“And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus.” — Col 3:17
I was scrolling through my feed and landed on a reel—funny, quick, clearly not trying to be solemn—and yet it told the story of God’s faithfulness better than some sermons I’ve sat through. I laughed. And then, almost immediately, I pictured a few people I know who would not laugh. I imagine they would see the humour, the pace, and the editing and think, “This is too light a container for something so holy.” It is irreverent!
I understand the instinct. I’ve felt it myself. But I don’t think it holds up.
Paul writes to “become all things to all people, that by all possible means I might save some” (1 Cor 9:22)—a man willing to bend his method to the moment, without once bending the message itself. If Paul could do that with a hostile Roman world, I do not think a fifteen-second reel is where the principle suddenly stops applying.
And when I think about who Jesus actually rebuked, it was not the irreverent. It was the opposite—the whitewashed tombs, beautiful on the outside, right in form, empty within (Mt 23:27). You have heard style without substance will not be tolerated. Reverent posture with nothing true inside it was the danger. Not the reverse.
So maybe reverence was never about tone. It’s about whether the truth is actually there—whether what I make, share, or laugh at is honouring Him in substance, whatever its shape.
Culture will keep changing. The way we talk, joke, connect, create — all of it will keep shifting under my feet. But Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever (Hebrews 13:8). Who I am in Him does not have to shift just because the platform did.
When I see reels of prayers, cartoons, and AI creation that point their audience to God, I will enjoy, laugh, cry, like, comment, and share.
I invite you to say this prayer.
Father, let me hold what is true even as everything around it changes shape. Do not let me confuse solemnity with sincerity, or humour with carelessness. Whatever I make, whatever I share, whatever I laugh at — let it still be in Your name. And I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen.
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