God’s Gone High Tech!
When my Pastor walked up to the pulpit and opened up his Ipad to read the Bible passage, I was aghast! This has got to be sacrilegious! Blasphemous even! That was about 15 years ago. I was slow to embrace this new trend. How could the Holy Bible be traded in for an electronic device? It’s just not the same. What would people think? What would God himself think?
I reluctantly started using my cell phone in church to access the Bible about 2 years ago. Before using it in church, I used the Bible Gateway app for my daily devotions. In church, I was not comfortable and felt the urge to make sure everyone knew that I was not on my phone texting but perusing the Gospel. Hello! I am actually reading the book of John here, not texting my friend John.
Last week, a friend posed the question pertaining to the above on his Facebook status. He had visited a church and was surprised to see the elders using their cell phones instead of Bibles. He wanted to see how his friends felt about this. Many felt that cellphones or any other such electronic gadgets had no place in a church. Although I understood the sentiments, I had to disagree.
Having the ease to access the Bible using an app on my phone has actually enabled me to become better at navigating the Bible. It also encourages me to read more often by the suggestions of devotions, geared to every life issues. I always have my cell phone but I do not always have my bible.
Like it or hate it, technology is here to stay. A phone is not just a phone anymore, it’s our computer, our planner, our journal, our Bible. It’s our one-stop shop. In order to reach out to the masses, we need to be on their level.
The world’s a changing place. To attract people to God, we need to adapt to the changes. Music has to have appeal without sacrificing the Message. The Bible has to appeal to young readers, churches need to feel like a happy fun place. Whatever medium it takes to realize this, as long as God is not compromised, it’s all good.