Social Media and Religious Imaginary

The fact that this controversy was birthed from Instagram is no coincidence. Instagram is a social media platform built for visual culture. Only recently have users been able to include extensive captions and elongated video content. The virtual environment fundamentally relies on visual aesthetics. As one scholar eloquently states: "Not only does Instagram allow and encourage its users to capture what Amy have been previously ephemeral moments in their lives through mobile photography, it renders these images even more persistent and enduring by posting them to Instagram's servers. This persistency of both moments and images results in a rich and relatively stable source of data for researchers. " The very idea of the platform rejects the loss of a memory or event and permits users to explore self-identification.

Users have autonomy to present themselves authentically or embellish and falsify (maybe even scam) other users. Like in the case of Nev Schulman and his catfish Angela. Nev eventually unearthed all of Angelas lies, she confessed to the deception, and over time they were able to mend their friendship. Inaccurate or shallow representations of ourselves is not necessarily an indicator of a persons role or title. Angela is an artist, but no one has since suggested that it's typical for artists to catfish people online by creating 15 profiles using someone else's pictures. So why does the case of John Gray and the Lamborghini insinuate a broader conspiracy of "backstage" clergy behavior?

Social media presents a unique dilemma for pastors and congregants. Both groups must determine the nature of religiosity outside the context of church norms in a networked society. Can your pastor post a picture of their daughter? What about their favorite TV show? What about the new million dollar house they bought? Concerning expressions of Christianity, the ubiquity of "Christian representation" in the media and complicated history of scandal and corruption make self-identification quite provocative. In his study of Muslim-Iranian identities on social media, Soudeh Ghaffari found that young Muslims incorporated hip-hop and pop genres in ritual celebrations as a way to renegotiate religious symbols and collective memories. "Thus, in a society where not all social opinions of public find a chance to be reflected in official media and mass platforms, social media contributes to reflecting these (re)produced self representations." Social media can liberate individuals from predetermined religious frameworks, especially for those in marginalized communities. Similarly, the minister or clergy member can also dismantle the confinements of stigmas and stereotypes. In the case of John Gray, his entire ministry hinges on breaking barriers and building bridges.

Gray's ministry

comedic relief
youthful culture
reality show friendly
social media savvy

Traditional church norms

Sombre atmosphere
traditional culture
anti-gossip entertainment
anti-social media

In an attempt to relate with his followers, the Lamborghini controversy highlights the cognitive dissonance between his intersecting roles as a husband and pastor. Researchers found that people on Instagram "with adaptive needs for self-definition only experience positive affective consequences from Instagram use, whereas individuals with maladaptive needs for self-definition only experience negative affective consequences from Instagram use. The inverse relationship between adaptive and maladaptive needs for self-definition regarding emotional response to Instagram feedback may suggest that individuals who are more resilient to threats of the self are less likely to experience negative affective consequences from receiving negative feedback on Instagram." In their study they utilized psychometric inventories to gauge affect and emotion. Since I do not have the ability to measure these tendencies for John Gray explicitly, I will use his response to the controversy as an indication of resilience. His biggest critique for the public outcry was his self-defined "husband" role in this particular Instagram post. His behavior indicates a desire to move into and out of the religious imaginary by dictating when he is under the pastoral lens and when he is not. If this logic carries there would be a lens for reality star, father, author, influencer, and public speaker.

In Meredith Gould's book The Social Media Gospel she calls social media a stethoscope for magnifying congregants voices for greater pastoral care and a megaphone to proclaim the word of God to a wider audience. Gray's post did not amplify his followers concerns, but in some ways it intended to galvanize hope in God. He posted the photo with the essay length caption to highlight his gratefulness for God keeping his marriage in tact and constantly providing. This appreciation, though possibly genuine, drew conflict because the luxurious nature of God's provision signals a class disparity, The oldest conflict amongst cultures in all of antiquity is class struggle. It permeates all of history and shapes entire social structures and customs. So does it matter that the car costs $200,000? Yes, because there is still a multitude of low-income families who can hardly make ends meet and the very person who is poised to preach hope to the marginalized and oppressed is openly touting a $200k car on social media.

Mahoney, J. (1995). Theology, Wealth, and Social Justice. In Companion Encyclopedia of Theology (pp. 759–776). New York, NY: Routledge.

Ghaffari, S., Ross, A., & Rivers, D. (2019). Identity, Social Media and Religion: (De)Legitimization of Identity Construction Through the Language of Religion. In Discourses of (De)Legitimization: Participatory Culture in Digital Contexts (1st ed., pp. 326–344). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351263887-17

Jackson, C. A., & Luchner, A. F. (2018). Self-presentation mediates the relationship between Self-criticism and emotional response to Instagram feedback. Personality and Individual Differences, 133, 1–6. doi: 10.1016/j.paid.2017.04.052

Gould, M. (2015). The social media gospel: Sharing the good news in new ways. Liturgical press.