5 Reasons I Don’t Share about My Kids’ Faith

I love social media. I post on the big three platforms often and when I have down time, I’ll comment and explore. It’s been a wonderful way to reconnect with old friends, keep my extended family informed about what we are doing, and an unexpected avenue for ministry. I share articles that I have written, notes of encouragement, and thoughts on current events, all typically from my Christian perspective and worldview. I also share often about my kids—our everyday silliness, the fun activities I have planned, and general life. But one area I don’t share much about is my kids’ faith.

Here are five reasons I keep that sacred relationship off the internet.

My kids aren’t trophies

My kids aren’t trophies to be displayed for my glory. They are a joy and delight and not objects. If I’m motivated to share about my kids’ faith (i.e. what they are doing and how they are believing) so that others might see how well we are doing or because I think that it makes me look good, then I have essentially used and objectified my children. Now, I don’t think that is the motive behind everyone who shares about her children’s faith (please don’t misunderstand). But, I would need to ask myself and I think it’s a good question for all of us: Why share? What is it that I hope to do or accomplish by sharing this?

I don’t want them to feel pressure to perform

I did not grow up in church, but I hear the horror stories from adults who as children felt pressure to be “good kids” while they were dying inside. Add the social media craze and I think you have a perfect storm for pretending. I desire for my kids to be free to tell me hard things. I also don’t want them to pretend so I can get the perfect picture to share on social media. Now, I’ve most definitely asked them to be still at a park or while we were cooking together so I might capture a moment that I want to remember and share with my friends and family. But I don’t want them to feel the pressure to stop and freeze or repeat something regarding their faith (worship, singing, reading, serving, etc.) so it might be captured and shared. I don’t want them to fake, pretend, or perform their faith in any way. I don’t want them to feel they need to do this in any part of life. I don’t believe it honors our Father, and it sets a dangerous precedent that might be hard to break in their future. We can’t earn God’s favor—we have His favor because of Christ and Christ alone. I don’t want them to get into the habit of thinking they need to perform for me, you, and most definitely not for God. This point could be its own blog post.

It’s not my relationship with God to share

I don’t know if there’s much I need to add to that subheading—simply, it isn’t my faith to share about. Again, I’d need to ask myself why I’m so eager to share about their personal relationship with God?

I don’t want them to feel regret when they are older

Recently, my son came to me excited to share that he had searched my name on Google and found me. He also found tons of pictures of me, and one of his dad. He was thrilled and thought it was pretty cool. I, however, found myself cringing. It was a reminder to me that what we put on the internet stays forever. That means that years from now, when my kids are adults, they’ll be able to access it. I don’t want them to look back longingly and see that mommy highlighted all the “good” things they did regarding their faith, especially if they fall. (I also don’t want them to look back and see a bunch of negative things posted about them, but that’s another topic!). I think our faith is best lived out in the community where we live. And if my kids walk away from the faith or fall into sin, I’d hate for it to be blasted on the internet. I’d like to protect my kids as much as humanly possible. I want them to know that their mom and dad love them now, and will love them if they should fall in the future. I would never want them to feel like I couldn’t be trusted with their struggles. Our prayer is that God would protect them from much, including struggles with faith. But it’ll be up to them to share the details if they’d like to in the future.

They are young

My kids are incredibly young and some might argue that even sharing the fun and silly things we do is too much. Anytime I want to post about them, I ask their permission to share pictures and funny stories, and if they don’t want me to, I don’t. But when it comes to their faith, I’m afraid they are simply too young to make such a call.

These are a few reasons I don’t share much about my children’s faith, and as I mentioned in one section, these are just quick thoughts that could easily be expanded. And if you can believe it, I don’t actually share everything about my own faith either. Every matter and every moment doesn’t find its place on the internet. I like to share what God is teaching me in the hopes that it might encourage others, just as I’ve learned the same way from others’ faith online. These things are matters of conscience and my conscience tells me that some things are best left done in secret.

“Beware of practicing your righteousness before other people in order to be seen by them, for then you will have no reward from your Father who is in heaven” (Matt. 6:1)

What about you? Are there things that you don’t share on the internet?

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