We’re called not just to avoid being “conformed to this world” but to be “transformed by the renewal of your mind” (Rom. 12:2). This renewal happens when we recognize competing gospels, actively counter them with biblical truth, and surround ourselves with fellow believers who help us see the water we’re swimming in.

Inundated with Messages

As Christians, we often think of sermons as something exclusive to Sunday morning church services. We view sermons as a special type of expository exhortation, in which a pastor, standing in a pulpit and with a Bible open, delivers a spiritual instruction to a congregation. But this limited view prevents us from recognizing the countless other types of “secular sermons” that are being preached to us daily through our screens, advertisements, and entertainment.

Writer and researcher Kevin Simler offers a usefully broader definition of a sermon, which he describes as “any message designed to change or reinforce what a group of people value.”1 By this definition, sermons happen everywhere, from Super Bowl commercials to Netflix shows, from social media feeds to corporate mission statements.

What makes these secular sermons particularly influential is how they create what Simler calls “common knowledge.” This isn’t merely information that we individually absorb; it’s an understanding that we know everyone else has also absorbed.

Think about a popular TV show that portrays religious believers as backward or hypocritical. The power isn’t just in how it might influence you personally but the fact that you know millions of others watched the same portrayal. You know that they know, and they know that you know. This shared awareness creates a powerful network effect that amplifies the message far beyond its initial impact.

Or consider when a major athletic brand releases a campaign featuring everyday people overcoming obstacles through perseverance and determination. The power of the message stems not just from inspiring you personally to purchase their products (though that is a main goal) but from your knowledge that millions of others also absorbed the same aspirational message. This shared understanding creates an unspoken social consensus that personal willpower and “just doing it” are the primary solutions to life’s challenges. The campaign functions as a secular sermon precisely because everyone knows everyone else has heard it, reinforcing individualistic values in ways that private, targeted advertising never could.

The moment we recognize this broader definition of sermons, we begin to see that our culture is filled with competing pulpits, each vying for influence over our values, priorities, and beliefs. A pastor may speak for an hour on Sunday, but secular voices are preaching to us for the remaining 167 hours of the week.

Here are seven secular sermons you might have encountered this week without even realizing it.

1. The Instagram Lifestyle Gospel

Scroll through Instagram for just five minutes and you’ll hear the persistent sermon that fulfillment comes through aesthetic perfection and curated experiences. The meticulously staged “day in my life” montages and sunset beach meditation posts preach a doctrine of self-actualization through consumption and experience-collecting. This secular sermon quietly challenges the Christian understanding that true joy comes from a never-ending relationship with God (Ps. 16:11) rather than endlessly collecting picture-perfect moments (Matt. 6:19–21).

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