power to confront and transform.
Paul calls Timothy to something stronger.
He says: Stay grounded in Scripture. Live the Word, even when it’s inconvenient.
Teach what is true, not what is popular.
Faith that endures doesn’t chase trends — it cultivates character.
It corrects, comforts, and keeps going.
It grows and replicates, not through influence, but through integrity.
Faith isn’t a brand to manage. It’s a life to share.
Reflect:
How can you protect your faith from becoming shallow or performative?
Where are you being called to live what you know, even when it’s inconvenient?
What all three teach us
The widow, Jacob, and Paul each show us faith that isn’t for show.
Faith that prays without losing heart.
Faith that wrestles and refuses to let go.
Faith that endures, grows, and replicates through others.
Faith doesn’t exist to build us up — it exists to build one another.
It doesn’t aim for reach; it aims for relationship.
The Gospel was never meant to make us popular.
It was meant to make us faithful.
And faithful people don’t perform the truth — they practice it.
They live it until others can see Christ in the way they love, serve, and stand firm.
Guiding Questions for the Week
Where do you see the difference between performative faith and practiced faith in your world?
How might you live the Gospel this week, not just talk about it?
What would change in your life if faith became your calling again, not your content?
Want to go deeper?
If you want to learn how to read Scripture for yourself, ask questions, and connect faith to your daily life — that’s part of what I do as a pastor.
I offer free, one-on-one coaching and conversations as part of my ministry. There’s no charge and no requirement — just a space to explore Scripture and faith with honesty and care.
You can reach out anytime through sacrednarratives.com/contact
Faith is meant to be lived — and we’re meant to live it together.
This reflection was written by Rev. Rachel Fetters with editorial and formatting assistance from AI tools. All theological content, scriptural interpretation, and pastoral insights reflect my own ministry and voice. The use of AI here supports clarity and accessibility, not authorship or authority.
