Why Modern Christianity Feels So Shallow (And How to Build Real Faith)

Modern Christianity is popular…but often hollow.

Jesus offered living water, yet today many believers feel thin, fragile, emotional, and spiritually inconsistent. Why?

In this powerful episode of Behind the Mike Podcast with Mike Stone, we walk boldly into one of the most important conversations happening in the Church today—how our faith culture traded depth for convenience, discipleship for consumption, and transformation for emotional experience.

This message is firm, loving, and grounded in Scripture. If you've ever looked around and wondered, “How did we get here?”—this episode is for you.

🔥 In this episode you’ll learn:
  • Why “celebrity pastor culture” is quietly reshaping modern Christianity
  • How emotional-only Christianity creates fragile believers
  • Why TikTok theology and short-form spirituality are hurting discipleship
  • How self-help disguised as Scripture weakens the Gospel
  • The difference between consuming Christian content and truly following Jesus
  • What Jesus actually says about denying yourself, taking up your cross, and abiding
  • The FOUR steps to rebuild a deep, rooted, unshakable faith

📖 Key Scriptures Mentioned:
Jeremiah 17:9 — “The heart is deceitful above all things…”
Luke 9:23 — “Deny yourself…”
John 3:30 — “He must increase, I must decrease.”

#Christianity #FaithPodcast #BehindTheMike

⛓️ Timestamps
00:00 – The problem with modern Christianity
00:38 – How we traded depth for a comfortable imitation
01:45 – Why pastor celebrity culture is damaging faith
03:07 – Emotion vs obedience in spiritual life
04:21 – How TikTok theology is replacing discipleship
05:00 – Christianity becoming self-help instead of Scripture
06:35 – Consumption vs discipleship
07:51 – The gap that creates shallow faith
09:02 – Inspiration vs intimacy
09:34 – What Jesus actually calls His followers to
11:18 – Abiding in Christ during every season
11:55 – 4 steps to rebuild real faith
14:12 – Why maturity can’t be microwaved
14:48 – How to recognize empty wells
15:18 – Hope, renewal, and returning to Jesus

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Episode Transcript

(00:00):
Do you ever look around atmodern Christianity and think,
how did we get here?
How did something thatJesus described as living water,
abundant life built on the rock?
Become something that feelsfor many people thin, fragile,
emotional, inconsistent,and honestly shallow?

(00:24):
And let me say right up frontwith love, humility and clarity.
Christianity is not shallow,but the version that many of us
have settled foris absolutely shallow.
Not because God changed.
Not because Scripture changed.
Not because Jesus becameless powerful,
but because many of ushave traded the real thing for a

(00:49):
comfortable imitation.
So in this episode,we're going to peel
back the layers and we're goingto talk about it openly.
We're going to talk abouthow celebrity pastor culture
is reshaping our faith,how emotional only Christianity
sets believers up for collapse.
How our TikToktheology is replacing

(01:11):
biblical discipleship.
How self-helpdisguised as Scripture
is weakening the gospel,and most importantly,
how to rebuild a faiththat is deep rooted, enduring,
and unshakable.
This will be a lovingbut firm conversation
because the truth is, ifyour faith feels shallow,

(01:34):
God isn't the one who drifted.
Let's get into it.
All right, let me start here.
Pastors matter.
I have a pastoralministry degree,
and I've seen pastorsand watched pastors for years.

(01:54):
And leadership matters.
I'm grateful for faithfulpastors and shepherds
who are out there working hard.
It's a hard job.
It's a hard calling.
Because people don't alwaysrecognize the fact
that you're human, too,and you deal with some of the

(02:15):
same things thatthat we all deal with.
But somewhere along the way,we've built a culture
where the pastor becomesthe brand, the product
and the personality, and Jesuskind of becomes the background.
You know, people knowtheir favorite pastors voice,
their catchphrases, their sermonseries, their social

(02:39):
media clips.
But I'm afraid thatthey don't know
Jesus actual teachings.
We see Christians are devastatedwhen a pastor falls.
Why?
Well, it is devastating, butI think it's mainly
because their faithwas anchored to a man,
not the Messiah.
God never askedus to make celebrities.

(03:02):
He asked us to make disciples.
Let me be clear here.
Emotion is not the enemy.
Emotion.
Emotion is a gift.
But emotion was never supposedto be the engine of your faith.
Today, many believersmeasure God's presence
by how they feel during worship.

