OUR CHILDREN ARE WATCHING – THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO INSTAGRAM
(Sunday Sermon)
By Ewere Okonta
Dear friends, let’s be brutally honest this Sunday.
We’re living in a world where Instagram has more influence on your children than the Bible, where OnlyFans is growing faster than Sunday School, and where you, dear parent, are too busy curating your own highlight reel to notice your child’s silent scream for direction.
Let’s talk.
*Modern Parenting: Love in Hashtags, Discipline in Absentia*
Parenting today looks like this: a mother in lingerie with a Bible verse in her caption. A father reposting “God first” while ignoring his son’s porn addiction. We post prayers and Bible quotes, but fail to parent with presence.
We call it “soft parenting,” but what it really is, is silent parenting. You’re afraid to correct your child because you want to stay “cool.” You want to be liked, not feared. But the truth? If you don’t raise your children, TikTok will. And TikTok doesn’t care about their soul.
Remember Proverbs 22:6? “Train up a child in the way he should go…” That doesn’t mean letting them explore all paths to find themselves. It means guiding them through the chaos, not just cheering from the sidelines.
*Sex, Secrets, and Silence: The Church is Too Quiet*
Let’s not pretend. Sex is the loudest conversation in the room, but the church whispers about it – when it says anything at all.
Your teenage daughter has five versions of herself online – one for school, one for you, one for God, and two for her “close friends” story. Your son watches more explicit content in a week than you’ve seen in your lifetime. But you keep praying without talking. You hope Jesus will parent for you.
Here’s the reality: your children know about sex – from the streets, not the sanctuary. And silence from the pulpit has become consent. If the church won’t teach them about purity, boundaries, and respect, the internet will teach them pleasure without consequence.
This is the generation of body counts, not birthdays. “Losing it” is now a game, not a gift. And it’s all happening under your roof.
*Religion as Performance: Designer Faith, Discounted Morals*
We’ve created a generation of “Christian influencers” who can quote Psalms but not practice patience. We post worship reels but gossip in group chats. Sunday service is a photoshoot. The altar is now a stage.
We’re raising children to perform faith, not practice it. They pray before sex and call it balance. They fast on Monday and fornicate on Friday. They speak in tongues, but can’t say “I’m sorry” to their parents.
And you – the adult – are watching, liking, sometimes applauding. When did God become a filter?
*The Lifestyle Trap: You Can’t Compete With a Lie*
We scroll through curated lies every day. Children see the soft life. Vacations. Champagne brunches. Relationship “goals.” What they don’t see is the credit card debt, the therapy bills, the emotional emptiness. You think you’re teaching them humility, but the internet is teaching them to fake it till they break.
Mothers are crying in silence. Fathers are disappearing into themselves. Marriages are cracking under pressure from strangers’ expectations. And all the while, your kids are watching and learning – not what you preach, but how you live.
*So, What’s the Message?*
Parents, come back home. Not just physically – emotionally, spiritually, mentally. Be there. Teach. Talk. Pray out loud, yes – but also live out loud.
• Speak to your children about sex before the world does.
• Teach them that faith is more than a caption.
• Show them that love is not lust wrapped in emojis.
• Let them see you fail, repent, and rise again. That’s the real gospel.
And to the church: stop whispering where you should be roaring. If the pulpit remains silent, don’t be shocked when hell becomes the curriculum.
This Sunday, ask yourself: What is your child learning from you?
Because if you’re not shaping them, someone else is.
And trust me, that someone doesn’t care if they make heaven.
Amen.
*Ewere Okonta is the CEO of EOB Media. He is a family values advocate. He writes from the Department of Business Administration, University of Delta, Agbor.*
#EOB #highlightseveryone
