3. Know your surroundings.
Making this decision is not just based on the engagement of the person, but the places you minister where others might be around.
I think hospitals, funeral homes and similar traditional settings where many different kinds of people with different backgrounds and ages will be present need to be properly evaluated.
Pastors need to realize some might interpret your gadget you brought that “acts as a Bible replacement” as a distraction. Think of unbelievers in the room who may be wondering what are you reading. “You could be reading anything from that thing. How do I know it is the Bible?”
On the other hand, in your small group Bible study with your crew of college students where everybody is reading off a Kindle or iPod … a physical Bible might look even strange to them.
4. Guard from legalism.
As many pastors possess their own “soap boxes” on this matter, each of us needs to guard from being legalistic about this issue.
God’s word is no less God’s word in printed form inside a really snazzy colored cover with a giant cross on the front, or on the really tiny print on your smart phone. Let’s keep this from becoming the next “King James only” controversy and just call it what it is: a preference.
As long as it is a credible translation of the Bible and a credible, untampered printed or electronic copy of that translation (of which there are many) … it is God’s word. Don’t make more of an issue of this than it should be.
5. Trust the source.
Our effectiveness to minister to our people ultimately has nothing to do with the means from which we read it, as long as it is the inerrant, infallible, powerful word of the living God. God, by his Spirit and through his living and active word, is what changes and effects people. Minister that word and do not rely much at all on the “mechanics” of what you read from, but do so in a discerning way that avoids any distractions from God doing what he does through his word in the lives of his people when his shepherds faithfully bring it to bear on souls.
Lately, I find myself doing regular Bible reading off my Kindle Fire, yet you will always find me with a hard copy of God’s word when entering a funeral home, hospital room or home of an elderly saint.
At this point, you will not find me using my Kindle when I preach, not out of any theological principle, but because of my fear of trusting technology that much. Each pastor needs to determine his own comfort level to embrace the blessings of technology as we should, yet mindful of any unhelpful perception that might exist that could hinder your efforts to care for souls.
