Living Out Your Faith Is Not a Hashtag

By Rob Riesmeyer, Elder

It's easy these days to think of faith as a brand, a slogan you throw out into the world with a catchy phrase and a carefully chosen photo. #Faith #Blessed #WalkByFaith. We've all seen it. Some of us have even posted it.

But real faith-the kind that changes lives and rewrites legacies—was never meant to be a performance.

Living out your faith isn't a marketing campaign.

It's not a spiritual selfie.

It's not curated content.

It's daily life.

It's quiet decisions.

It's messy obedience.

It's following Jesus when nobody's cheering you on, snapping a picture, and you get no applause or validation for doing the right thing.

At St. Luke Evangelical Free Church, we believe faith is meant to be lived out loud — not necessarily through louder words or flashier actions, but through a life so full of love, grace, and truth that people can't help but notice something different.

Not staged. Not polished. Not packaged.  But real. Raw. Life-changing.

Living out your faith looks like...

• Listening when someone needs to talk, even when you're busy.

• Forgiving when someone doesn't even ask.

• Serving when it costs you something.

• Being kind when no one would blame you for walking away.

• Standing for truth even when it's unpopular.

• Helping quietly, not for recognition, but because it's the right thing to do.

You don't need a platform to live your faith.

You don't need a huge following.

You don't need a trending post.

You just need to follow Jesus—daily, imperfectly, with a heart willing to be changed and used.

Faith isn't something we wear when it's convenient and put away when it's not. It's supposed to spill over into everything: our families, our work, our neighborhoods, our friendships, even — maybe especially — the places where faith isn't "cool" or "expected."

Maybe you've been hurt by churches. Perhaps you've felt like you didn't belong because you didn't look, act, or sound like the "perfect" Christian.

You may have watched people talk about faith online while living something different offline.

Can I tell you something? That's not what Jesus is about.

He didn't come to start a club.

He didn't come for the religious elites.

He didn't come to create a brand.

Jesus came to love the broken.

He came to meet the messy.

He came to forgive, restore, and renew.

He came for you.

And the real life of faith? It happens when we say yes to Him, not just once at an altar call, but every day, in a hundred little ways.

It's in how we treat the cashier who is having a rough day.

It's in the patience we show our kids when they're testing every ounce of it.

It's how we carry ourselves at work when integrity costs us something.

It's how we fight for marriages, stand up for the vulnerable, and care for the forgotten.

Living your faith is often unglamorous, slow, and discouraging. It's also often misunderstood, and it's almost always harder than posting a hashtag.

But it's worth it.

Not because it makes you look good, but because it points to the only One who truly is good.

Jesus.

If you're reading this today, know this: you don't have to have it all figured out, and you don't need to "qualify" yourself first.

You don't have to be perfect to start living a life of authentic faith.

You have to be willing to take the next step toward Him.

One small act of kindness.

One honest prayer.

One choice to forgive.

One moment of courage.

Real faith moves in quiet, unstoppable ways.

It won't always trend, but it will always transform.

So today, let's stop trying to package faith into something bite-sized and shareable. Let's start living it out in a way that matters — at home, at work, in our neighborhoods, at the grocery store, on the sidelines of a Little League game, and yes, even in the messy middle of our own stories.

No filters. No hype. No hashtags needed.

Just a real God, working through real people, offering real hope.

If you have questions, need prayer, or need a safe place to start or restart your faith journey, know that St. Luke is here.

We're not perfect — but we are real.

And there's a place here for you, too.

www.stlukefc.org

Because living out your faith isn't something you post.

It's something you live.