One of the teens in my Sunday school class yesterday told me not to use Bible on my phone in church when I pulled my phone to read a Bible verse to them. I mostly read from my phone and this was not the first time she saw me doing that so, I asked her why? She said she was told that it is not right to use your phone as a Bible. So I asked her the reason given to her. She said, she was told that if you hold the physical Bible, the devil will fear you and not attack you, but if you use Bible on the phone, the devil will not fear you but easily attack you? I encouraged her and the class to always feel free to bring anything they hear outside of class that I didn’t teach them so that if there is the need for correction, I will make it.

I explained to her and the class that there is nothing absolutely wrong with using your phone as Bible. What you need is to know the Word of God and how to use it. And I used the example of Jesus and asked them if Jesus was holding Bible when He defeated the devil after fasting for 40 days and 40 nights as recorded in Matthew 4:1-11? Jesus used the Word of God! Holding Bible in hand or in electronic form without knowing its content has no effect. And if Jesus who is the Begotten Son of God could be tempted by the devil, what makes you think that by holding the Bible in your hand alone, the devil will not come near you? I told them that it is not scriptural. People who lack proper understanding are people who hate technology.

The mere thought that holding a physical Bible as compared to in an electronic format will make the devil not come near you is as ridiculous as it gets. It begs the question: how do people understand the Word of God? I further explained to them that there are people who don’t want to have anything to do with technology, be it TV or the internet, because they believe it is evil. There is nowhere in the Bible where it’s stated that we can’t use technology for the furtherance of the work of the kingdom.

Nonetheless, I explained to them that though the use of your phone as Bible is not wrong, it is not right to have your phone on during service. There are people who chat on WhatsApp, Facebook, etc. while church service is going on: this is wrong on every level in my view. Why are you in church? What are you learning when you are chatting? If you don’t want to turn off your phone, put it on silence or be like me and put it in flight mode (this way, you can still use your phone as Bible and not be distracted).

In conclusion, don’t let anyone deceive you that technology is evil – it’s how you use it, which matters. You can use your phone as Bible and there is nothing wrong with it, but when you’re in church, put it on silence with data off or in flight mode to ensure that you’re concentrated through the service.

Stay blessed.