Use of mobile.biblegateway.com on an average Sunday morning, according to Bible Gateway
When I saw this chart (which I found via my TC colleague David Ker at futurebible) I could hear the alarmists worrying out loud: Using cell phones and blackberries in church! Is nothing—or no place—sacred anymore? It reminded me of this article on how Mars Hill Church in Seattle encourages worshipers to Twitter about the service as they worship, and the uneasy feeling I had while reading it.
But even though using handheld devices in church can be problematic—and would never fly at my church—I think there are ways and reasons to redeem them for worship. Here are five reasons I thought I SHOULD want to ban handhelds from church but, upon reflection, do NOT.1. Church should be a sacred time and place to disconnect from our technology-laden lives.
Yes, but too late for that. Just about every worship space in our hemisphere is wired from floor to ceiling, at least for lights and amplification, and often with a projector and screen and other gadgets. Almost every worship space has a clock, and every worshiper has a watch, which is an abominable intrusion of industrial culture into the sacred space of worship. Books, hymnals, and paper bulletins are a form of handheld technology of their own, though with fewer bytes. Technology-free worship is a great idea; I've just never seen it done.
2. Handheld devices distract you from worship.
Yes, and we shouldn't take that lightly, especially when it's as easy and tempting to click over to ESPN.com as BibleGateway. But for me at least, the core problem is in my head, not in my hands: my own trains of thought are the biggest threat to my attentiveness in worship. I thought this was just a modern, television-era problem, but then I came across a book called A Remedy for Wandering Thoughts in the Worship of God. It was first published in the year 1673.
There's also a chance that a handheld device can enhance attentiveness, keeping a worshiper focused on the passage or, via BibleGateway or a Bible iPhone app (a few of which I plan to review in a future post), delving deeper into it with cross-references, Hebrew or Greek roots, or other study tools. And Twittering is just another way—potentially a more dynamic and communal way—to take notes.
Finally, I shouldn't say this, but we've all heard some sermons so incoherent or unimaginative that no one would naturally be attentive to them. Funny how during a really good sermon (like one by Mary Hulst or Neal Plantinga; find examples here), my mind doesn't wander at all.
3. Reading the Bible on a small screen rather than in a book leads you to pick verses out of their context.
Yes, but again, too late. Too many preachers, and too many listeners, are too proficient in the art of sound-biting the Bible and ignoring the context of a chapter, book, or genre, for me to blame it on technology. And many churches sound-bite the Bible already by printing the verse that is being preached on in the bulletin or projecting it on the screen. Many Bible iPhone apps at least require you to scroll through an entire chapter to find a verse.
4. Being glued to your screen during church makes you focused on yourself and forget those you're worshiping with.
Yes, but so can singing out of a hymnal (unless you share it with someone), singing with your eyes closed, praying with your eyes closed, hearing a sermon as addressed to only you personally and not the church collectively, sitting next to or near people without knowing their names, and even simply sitting in the front row where you can't see anyone else. I actually think Twittering could help me feel more connected to people to whom I'd otherwise be oblivious during worship, though again, it won't happen at my church anytime soon.
5. You shouldn't take your idols to church.
Yes, and I confess that few things in my life are as much of an idolatrous object of my desire as is my iPod Touch. But as I note in my book, in the Old Testament the Israelites would take pagan plunder from a city they conquered and put it in the temple, to rededicate it to God. Why not do the same with our idols?
Extra credit question: Would it be good or bad if ThinkChristian traffic surged on Sunday mornings?
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Comments (18)
Plus, who says using your phone as your Bible makes church less sacred? Is there a Biblical command? Are you suggesting that reading my Bible on my iPhone is less holy that reading my leather-bound Bible? Can my heart only worship when God's word comes to me in paper form? Don't get me wrong, I understand what you mean. We don't NEED all this technology to worship. As you said, a tech-free worship space is a great idea, as long as it is done for the right reasons. However, we must be careful using the worship "sacred." What makes something sacred has nothing to do with its modernness or popularity, but rather God's ability to use the device to bring us to worship Him.
A good reason for your argument, however, is definitely number five. We use our devices not so much because they are more convenient, but because they make us look cool or maybe simply because we worship our gadgets rather than our Savior.
The graph definitely is interesting. Thanks for providing it. What I want to know is who is reading the Bible on their mobile device from 3-6am Sunday morning? Who ever it is, is more Godly than me!
It is confessional -- If the preacher says something to you that resonates, and you share it with your twitter followers -- it ratifies a belief. Is it really any different than taking notes? Except for the part where others can instantly read your notes? Most churches have no objection to note-taking.
It is also important to mention that Mars Hill has been using such devices to ask and answer questions -- This allows their pastor to address their objections and questions head on, in a nearly instantaneous method.
No, they shouldn't be browsing the web - but I don't think the web will ever be quite as interesting or provocative as a Mark Driscoll Sermon, so I don't think that is a big concern.
We offer a creative worship service at my church. The lights are turned down low and the music is loud. It feels more like a concert than a worship service to me but this same feeling is what attracts so many others. I've seen teens and adults texting each other during the few creative services I've attended. These people can hide in the back few rows of a darkened auditorium, waste an hour, and feel good about themselves for "attending church".
Worshiping God is what we make it. If your heart isn't in it, the style of worship service makes no difference. If you can honestly and openly worship the Lord with a PDA in one hand and a latte in the other, then by all means go for it. God knows where our hearts are.
Personally, I think I would try to leave it home, or at least turned off. I have ADD, and am easily sidetracked. I have a hard time some Sundays staying focused, no matter how engaging the service. But I would never judge someone for using something in a manner that would help them become closer to God. If someone is sitting in church surfing ESPN instead of becoming engaged in the service, is it the iphone's fault? I think not.