SPEAKER_00: So today is a little bit different.
SPEAKER_00: It is Location Pastor Sunday, which means instead of walking through another series, each location and their pastor are really getting a chance to communicate to their people what the Lord has been working in their hearts.
SPEAKER_00: And uh what I want to share with you today is actually a message that really God first began to work in me as I was preparing for bold weekend with the students.
SPEAKER_00: Um I always love preaching to the students, especially at Bold Weekend when all of our students get to get together in one place at one time.
SPEAKER_00: The worship experiences are absolutely incredible.
SPEAKER_00: And as I began preparing for that, you know, thinking about students, I just can't help but see how the students today maybe live in a different world than the one I did when I was their age.
SPEAKER_00: Uh they live in a world that's built on them being seen, but not just seen in person, really seen online with an online persona.
SPEAKER_00: It's about them posting online, not just Facebook, but really Instagram, Snapchat, TikTok.
SPEAKER_00: Really, at a young age, they're taught to curate an image of who they want to be seen as, who they want other people to think they are, and they've learned how to manage how they come across and how other people see them.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the thing: I I think that's true for all of us, not just students.
SPEAKER_00: It may be the world they're growing up in, but it's also the world that you and I are living in today.
SPEAKER_00: We all face that same pressure of curating an image that we want other people to see.
SPEAKER_00: We build our identity, our image, our persona on the people that we're around and how we want them to perceive us, whether it be in a certain light of having everything, being everything, and leaning into that, or even the other side of it.
SPEAKER_00: We want to be seen as people who don't care about this stuff.
SPEAKER_00: But here's the question: I think in a world where image is everything, who are you when there's no audience?
SPEAKER_00: Who are you when nobody else sees you?
SPEAKER_00: I think this is really important, especially when it comes to our faith.
SPEAKER_00: Because in this world today, it's hard to separate ourselves from the audience.
SPEAKER_00: It's hard to separate our identity from how other people see us.
SPEAKER_00: And so it's led to this kind of new social media faith.
SPEAKER_00: Well, what do I mean?
SPEAKER_00: I mean, a lot of people today have a faith that is easy to post about, right?
SPEAKER_00: But it's hard to practice.
SPEAKER_00: I can't count the number of times I've seen people post a selfie with a quote from their daily devotions or a Bible verse.
SPEAKER_00: And I can't help but think, what in the world does that picture have to do with this verse?
SPEAKER_00: It's easy to share that verse when you have an app that helps you look it up, but when nobody's around, our Bibles rarely get cracked open.
SPEAKER_00: And so what we see in the world today is that some people have this public Christian version of themselves.
SPEAKER_00: But the truth is that God doesn't just see that public account, he sees our private account as well.
SPEAKER_00: God sees everything, not just who we want other people to perceive us as through this image that we create.
SPEAKER_00: And I think that maybe one of the examples where we see this idea of a social media image creeping into our faith is with this, you know, idea of a snap streak.
SPEAKER_00: Now, if you're under 30, you probably know what I'm talking about.
SPEAKER_00: If you're over 40 like me, maybe you don't, but like a snap streak is where you have a Snapchat conversation with your friends, and every day you have one, it adds to that streak.
SPEAKER_00: You just got to send one snap to keep it going.
SPEAKER_00: And so what happens is in order to keep that streak alive, there'll just be a random picture of somebody, you know, shooting a picture of the wall or a quick selfie that doesn't even get in focus just to keep the streak alive.
SPEAKER_00: The point is, they're putting in minimum effort to keep something going.
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's what our faith has become in a lot of ways.
SPEAKER_00: We offer a quick prayer, we read a random Bible verse and maybe repost it.
SPEAKER_00: We show up to church just enough to make sure we stay apart.
SPEAKER_00: What we're doing is we're doing just enough, the bare minimum, so that we feel spiritual, but we're not actually walking with Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: We're putting in a minimum effort just to say, oh yeah, I'm a Christian.
SPEAKER_00: And I think that the thing that you got to get your head around is you might come to church next week for Easter Sunday and sing at the top of your lungs and raise your hands and worship, but that doesn't mean you've ever actually surrendered your life to Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: What this is, is what we've come to call performative Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: It is a Christianity simply built on a performance for other people to see.
SPEAKER_00: Performative Christianity is when faith becomes something you display to others rather than being something that is actually shaping you.
SPEAKER_00: Performative Christianity says, I want to look close to God, but real Christianity says, I want to be close to God.
SPEAKER_00: Performative Christianity says, will people notice if I do this, say this, share this?
