The Overtaking of Bible Books and What To Do

I remember seven years ago before I started my university adventure in Korea, I abruptly bought a really tiny ESV Bible, thinking I would need it when I go to Church there. However, to this day, I barely open that Bible, and mostly spend my time — even my devotionals, through my Bible app.

According to the one of the most popular Bible app, YouVersion, people have downloaded this digital bible more than 260 million times since it was first launched in 2008. Furthermore, people have spent more than 235 billion minutes using the app and highlighted 636 million Bible verses.

Does this mean one day the Bible is going to be obsolete?
I highly doubt it. Research says Bible is still the best-selling non-fiction book of all time, so perhaps digital and traditional bible can still coexist with one another. However, the concern with digital Bible still stands as it poses as an interesting distraction.

Admit it, I must not be the only one who is always tempted to check my phone whenever I feel a beep as my Bible app is opened. This distraction doesn’t end there. Once the sermon gets to the five-minute mark — longer than our average attention span, our smartphones become a more interesting tool as it provides us the Bible app and everything else in between.

So, should we start uninstalling our Bible apps on our phones?

Surely not. Personally, even before the digital Bible, flipping through the texts was a weekly tasks I did at Church. It wasn’t until I grew up and felt the calling to read the Bible more diligently to find out more about God and my faith. So, the problem isn’t the digital Bible, but it’s within ourselves.

If your smartphone is too much of a distraction while you’re at Church, then perhaps it’s best to purchase a lighter bible — if yours is too heavy, and leave your phone at home. If you must have your phone at all times, for other purposes, then perhaps turning off your phone and really committing to not grab your phone at any point during the service should be something you consider.

Because at the end of the day, the biggest distraction of them all is the almighty internet, where not only videos of cute animals can be found, but also terrible things like porn. If this hasn’t chased all Christians away from the internet, stopped them from being on social media, and lived the medieval pre-internet life, then we have to treat the digital Bible issue the same way; by changing our attitude instead of dismissing the problem.

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