The global creator economy, currently valued at $191.55 billion, is projected to triple by 2030(1). The most successful creators are those who have leveraged narrative-based content creation to build personal brands and dedicated online followings (2). In April 2020, I posted a TikTok video tutorial of my masala chai recipe with no intention of cultivating a religiously diverse online community of half a million followers within five years (3). During this time, as a South Asian-American Christian pastor, I have employed chai-making as a storytelling canvas to contextualize religious ideas for interfaith dialogue. My content strategy has inadvertently fostered interfaith conversations by using food as a medium for digital storytelling.
Throughout this journey, I have encountered numerous other creators who also utilize indirect communication methods to express their faith and religious beliefs within diverse communities. Benson Fraser’s theory of indirect communication (4), which adapts Kierkegaard’s concepts of “capability” and “knowledge” to religious communication in secular contexts, provides an analytical framework to assess the creation strategies of digital influencers who integrate indirect storytelling into their content distribution.
This paper aims to identify the communication strategies employed by Christian digital influencers who utilize indirect storytelling in interfaith online discourse. To achieve this, I will conduct semi-structured interviews with 10 digital influencers who identify as practicing Christians and have cultivated religiously and ideologically diverse online communities. These creators, who each have at least 10,000 aggregate followers across social media platforms, demonstrate strong personal branding and loyal multi-faith engagement. The sample selection prioritizes diversity in religious views, ethnic backgrounds, and content niches, ensuring a comprehensive understanding of indirect communication methods.
By analyzing qualitative data from these interviews through the lens of Fraser’s theory of indirect communication, I aim to demonstrate that Christian digital influencers’ communication strategies are shaped by factors including, but not limited to, religious identity (5), performative belief (6), and algorithmic authority (7). These strategies not only enhance faith expression but also contribute to fostering interfaith dialogue without compromising personal beliefs.
This paper contributes to the growing field of digital religion by offering insights into how indirect communication shapes religious discourse in the digital age. It also generates critical reflection questions for developing interfaith online communication practices that move beyond preserving denominational or religious priorities, promoting instead a more nuanced and inclusive approach to faith representation in the creator economy.
- Duarte, Fabio. 2024. “Creator Economy Market Size (2024-2030).” Exploding Topics. March 11, 2024. https://explodingtopics.com/blog/creator-economy-market-size.
- Schuman, Nicole. 2025. “The Creator Economy: Evolving from Storytellers to Business Advisors.” PRNEWS. January 8, 2025. https://www.prnewsonline.com/the-creator-economy-evolving-from-storytellers-to-business-advisors/.
- “Kevin Wilson, Chai Tea, and the Rise of Christian TikTok - Christianity Today.” 2021. Christianity Today. October 7, 2021. https://www.christianitytoday.com/podcasts/viral-jesus/kevin-wilson-chai-tea-and-rise-of-christian-tiktok-kevin-wi/.
- Fraser, Benson P. 2020. Hide and Seek. Wipf and Stock Publishers.
- Sheldon, Zachary . 2025. Christian Influence: The Subcultural Narratives of Evangelical Celebrities on Instagram . New York : Routledge.
- Goffman, Erving. 1959. The Presentation of Self in Everyday Life. Doubleday.
- Campbell, Heidi A. 2020. Digital Creatives and the Rethinking of Religious Authority. Routledge.
This paper explores the indirect storytelling strategies of Christian digital influencers who engage in interfaith discourse on social media. As the creator economy is projected to triple in value by 2030, successful content creators leverage narrative-based storytelling to build dedicated online communities. As a South Asian-American Christian pastor, I unintentionally fostered a diverse interfaith following through chai-making videos on TikTok, inspiring this study on how influencers use indirect communication to navigate faith expression. Applying Benson Fraser’s theory of indirect communication, this paper examines how Christian Digital Creators use storytelling to foster interfaith dialogue while maintaining their personal beliefs. Through semi-structured interviews with ten diverse creators, the study analyzes how factors like religious identity, performative belief, and algorithmic authority shape their content strategies.