I was discussing phone Bibles with my cousin a while back and she said something that got me thinking...
"There's something not right about being able to get porn on the same thing you read your Bible on."
I guess you COULD say the same thing about paper, but there is something distinct about all our little multifunctional life-mates. Yes, even in a basic browser window, I could have open Bible studies and the most irreverent websites known to man in adjacent tabs--the problem isn't the sole venue of smartphones. There is a twist though. If I wish to use my internet uninterrupted and undisturbed, it's a bit easier, because the core purpose of a computer isn't communication. I can sign off Facebook, close out chat programs close out email and get off message boards. However, no matter how selective I am about the apps and setup of my phone, texts come in, calls pop up. It is, after-all, a machine built to bring information into my life...immediately.
I never used my computer as my primary Bible...now, I have two apps (Mantis and YouVersion), that serve as my base of operations for Bible study, with my Apologetics Study Bible getting pulled out only when something really gets my mind in knots.
Not gonna lie...I still struggle every morning not to start my day with a Facebook/Twitter review and instead do my morning devotional. Not that that's a new struggle, but the phone just opens up new frontiers of conflict.
"There's something not right about being able to get porn on the same thing you read your Bible on."
I guess you COULD say the same thing about paper, but there is something distinct about all our little multifunctional life-mates. Yes, even in a basic browser window, I could have open Bible studies and the most irreverent websites known to man in adjacent tabs--the problem isn't the sole venue of smartphones. There is a twist though. If I wish to use my internet uninterrupted and undisturbed, it's a bit easier, because the core purpose of a computer isn't communication. I can sign off Facebook, close out chat programs close out email and get off message boards. However, no matter how selective I am about the apps and setup of my phone, texts come in, calls pop up. It is, after-all, a machine built to bring information into my life...immediately.
I never used my computer as my primary Bible...now, I have two apps (Mantis and YouVersion), that serve as my base of operations for Bible study, with my Apologetics Study Bible getting pulled out only when something really gets my mind in knots.
Not gonna lie...I still struggle every morning not to start my day with a Facebook/Twitter review and instead do my morning devotional. Not that that's a new struggle, but the phone just opens up new frontiers of conflict.
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