There are so many benefits to having your Bible on a device. It is small and easy to carry. It is always with you, so you can read your Bible anywhere. You can have dozens of commentaries and study helps at your fingertips. You can even have multiple translations all in one place. But I still carry my physical Bible to church. I don’t do this out of habit, but I intentionally grab my Bible every time we are heading to worship.
Practical Reasons
There are some practical reasons for carrying my physical Bible to church. As advanced as we get, technology still fails sometimes. It may be due to a low battery, lack of Internet, or just a glitch in an app, but there is always a chance I will not be able to access my Bible on a device.
Also, technology is distracting. Of course, I can put my device in “do not disturb” mode so I’m not receiving notifications from apps on my phone, but I usually have to receive a notification before I remember to shut them off, so I have already been distracted. It is so easy to get sucked into a texting conversation, a twitter thread, or just scrolling through countless posts on Facebook or Instagram, not to mention sending pictures of yourself (yes, even pictures of you sitting in a service at church) through Snapchat (is that app still around?). But I can turn off my ringer, put my device away, and open my Bible for the duration of the message, and those distractions disappear.
Beyond staying focused during the service, I want my kids to see me reading my Bible. When someone is reading on their device, they could really be reading anything. No one around you knows whether you are reading your Bible or the latest dystopian novel to hit the market. Even if I can control myself and pay attention while using my device as my Bible, I don’t know that my kids will have the same self-control. Using a physical Bible eliminates the temptations and sets an example for my kids to follow.
More Complex Reasons
There are also some more complex reasons I carry my physical Bible to church. I remember sitting through religion class one rainy afternoon at the Catholic school I attended overseas (I was exempt from religion class, but it was raining that day, so I had to stay in the classroom). When the teacher handed out the Bibles and told the class which passage they would be reading, I immediately turned to the right page while all of my classmates turned to the table of contents. They were amazed that I knew where to turn. Having my physical Bible in church helps me become familiar with it. I learn where the books are, and when I’ve had a specific Bible long enough, I can even recall on which side of the page a particular verse is found. I have grown very comfortable knowing where each book is even when the pastor chooses a more obscure passage to preach.
Because I take notes in my Bible, be it on sticky notes or in the margins of my journaling Bible, I have my sermon notes available during my personal study and my personal study notes available during the sermon. I have often been pleased to see that the pastor mentions things from the passage that were of particular interest to me during my study time. And I’ve also been able to add notes as he preaches from a marked up, familiar passage.
Having a physical copy of the Scriptures also keeps me aware of context. When I am reading a passage on my phone, I may see one or two verses at once. But when I’m reading a passage in my physical Bible, I can see all of the verses around it. I am aware not only of the immediate context, but also the context that is the entire collection of 66 books. Each passage we study is a small part of a much bigger picture. The very practice of holding the weight of Scripture in my hands versus scrolling through a passage on my phone is a reminder that all of Scripture is the metanarrative of the Bible. There is an overall message supported by each passage I study.
While there is definitely nothing wrong with using the Bible on a device during church, I hope this has given you some things to think about as you walk out the door next Sunday to head to your local service. I would love to know if you have more reasons to add to this list.
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