We removed our shoes and stepped into the Blue Mosque, one of Turkey’s most famous sights. The decorated domes soared over our heads as we pressed in to see this remarkable building.

The tourist crowd surged around us, snapping pictures and selfies in the beautiful, and yet empty, room, the large carpeted area cordoned off and waiting for the next scheduled prayer time.

I spied a few men on the far side, saying their prayers before a wall. And as I watched, one of them bowed to the ground while filming himself, interrupting his routine every so often to adjust the camera capturing his ritual.

It seemed incongruous, watching him say his prayers not for his religion, but for TikTok. Not for his god, but for his followers.

We were staying in the heart of ancient Istanbul, where five times a day the call to prayer was broadcast on speakers from minarets throughout the city. Praying five times a day is a pillar of Islam, and I was curious: did business cease during those times? Would people stop their buying and selling to acknowledge their god?

The answer was “no”. Although we were surrounded by people in Muslim dress and coverings, none of them interrupted their business, even for a minute. Why then, I wondered, would you proclaim a religion you didn’t follow?

Good question.

Hypocrisy, of course, isn’t confined to one religion. We visited a number of beautiful Eastern Orthodox churches open for tourists, but not for worship.

Here in America, our older churches are emptying as well. Buildings that once nourished faith gradually became houses for religion. Ever-weakening doctrine led to ever-weakening commitment which led to an exodus of younger generations uninterested in keeping up appearances, and rightly so.

Religion is not faith. Religion thrives on empty ritual for self-justification. It is a cheap, and safe, alternative to true devotion. Faith, on the other hand, requires our lives and our loves. It’s a small difference, really—a simple, sincere turning of the heart—but on that turning hinges faith vs. religion. Sincerity vs. decorum. Being heard vs. “I never knew you.”

And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not keep on babbling like pagans, for they think they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them, for your Father knows what you need before you ask him.

Matthew 6:5-8

Religion counts beads. Lights candles. Bows and chants. Repeats the Lord’s Prayer because isn’t that what you’re supposed to do? Hopes to be seen, to be heard; to be granted its wishes.

And the question at the middle of it all is, are we praying? Or saying our prayers?

That Muslim man posing for his camera reminded me that we, too, can care more for keeping up appearances and performing for an audience of our peers than humbling ourselves under the mighty hand of God. We, too, can conduct our rituals and go through the motions, while the Lord searches in vain for a few tender hearts given over to his love.

We, too, can say our prayers without ever actually praying.

Our candles and liturgies only mean something when our hearts are involved. Our prayers are powerful and effective when prayed from a sincere and humble heart, with true faith in the God who hears. Not for self-justification or keeping up appearances. And certainly not for TikTok.

“Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven.”
‭‭

Matthew 7:21