(03:22):
Did I cry?
Did I get the chills?
Did the chorus hit just right?
But here's the danger in that.
You know, if if your faith isbuilt on feelings,
man, your faithis going to collapse
as soon as your feelings do.

(03:42):
Some Christians worshippassionately,
but walk away anxiously.
Why?
Because they've learned tofeel God but not follow God.
Emotion sparks you.
Obedience sustains you.
We live in an era whereTikTok, Instagram, and YouTube

(04:03):
have become the maindiscipleship tools for millions
of Christians.
And hear meonline content like this
can be helpful,but it can't replace
the depth of Scripture or theaccountability of community.
This is meant to be aencouragement for you.

(04:24):
Not your soul. Bread.
So the problem is short videosthat prioritize novelty
over accuracy.
Influencers preachwithout any oversight.
An estheticspirituality replaces
biblical discipline.
We're raising Christians whothey can quote trendy reels,

(04:46):
but not the passagesthat the reels
are talking about.
Christian vibes have replacedChristian values.
Christianity has become contentwhen it was always meant
to be commitment.
We've replaced biblical doctrinewith therapeutic positivity.

(05:06):
So just check me here.
Have you heard the lines?
Follow your heart.
Live your truth.
You're enough.
God just wants us to be happy.
The problem?
None of that is in the Bible.
In fact, Scripturesays the opposite.

Jeremiah 17 (05:23):
9 says, the heart is deceitful
above all things.

Luke 9 (05:28):
23.
Deny yourself

and John 3 (05:30):
30.
You must decrease,and he must increase.
Self-Help saysyou have the power inside you,
but the gospel saysyou need a savior
because you don'thave the power.
Self-Help centers on the self,the gospel

(05:51):
crucified as the self.
And when you substitutetherapy for theology,
you get a Christianitythat encourages you.
But it never transforms you.
So, and don't get me wrong.
There are a lot of greatChristian counselors
and therapists out there,and they're very important.

(06:12):
Just be carefulabout going to the ones
that want to offer this typeof self-help stuff, because
that's different.
It's not founded.
It's not based on God's Word.
So let's move deeper.
These symptoms aren't random.
They flow fromsomething underneath.
We've replaced discipleshipwith consumption.

(06:35):
We are now the mostChristian content
soaked generation in history.
Podcasts like this.
Sermons, reels, devotionalswe consume spiritually.
Like we binge Netflix.
But consumptionis not discipleship.
Discipleship requires obedience,accountability,

(06:57):
surrender, conviction,and transformation.
Consumption requires headphones,passive listening,
and entertainment.
Jesus didn't say,binge my teachings.
He said, follow me.
And there's a difference.
Transformation requirespruning, discipleship,

(07:18):
sacrifice, and losing your life.
To find that comfort requires.
Well, nothing.
Modern Christianity saysI want God to fix my life,
as long as he doesn't ask meto change anything in it.
But Jesus didn't come to polishthe old you.
He came to crucify itand raise a new you.

(07:42):
Comfort never producescharacter.
Convenience never producesconviction.
I've learned thatit's a hard learn.
It's a hard thing to understand,but it's true.
And this is where many believersget stuck.
We want good things, right?
We want peace,purpose, joy, clarity,

(08:03):
strength, blessing.
We want calling.
Those are good things.
But we resist repentance.
We resist confessionand sacrifice.
Obedience.
Accountability, holiness.
We ask God to blesswhat we refuse to surrender.

(08:23):
We want a Savior,but not a Lord.
We want the promises,but not the process.
And shallow Christianityis born right there in that gap
between what we want from Godand what we refuse to give God.
Inspiration feels good, right?

(08:43):
It lifts your mood.
It motivates you.
But inspiration fades.
Intimacy forms.
Intimacy is builtin prayer, in Scripture,
in repentance and obediencein waiting.
Not my strong point.
It's built in warship endurance,and it's built in community.

(09:07):
You cannot build a deepfaith on vibes and reels.
You build it in the quiet,in the consistency,
the obedience,in the hidden life
that no one sees.
Inspiration encourages you.
Intimacy anchors you.
Christianity in the Scriptureis not the Christianity

(09:29):
that most people experience.
Let's see whatJesus actually says.
Okay, first of all,deny yourself.
Our culture now says,be yourself.
Express yourself.
Follow your truth.
Jesus says, no, deny yourself.

(09:49):
And that means denyingselfish urges, denying sinful
patterns, denying cultural lies.
Deny the version of yourselfthat refuses
to surrender to God.
The gospel calls us to crucifythe old self.
Take up your cross.
Right.
You've heard that.

