Photo credit: Hannah Busing by Unsplash
In a world where “convenience” is vital in our lives, our Bibles have also become convenient. In your own church setting, how many churchgoers bring an actual Bible? Nowadays, the modern Christians have their Bibles via phone application rather than carrying an actual one, because of convenience. As the preacher’s famous line says “let’s open our Bibles to the book of…” church members don’t open their Bibles, but rather with their finger, they swipe and tap to the verse. Fast and convenient.
So, is this a bad thing then? The Bible whichever form it may be written, is still the Word of God, which gives light and understanding to its readers (See Psalms 119:130). The downside of having it in a phone, your focus is being distracted. Our phones have continuously evolved with amazing specifications over the time. Currently, our phones are always connected to the internet with lots of applications such as Facebook and Instagram. With that said, how many of you while reading the Bible in your phones receive notifications or maybe a call? Most of the time as you receive notifications you are tempted to look into it. Consequently, it shifts your focus on reading the notifications than the Bible.
Think of the Bible in its book form. You are free of those distractions and free from those temptations to check your Social Media accounts. Your concentration is to its fullest compared when you read it from your phone. Flipping a page to read the next verse or chapter gives you a thrilling emotion, which a phone could not replicate no matter how much you scroll. No matter how convenient our phones may be. Having an actual Bible definitely gives a different feeling and being free from those distractions, will drive you to a more intimate relationship with God.
Now as the years go by, we have also seen changes in our churches. Physically speaking, church buildings are being established here and there as a place of worship and they’ve become bigger and more beautiful. The Music Ministry in our church, has leveled up with different equipment from musical instruments to mixers and even more compared to 500 years ago.
Technology also, have been integrated in our worship services and during these times of pandemic it has been utilized even more. During the time of the Apostles, evangelism was done by travelling and preaching the Word of God. But nowadays, especially with social distancing being in placed almost everywhere, we evangelize through an array of applications. A sudden change in the world which the church has benefited, and to a certain extent became a realization to many that, WE are the church and not our physical church buildings.
If this world’s constant is change, our Spiritual constant is JESUS. Hebrews 13:8 says “Jesus Christ the same yesterday, and today, and forever.” The God of Abraham, Moses, the Apostles, and countless Bible Characters is the same God we are serving to this day and the days to come.
Spiritually speaking, Christians then and now must be the same. If we want change, then change for the better especially in the advancement of God’s kingdom. Our reverence to God must be constant regardless of which generation you belong to. The Bible instructs us in John 4:24 to worship Him in spirit and in truth and in Psalm 100:2 to serve the Lord with gladness. These scriptures have been written more than a thousand years but is still applicable to this date.
No matter how much the world changed, our relationship with Jesus must remain the same. As a matter of fact, if everything changes, Jesus never changed and will never change, like His Word- The Bible, so why settle for less? He is the One true God who called us from darkness into His marvelous light. The God who loves us and will always love us unconditionally. Time has proven His greatness since the beginning of the world. That’s why no matter how the season may change or how the world may have various new trends or even how troubled we might be, let us be reminded from Proverbs 3:5 that we should trust in the Lord and in Psalms 46:10 to be still and know God. Jesus is the constant Christians then and now continue to worship, serve, and believe in. He is the ultimate essence of our faith and MUST NOT CHANGE.
