Last week I got a gigantic phone – a Samsung Note 4. It’s so big I can barely fit it in my pockets. And it has a stylus, which I wasn’t sure if I would like or not, but which I have actually used a ton – to my own surprise.
I was inspired to switch carriers for several reasons:
- On my recent trip to Hungary and Ukraine, my colleague had T-Mobile, which allowed him to text internationally for free without any extra fees or plans, and he was able to make international calls for 5x less than I was able to even with my “international package” I had to pay an extra fee for.
- My wife and I have been working hard for the last 6 months to get out of debt, and switching carriers allowed us to lower our bill by about $50/month.
- We got all those benefits, and new phones, which we didn’t necessarily NEED – but we certainly didn’t mind. I was able to get my wife the Nexus 5, which was not available on our previous carrier, and I got a phablet. It’s huge – but it’s also awesome, because we don’t have a physical office for our church, so I work off of my laptop and mobile devices all day every day.
I was thinking to myself the other day: “If the Apostle Paul were alive today, what would his attitude to modern technology be?” How about Martin Luther? How about John Wesley or George Whitefield?
And here’s what I think: I think that if any of these men would have lived in our day, they would have owned massive mobile phones, and they would be blowing up the internet all day long. Why? Because it is an amazing vehicle for spreading ideas and starting movements.
I’m convinced the Apostle Paul would have had a Note 4 – or maybe an iPhone 6 plus… He probably would have a blog, a podcast, a YouTube channel and a Twitter account. And he would have worked those things all he could for the Gospel. Imagine if you would have told Paul the Apostle that there is a way that you could spread the Gospel around the world without having to get on ships, get shipwrecked, bitten by snakes and facing crowds of angry people who wanted to beat him up: he would have freaked out! He would have been all over it.
I think that we should be too.
Theology for the People 
To each his own. I personally like to believe the power of Jesus’ approach and that of Paul’s (I follow Jesus, not Paul) is that they knew how to be among the people… Looking them straight in the face and living life out with the hurting, poor, dirty, fishermen.
They were all over the Word and when they spoke marrow and bones were divided. Life flowed from their lips for they spoke from deep places.
Who knows. They may have used the tech of their age to reach the people but to me dying on a tree seems pretty low-tech.
Nothing can change the flesh and blood necessity of the cross – or of face to face contact. Neither do I suggest that we should neglect any of those things one bit! I myself am a pastor, who meets with people personally day in and day out, lives alongside them, holds their hands to pray with them as they lie sick or even dying, stacks chairs and lifts equipment along with them every Sunday…
But did Martin Luther take full advantage of the printing press for the Gospel? Absolutely.
Did Paul the Apostle take full advantage of the innovation of roads and safe travel in the Roman Empire for the spread of the Gospel? Absolutely.
In our day, in this age of technology, this is a huge avenue for the spread of ideas, including the Gospel – and to not take advantage of it, IMO, would be wrong.
Thanks for the comment and the discussion!
I agree….but with one caveat…Paul would have been on Verizon… 😉
No way! He was a jew of jews!