God is Not an Algorithm
On Instagram, Mosaic law, and embracing grace
When I joined Instagram a year ago, I had no idea how many hoops I had to jump through to please the almighty algorithm:
“Be the first to like your post!”
“Comment two times!”
“Share to your story!”
“Use trending audios!”
“Scatter keywords into your caption!”
“Add three to eight hashtags!”
“Use a strong hook!”
etc., etc., etc.
To lure new followers, it’s not enough to post every once in a while. You have to post daily, preferably at the same time. And you can’t simply “post and ghost,” as the Instagurus say. You need to stay on the platform and “engage meaningfully” for at least 10 - 15 minutes.
In other words, the only way to thrive on Instagram is to live on Instagram.
Prior to launching my writing career, I refused to download Instagram. I scoffed at it as a waste of time and a distorted reflection of reality.
But I also knew that Gen Z had emigrated from Facebook (where I continued to live like a Highland Scot refusing to cross the Atlantic) to the newfound Promised Land of Instagram and TikTok. So, with a sigh of defeat, I updated my social media passport and boarded the InstaTrain.
At first, I felt like Elphaba in the Emerald City: everything was so new and shiny, and for the first time in forever, I felt like I fit in with the rest of my generation. I loved seeing the highlights my Instagram-inclined friends didn’t post on Facebook, and from what I could tell, Reels didn’t seem that hard to make. How challenging could it be to create a ten-second video?
Harder than defying gravity, apparently.1
Like, Share, and Subscribe! (+ 100 other steps)
*Maybe* if I had downloaded Instagram for personal use, I might not have developed such a love-hate relationship with it.
But, no, I wanted a business profile expressly to promote my writing.
Except there were already thousands of other authors and editors on Bookstagram, and they were all way better at social media than I was.
With all the freelance projects I was juggling at the inception of my writing career (including this Substack blog), I didn’t have the time or energy to invest in mastering the app.
When I did find time and inspiration for a reel, I was inevitably crushed by the sub-par results of my reach. No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t seem to break out of the “500-view jail.”2
I envied my friends for getting more likes on their posts than I did. I resented the fact that you needed at least three other apps to make a viral post.3 I gritted my teeth every time a new “follower” turned out to be a bot or a creepy old man. Most of all, I loathed the fact that posting about my writing took time away from my writing.
I felt like an Israelite trying to keep all 613 Mosaic laws without ever coming close to pleasing the God who gave me those laws.
What Do You Want From Me, God?
Sadly, I fear a lot of people (Christian or otherwise) view God with the same frustration and resentment I felt towards Instagram’s algorithm.
Many of us read the Bible’s “Do’s and Don’ts” and throw our hands up in despair, thinking, “Well, guess I’m going to hell!”
Let’s be candid for a second, shall we?
Do you view God as an impersonal, impossible-to-please entity that blesses some people and ignores others?
Have you ever read the Bible and felt like you could never measure up to God’s demands? That you would never be “good enough” to please him?
I have.
Despite being a Christian for twenty years, I still struggle with feeling the need to earn God’s approval, as if God will somehow love me more if I prove how devout I am.
WRONG.
“This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent his son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” (1 Jn. 4:10 NIV)
In Romans 3:23-24, Paul tells us that “ALL have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”
Paul reiterates this in Ephesians 2:8-9: “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God—not by works, so that no one can boast.”
Grace.
Charis.
As scholar Timothy George described it, “God’s unmerited goodwill freely given and decisively effective in the saving work of Jesus Christ.”4
Yes, when the fresh-out-of-Egypt Israelites entered the Promised Land, God gave them a strict set of laws (often referred to as the Torah), to protect and prosper them.5
And the same remains true today: God calls us to a certain way of living, with prohibitions against certain behaviours, because He loves us and wants us to flourish.6
But obedience is not a prerequisite to His love.
God is not an algorithm. He “does not change like the shifting shadows,”7 nor does he prosper us only if we prove how good or holy we are.
There’s only one thing that God asks of us: faith.
“Without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to him must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who earnestly seek him.” (Heb. 11:6 NIV)
“If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” (Rom. 10:9 ESV)
Everything else—obedience, righteousness, sacrificial love—flows from faith through the power of the Holy Spirit.8
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P.S. He Already Loves You
My friend, if you have not yet entrusted yourself to God, I pray that you will know how deeply He loves you.
If you have put your faith in God but struggle to trust him, I pray you will remember that there was nothing you did to earn his love in the first place, so there’s nothing you can do to make him love you more.
For this tech-challenged writer, anyway.
But, considering how many Instagram accounts are devoted solely to boosting your Instagram following, I’m guessing I’m not the only content creator facing this conundrum.
Turns out, you need more than just Instagram to run a successful business account on Instagram. To go viral, you also need Canva, ManyChat, CapCut, Lift, Reelsapp, etc.
Timothy George, Galatians, New American Commentary Vol. 30 (Nashville: B&H, 1994), 85.
Deuteronomy 4:6-8, 30:11-20
James 1:16-25
James 1:17 NIV
Gal. 2:19-20, 5:16-23; Phil. 2:13; 1 Thess. 5:23-24
A beautiful and funny post… I could feel myself getting angry at Insta as I read it. Loved it! 💌
Amen