SPEAKER_00: Real Christianity asks, is this going to please Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: You know, I think the danger in this performative Christianity that has slowly infiltrated the church.
SPEAKER_00: The danger isn't that we look fake and others realize how fake we are.
SPEAKER_00: The danger is not looking fake, the danger is staying fake for so long that we never know how to be real with God.
SPEAKER_00: I think that's where so many people are today.
SPEAKER_00: Their relationship with Jesus has been so performative and so fake that they don't even know what a real one looks like.
SPEAKER_00: And so now, when they post that selfie in a Bible verse online, and when they show up for Easter Sunday and have an amazing spiritual high, they think that's what real faith is.
SPEAKER_00: And I want to tell you, it's not.
SPEAKER_00: You see, this idea of performative Christianity, it's not a new idea.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus himself actually warned us of this.
SPEAKER_00: Look at Jesus' words in Matthew chapter 6, verses 1 through 8.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus says, Be careful not to practice your righteousness in front of others to be seen by them.
SPEAKER_00: Why?
SPEAKER_00: He says, Otherwise, you have no reward with your Father in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: So whenever you give to the poor, don't sound a trumpet before you as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets to be applauded by people.
SPEAKER_00: Truly I tell you, they have their reward.
SPEAKER_00: But when you give to the poor, don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret, and your father who sees in secret will reward you.
SPEAKER_00: Whenever you pray, you must not be like the hypocrites, because they love to pray, standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by people.
SPEAKER_00: Truly I tell you, they have their reward.
SPEAKER_00: But when you pray, go into a private room, shut your door, and pray to your father who is in secret.
SPEAKER_00: And your father who sees in secret will reward you.
SPEAKER_00: When you pray, don't babble like the Gentiles, since they imagine they'll be heard for their many words.
SPEAKER_00: Don't be like them because your father knows the things you need before you ask him.
SPEAKER_00: So, this idea of performative Christianity is not new.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus warned us about what it looks like to try to put a faith out there just for others to see.
SPEAKER_00: But what he also does is he gives us the cure.
SPEAKER_00: The cure, I believe, that Jesus shows us for performative Christianity is private worship.
SPEAKER_00: He says it twice.
SPEAKER_00: He says, when you give, give in secret.
SPEAKER_00: When you pray, pray in private.
SPEAKER_00: So if we are gonna overcome this culture of performative Christianity, it has to come through growing our private worship.
SPEAKER_00: Worship when nobody else is around.
SPEAKER_00: What is private worship?
SPEAKER_00: Well, I want to take you to Romans chapter 12, verses 1 and 2, and I want to walk you through what I think private worship is and what private worship does for us.
SPEAKER_00: This is something we've talked about in the orchard for a while now, but if you're hearing this for the first time, this is a great couple of verses for us to lean into.
SPEAKER_00: So, Romans chapter 12, verse 1 says this Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.
SPEAKER_00: This is your true worship.
SPEAKER_00: Do not be conformed to this age, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
SPEAKER_00: So I think in these two verses, we get to see what private worship is and what it does for us in combating that performative Christianity.
SPEAKER_00: Couple of things.
SPEAKER_00: Number one, private worship is a daily time of seeing Jesus for who he is and what he's done.
SPEAKER_00: So if you look back there in verse one, it says, Therefore, brothers and sisters, in view of the mercies of God, private worship is looking at Jesus, seeing Jesus for who he is, what he's done.
SPEAKER_00: Romans chapter 1 through 11 is an amazing overview of what God has done to bring us to himself and reconcile our sin-broken relationship with him.
SPEAKER_00: And so what Paul tells us is at the heart of our private worship that overcomes performative Christianity, we have to stop staring at ourselves and start putting our eyes on Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: You can't be the centerpiece of your faith.
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is the centerpiece of your faith.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about what you are doing for him, it's about what he has done for you.
SPEAKER_00: So you need time every day where you reflect on who God is, his goodness towards you, his mercy for you, his grace in your life.
SPEAKER_00: You need time to get your eyes on him, who he is, and what he's done.
SPEAKER_00: That's where private worship begins.
SPEAKER_00: It's that daily time where we stop looking in the mirror and we start looking at Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: But private worship is also, secondly, a daily time of surrendering our lives to Jesus' will.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: You go back reading there in Romans chapter 12, verse 1, he says, In view of the mercies of God, I urge you to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God.
SPEAKER_00: This is your true worship.
SPEAKER_00: So worship is not singing loudly, raising hands, weeping at an altar.
SPEAKER_00: Worship is where we laid down our very lives for Jesus' will.
SPEAKER_00: And that is not simply saying, oh yes, I'm willing to be a martyr for the faith.
