Let’s be honest: our church calendar, which is supposed to be about deep spiritual rhythms, has been hijacked by performance. For Western Christianity, Holy Week has turned into a seasonal "spiritual holiday" that conforms to the second it hits our consumer culture. We take the deep, heavy meaning of the resurrection and transform it into a potluck with deviled eggs and Easter egg hunts. The celebration of the resurrection gets buried under fancy clothes, decorations, and perfectly curated social media posts. Our faith shouldn't be a photo op or a brief burst of godliness before we let a hyper-connected world take the wheel again. We’re dealing with a modern kind of idolatry here. Think back to the Israelites: they got impatient and built a golden calf, a physical image that they could see, touch, and smell. The calf represented a god that dwelled in their midst while the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob inhabited the top of the mountain. Today, we do the same when we take the grit of the cross and turn it into a necklace, or an Instagram post. The habits that should signal our dependence on Him can easily become the exact kind of fake performance Jesus warned us about. If you’re fasting just to look religious, you’ve missed the point. We get stuck in this "spiritual tradition" because it’s comfortable. Like the Hebrews, who preferred the tangible surety of the food and water in Egypt, we often prefer the sure thing of influencers on social media. We turn to Dave Ramsey for financial advice instead of being like the lilies of the field. We turn to the “trad wives” for sourdough bread instead of Jesus for the bread of life.

To fight this, we need to reclaim an old rhythm. Centuries ago, the early church fasted every Wednesday and Friday to remember Christ’s betrayal and death. I’m suggesting a modern version: a digital fast every Wednesday. Think of it as a hard reset to create space for a total reliance on God. It’s a simple move to cut through the political noise and anxiety-inducing videos that are filling your feed. You’re trading screen time for prayer time. Scrolling for journaling. You have to change your environment. Find your own "lonely places," and create media-free zones and stick to boundaries like the study time over screen time. The goal is a total shift: stop letting the rapid-fire feed control you and instead place your trust in God.

The point here isn't just small self-improvement. It’s a radical shift toward eliminating our pride and living by the backwards, majestic logic of the Kingdom of God. It’s about actually taking up our own cross to follow in the paths of our savior. We need to stop chasing the "self-optimization" the algorithm promises and embrace total, humble dependence on God. That’s what it means to be poor in spirit. We have to reject the digital worship that fuels tribalism and echo chambers. Cleanse your vision. Become pure in heart. Do the hard things, seek justice, love mercy, walk humbly with your God. Ultimately, we are called to be peacemakers and ambassadors for a Kingdom that runs counter to the world we live in. Stop letting the fear and anxiety pushed by the algorithm run your life. The Exodus isn't just a history lesson; it's our current reality. We are navigating our own digital wilderness right now. Survival requires a slow, intentional commitment to following our shepherd to the living water. We have to move from being passive "people of the scroll" to becoming active "people of the Word" who live it out. This takes a real commitment: meeting in homes, being brutally honest about our struggles, and finding our identity in God’s image rather than as just another lifestyle brand for the world to consume. I will leave you with these challenges, you may choose to pick one or all three:To fight the tendency to turn faith into a performance, commit to a 30-day period where you do not post, share, or consume any news content. For every hour spent consuming digital content (including spiritual content), dedicate at least 30 minutes to a tangible, physical act of living out the faith, such as pursuing local justice, showing mercy, or spending time with others in your church. Lastly, commit to reading one unhurried, multi-chapter block of Scripture (minimum of 30 minutes) daily. During this study time, prohibit all cross-referencing, online commentary, or digital notes, allowing the Word to serve as "meditation literature" before seeking comfort in external sources.