Gadgets in the Church? Some Pros and Cons

Technology has greatly aided the church.  

• Pianos are electronic, so the volume can be controlled and different sounds can be used.
• Words can be displayed on screens so hands are free to worship without holding books.
• Dropbox lets everyone who works on files for Sunday’s service to put them in one place to be accessed at one time to prep the screens for a service.
• Computers allow for videos and other media to enhance the message during the service.
• Sermons can be recorded and uploaded online to be listened to whenever someone wants to.
• Church Management Systems allow office workers to handle data and serve people more effectively.

While all of these are great, I am focusing in this post on the use of phones and tablets during a church’s worship service–is it okay?

The reason it’s on my mind is because I’ve had a few conversations recently about this.  So I thought I’d share some pros and cons as I see them, and then suggest some nice resources.  First, let me say that I’m not at all opposed to using phones and tablets in worship because I know how helpful these tools can be.  But there definitely can be some down sides to it.  What I’m sharing here is a mixture of my thoughts and different opinions I’ve read at different times in different places.

The PROS:

• Quickly find a Bible passage.  A Bible app on a smartphone lets people search for a verse, so someone can be ready in a few seconds to read along.  (Bible apps I use:  YouVersion, ESV Bible, Bible.is, Logos Bible)
• Additional resources at your fingertips.  Some Bible apps have search tools included to quickly view cross referenced verses, or even to just look up the definition of an English word.  The Logos app opens an entire library of commentaries and other theological resources to those who own their software, and some free resources to those who don’t.
• Note-taking.  Sure you can write by hand still, but taking notes in an app like Evernote will allow everything you quickly type sync to your computer and allows all of your notes to be searchable for when you need to go back and find something you noted and can’t find it lost in your Bible cover.
• Convenience.  This might not be very important, but some people like that they can go to church without having to carry anything.  They usually have their phone with them anyway, and that’s all they might need for a worship service.
• Following the service live.  YouVersion allows a cool feature called “live” where a user can automatically be synced to a church’s pre-uploaded content to follow along with the sermon.  Not only does it have main points of the sermon that they can follow along with, but a church can choose to offer additional notes or resources that might help someone.
• Sharing Scripture and thoughts with the world as you think of them.  Through Bible apps, someone can tweet or update their Facebook status with a verse that really jumped out to them during the sermon with just a couple taps on their screen.  They can also share a quote their pastor gave that encouraged them.  Just like that, the message in the church building just got out to the people not in the building who are on these social networks.

The CONS:

• One can get distracted.  Let’s face it–if you’ve got your smartphone out, the temptation is strong to jump over to games and other apps and then not be focused on the message.
• One might distract others.  If someone pulls out their phone or iPad or whatever gadget, there might be someone nearby who sees it and just stares at it perplexed because they have no idea what it is or they think the person is texting during the sermon.  So even for that minute, the “gadgeted” person might be distracting others from focusing on something they should be hearing.  Some might complain of the brightness of a screen as well.
• Neighbors won’t see you carrying your Bible to church.  I read this thought once, and I’m not convinced that this argument is as strong today and it was 20 years ago.  But the idea is that you are being a witness to others when they see you drive off to church holding your Bible.  This certainly could be true.
• People won’t know where books of the Bible are or be able to locate verses on their own.  This can definitely be true when all you need to do is type “John 3:16″ in a search bar and it brings it right up for you.  Does the person know that John is the forth gospel book in the New Testament and comes before Acts?  Some would argue that Biblical illiteracy needs no encouragement.

Can you think of any pros and cons on this issue that I missed?  What’s your opinion?

Here are some helpful articles I’ve found on this topic that you might enjoy also:

5 Reasons to Take Your Bible to Church

5 Ways Tablets Will Change Church and Ministry

Advertisement