SPEAKER_00: If somebody said that they would kill me for being a Christian, then I would gladly die.
SPEAKER_00: Can I just be blunt with you?
SPEAKER_00: I think that's easier than giving up your dreams, giving up your desires, giving up your hope and your plans for the future, and surrendering to what Jesus would have for you instead.
SPEAKER_00: Look, performative Christianity uses Jesus as an accessory to make us look better in the eyes of others.
SPEAKER_00: But private worship is about daily surrendering our lives to King Jesus as our Lord.
SPEAKER_00: So private worship is a daily time of seeing Jesus for who he is, what he's done.
SPEAKER_00: Private worship is a daily time of surrendering our lives to Jesus' will.
SPEAKER_00: And then thirdly, private worship is a daily time of being transformed into Jesus' image.
SPEAKER_00: If you look at this, he tells us in verse 2, don't be conformed to this age, but be transformed.
SPEAKER_00: That idea of conformed is like when a kid plays with play-doh and they use those molds to create certain images where that mold just conforms the dough to be what it wants it to be.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what you've got to understand: that's what the world is doing to us every single day.
SPEAKER_00: The news we watch, the books we read, the people we talk to, the reels we scroll, all of that is conforming us into an image.
SPEAKER_00: And yet God calls us not to be conformed into the image of this age, but to be transformed into the image of Jesus Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Your phones, your algorithms are conforming you.
SPEAKER_00: They feed you what you pause on, whether it's because you like it or because it gets the rise out of you because you disagree with it.
SPEAKER_00: But what you've got to understand is that your attention is formation.
SPEAKER_00: What you give attention to is what is forming you.
SPEAKER_00: So when you give your attention to the things of this world, you are being conformed, but Jesus promises to transform us from the inside out.
SPEAKER_00: Not like Plato being pressed into a mold, but like a caterpillar that goes to a cocoon only to emerge as a butterfly and never go back.
SPEAKER_00: So private worship is a daily time of seeing Jesus for who he is and what he's done.
SPEAKER_00: It's a daily time of surrendering our lives to Jesus' will.
SPEAKER_00: It's a time where we are transformed into his image, and finally, it's a daily time for us to be renewed in our minds through his word.
SPEAKER_00: And that's the end of verse two.
SPEAKER_00: He says, Be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may discern what is the good, pleasing, and perfect will of God.
SPEAKER_00: You know, I love that phrase, so you may prove what is the good, pleasing, perfect will of God.
SPEAKER_00: God has not left his will known or unknown to us.
SPEAKER_00: God has made his will known to us clearly and plainly in his word.
SPEAKER_00: This is not just the word of God, these are the words of God.
SPEAKER_00: And while it may not tell you what cereal you should eat or what shirt you should wear, it tells you the direction that you are to live your life.
SPEAKER_00: So we are to renew our minds through this word by feasting on it, by learning it, by allowing it to shape us into Jesus' image.
SPEAKER_00: Here's what I know my mind, your mind, never stays empty.
SPEAKER_00: So the question is, what are we busy filling it with?
SPEAKER_00: Are we filling it with what the world is pushing at us?
SPEAKER_00: Are we filling it with what God has revealed to us?
SPEAKER_00: So, what is the cure performative Christianity?
SPEAKER_00: It has to be private worship.
SPEAKER_00: That worship when no one's around.
SPEAKER_00: So let me ask you this if you were to take away the room, take away the music, take away the crowd, take away all of that, take away your chance to be seen, would there be anything left between you and Jesus?
SPEAKER_00: Because I would say what's left is what matters most.
SPEAKER_00: Can your faith survive without other people to see it?
SPEAKER_00: What I believe is this: true worship happens when no one is watching.
SPEAKER_00: Because real worship isn't about being seen by people, it's about being surrendered to God.
SPEAKER_00: So maybe today you would confront that route of performative Christianity that creeps into all of our hearts, and you would ask Jesus to kill it.
SPEAKER_00: And that as you lean in to daily times of private worship, you would grow into his image, looking to him, hearing his word, and laying down your life at his feet.
SPEAKER_00: Because that is what real worship is all about.
SPEAKER_00: Let me pray for you.
SPEAKER_00: God, thank you for the time that you've given us today to look at your word.
SPEAKER_00: God, I pray that you would help us to get over whatever fakeness may exist in our relationship with you.
SPEAKER_00: Whatever may be out there, what we may do, what we may say, just to be seen by others.
SPEAKER_00: And God, you would remind us what real worship and real relationship with you is.
SPEAKER_00: In Jesus' name we pray.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.