(10:09):
And that was not poetry.
It was death.
The cross that Jesus died onis dying to pride.
It's dying to lust, dyingto bitterness, dying
to unforgiveness,dying to selfish,
sinful passions.
You can't follow Jesusand follow your flesh.
One of them has got to die.

(10:31):
That's the differencebetween someone
who's following Christand someone who's not.
He says, follow me.
Not follow your heart.
Follow influencers.
Follow trends.
Follow hype.
Follow him.
Meaning.
Imitate his humility.
Obey his commands.

(10:51):
Value what he values.
Reject what he rejects.
Live like he lived.
Love like he loved.
Abide in me.
Abiding isdeeper than believing.
It's deeper than agreeing.
And it's deeper than feeling.
Abiding is daily.

(11:12):
It's relational.
It's intentional.
It's persevering and rooted.
It means you stay connectedthrough every season
the dry seasons,the heavy seasons,
the confusing seasons,and the painful seasons.
Abiding produces the fruitthat shallow faith

(11:35):
will never get you to.
Here's the partthat people skip.
You can fixshallow Christianity.
It's not complicated,but it's costly.
So let's walk through that.
First of all, returnto Scripture, not hurried
Scripture, not verse of the day.

(11:55):
Scripture, not what'strending on Instagram.
Scripture.
That's all fine.
But that's not wherethe growth takes place.
I'm talking about slow reading,deep meditation,
context, prayer, and study.
If you want deep faith,you've got to drink
from the deep wells.

(12:18):
Number two chooserepentance over rebranding.
We live in a generationthat rebrands sin.
They say things like,that's just who I am,
or it's my personality,or it's just a struggle.
Or even God knows my heart.
But repentance is freedom.
Repentance is healing.

(12:39):
Repentance is transformation.
You don't healwhat you keep renaming.
You heal what you surrender.
Number three surround yourselfwith people who push
you toward Jesus.
We talk a lot aboutfinding your people,
but spiritually,your people should

(12:59):
challenge you.
They should sharpenyou and confront you.
They should praywith you and push you.
They should callout, compromise, and hold you
accountable.
That's true love.
Spiritual environments shapespiritual outcomes.
You grow in the right circleor you drift in the wrong one.

(13:23):
Number four trade inspirationfor obedience.
Most Christians aren'tstruggling with information.
They're strugglingwith obedience.
We know enough scripture to livetransformed lives.
We just don't apply it.
Obedience buildsspiritual strength.

(13:43):
Obedience turns beliefinto transformation.
And obedience iswhere God meets you
most powerfully.
I have a confession.
I love fast food.
Always have.
But fast food.
Faith is quick.
It's easy.
It's emotional, it's shallow,and it's comfortable.
It won't sustain you.

(14:05):
If I ate at McDonald'severy day, my life would start
falling apart physically.
Real faith takes consistency.
This discipline.
Sacrifice.
Patience. Surrender.
Commitment.
Maturity can't be microwaved.

(14:25):
Look, I want to speakdirectly to you.
If your faith feels shallowor counterfeit,
it's not that God is distant.
It's probablythat you're drinking
from empty wells.
If your faith feels weak,it's not that you're
broken beyond repair.
It's that the worldhas handed you a cheap version

(14:47):
of Christianity.
And you were told thatthat's all there was.
But deeper faith is available,stronger faith is available.
Wholly rooted.
Anchored faith is available.
And the momentyou turn back toward
Jesus, he meets you with grace,strength, and renewal.

(15:07):
Shallow Christianitymay be very popular right now,
but deepChristianity is powerful
and Jesus is still enough.
Hey, thank you forjoining me today on Behind the
Mic podcast.
If this stirredsomething in you,
would you please share itwith someone
who needs that depthand not just the hype?

(15:29):
Don't forget to click subscribeand like it.
Share it.
I appreciate youjoining me each week, and I hope
that you follow meon those Instagram and, TikTok
and YouTube shorts.
Those are there because I wantto encourage you

(15:50):
on a daily basis.
There are days we wake upand we just feel like it's
going to be a bad day.
That's what those are for.
And I hope that you're diggingdeep into God's Word
and not justfinding those things online.
Join us next week as we diginto another topic,
and make sure that between nowand then, you're spending time

(16:11):
with the Lord and notbeing sucked away by that false
Christianity.
It's easy to fall into.
So make sureyou're being transformed
each day by Jesus Christ.
It's a daily commitment.
Thanks again for joining.