The Thing in Your Pocket
No generation before ours has carried this much in one pocket: a Bible, a library, a map, every friend you have, and every temptation you have ever had. Now the same device can answer you in full sentences. Some Christians are afraid of all of this. Others have never given it a thought. Scripture calls us to something better than fear or carelessness. It calls us to wisdom.
The Bible says nothing about phones. It says a great deal about the heart that holds one. Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life (Proverbs 4:23). This study will not give you a list of apps. It will give you a way to think, and a way to stay free.
“All things are lawful unto me, but all things are not expedient: all things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any.”1 CORINTHIANS 6:12 · KJV
Paul's question works on every device ever made. Is this lawful? Is it helpful? And who is the master here, this thing or me?
Tools are good gifts, and they multiply whatever is in the heart. Use them with wisdom. Do not let them use you. And never give a machine the place that belongs to God.
Loading the rest of this article
For Deeper Study
- The Age of AI: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of HumanityAmazon Jason ThackerA Southern Baptist ethicist on the image of God, work, and artificial intelligence, written for ordinary Christians.
- 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing YouAmazon Tony ReinkeA readable, searching look at what phones do to the heart. Reinke writes from a Reformed Baptist setting.
- The Tech-Wise FamilyAmazon Andy CrouchPractical help for putting technology in its place at home. Evangelical. His household rules are his own, so treat them as ideas and not commands.
- Digital LiturgiesAmazon Samuel D. JamesAn evangelical writer on how the internet shapes habits and desires. For readers who want to go deeper.
- Foxe's Book of MartyrsAmazon John FoxeThe classic Protestant record of those who died for the faith, from the early church to the English Reformation.
As an Amazon Associate, Theologica earns from qualifying purchases.
How Christians Decide Right and Wrong
Christians decide right and wrong by God's Word, not by feeling or the crowd: they obey what He has commanded, apply what He has taught, train the conscience, seek wisdom and counsel, and use their liberty in love.
Open Doctrine