This week an ad for “The Glorify App” popped up on my social media feed. Their pitch is simple: “We believe in making bite-sized worship routines available to everyone, whilst reimagining how we connect with God through technology.”
The Glorify App is promoted by such evangelical luminaries as Priscilla Shirer and Sadie Robertson Huff.
Tools that help us connect with God are always good. We use devotional books, journals, and study guides for that reason. So using an app to boost your faith can be beneficial. But how much should you rely on apps to enhance your walk with Christ? And when do you need to rethink that reliance on apps?
Do you need an app for that?
I want to zero in on Bible apps because so many Christians have shifted to the use of Bible apps in worship and Bible studies.
For example, YouVersion started as a website and almost shut down until the platform shifted to an app. Now it is one of the world’s most popular Bible apps and has been downloaded hundreds of millions of times worldwide.
I am a fan of tech that helps us study the Bible more thoroughly and accurately and better apply it to our lives. For me, Faithlife’s Logos Bible Software serves this purpose. Most of my reference works and the resources I invest in for study are now housed in my digital library.
And I have Bible apps on my phone and my iPad. I especially find them useful at conferences and on the go.
But, even so, for all of my personal study, my preaching, and my teaching, I use an actual hard copy of the Bible.
And at the risk of sounding musty and dusty, when it’s time for church or for your small group, I think you should, too.
But first, yeah, I get it
With the release of the iPhone in 2007, the world changed. The app store was born. Consumers were initiated into a new world of convenience. Literally at our fingertips we have the ability to learn and do nearly anything.
But the convenience of apps has overshadowed some of the liabilities. For one, we are now hyper-focused on our screens. Apps reenforce our inclination to be passive consumers. And passive consumerism produces lazy, self-centered Christians.
To offset that, we need a break from the app habit. A good way to do that is to pick up a Bible, especially for worship, personal study, and small groups.
Now, I get it. I know that when you are wrestling with kids and car seats, or walkers and wheelchairs, it’s easier to have your Bible on your device. Why make yourself carry just one more thing?
I am sympathetic to the realities of life. But if, next Sunday, you decide to leave your Bible at home and just opt for the app, consider this.
Four reasons to carry a Bible
Here are four reasons I think you should carry an actual Bible to church and small groups, study it for yourself, and only use the app when a Bible is not available.
- Using a Bible app can diminish the uniqueness of the Bible
If you believe the Bible is God’s Word, then you affirm its unique nature (Is. 40:8). But reliance on an app in place of a hard copy may undercut that conviction.
When you look at your device and open your Bible app, you implicitly put it on par with your other apps. Your Bible is just another app clustered among the others.
Looking for answers to life’s questions? You could just as easily open your Wikipedia app. Or your PsychologyToday app. See, when apps are crowded on your device, your Bible app loses its uniqueness.
To carry a Bible with you asserts the inherent uniqueness of the Bible and shows your belief that it is the most significant book in human history. Not just one app among many.
- Using a Bible app can distract from worship
Apps thrive in a culture driven by convenience. But can decisions about worship and Bible study be based on convenience?
No, they can’t. Bible study is intimately tied to worship (Col. 3:16). And true worship always includes two elements: sacrifice and intention.
That is, you cannot worship without some sacrifice of time or convenience, and you cannot worship accidentally. Worship is always an intentional effort to focus on God and His word (Ps. 95:6).
But in our self-centered culture, we prefer not to be inconvenienced. It’s like the guy who says he can worship just as easily playing golf or going fishing.
In principle, there’s some truth to that. But here’s the problem. When your intention is to play golf or to fish, God is really just along for the ride. That’s not worship. If you are unwilling to sacrifice your convenience to worship God, then you haven’t worshipped God at all.
The same applies to the use of the Bible. If your decisions about the medium of the Bible you carry are based on convenience, what does that say about your perspective on God’s Word in worship?
Anytime we are holding our phone, our attention is on the phone. It’s just the nature of things. And anytime you are holding your Bible, your attention is on your Bible.
So if it seems inconvenient to carry a Bible, maybe it is. That’s why it’s part of your worship.
- Using a Bible app can discourage Bible study
I know. Sounds contradictory, doesn’t it? Isn’t the whole point of Bible apps to encourage Bible study?
But remember my point here is about bringing a Bible to church or a small group. I agree that apps and software and websites can provide valuable supplemental tools for additional study. But if you are not careful, they can make you lazy.
In church, your Bible gives you first-hand information. You learn to do the hard work of finding the passages being taught and cross-referencing with other scriptures. Bible study requires you to invest personal effort (2 Tim. 2:15). That’s how you grow and learn.
And, ironically, that enhances your use of an app. In a conference or witnessing to a friend, you can open the app and more easily find what you are looking for and use the app like a champ. Why? Because you are not a passive consumer but an active student of the Bible.
- Using a Bible app can divide your attention
Let’s be honest. If you are on your phone for the Bible app, you are on your phone.
Using your device as a Bible encourages distractions and dilutes your focus. Notifications pop up. Gotta read it, right? And can you really ignore the temptation to answer a text, update your status, look at the restaurant menu, or check the weather?
On the other hand, if you have an open Bible, you are in the Bible. It gets your full attention.
And you need that, don’t you? You need to go away from church or your Bible study with your heart enriched by God’s Word, your mind shaped and changed by His truth.
Can you really do that by holding the most influential, addictive device ever devised by a secular culture?
Jesus answered, ‘It is written: ‘Man shall not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God.’
Matt. 4:4