Trading the Endless Sea for a Tiny Pool
When I was a kid, I collected baseball cards. I enjoyed opening packs, trying to build certain sets, and getting cards of my favorite players. While I didn’t do it often, I also enjoyed trading cards. Sometimes, even if I “lost” the trade financially, I ended up with a card I really wanted, so it was worth it.
We all understand the meaning of trading and of losing a deal. It hurts when you think you have made a good trade only to realize you got crushed, and maybe by someone who manipulated you into a bad deal.
What is worse, though, is when we intentionally choose the lesser over the greater. In other words, how awful is it when we know we could have had something of great value and worth to us only to intentionally choose something that is far lesser and that has no value to us at all.
Take that concept to our worship services. Here we are, allowed into the presence of God. We are given the privilege of coming into His presence to stand in awe of His majesty, to hear Him instruct us through His Word, to honor and remember the sacrifice that His Son made in our behalf. We are given the honor of lifting up His name in song from the whole of our being.
It is as if we are in the middle of an endless sea of grace and love and power and majesty.
Yet, how many of us trade that time in that endless sea of glory to stare at an 8-inch screen?
I know that some use the Bible on their phone or tablet during worship. I am not talking about that! That is a legitimate and, in some cases, good thing (so long as we are not distracted by all the other dings and popups that come with it).
But I am amazed when I see people texting during worship–sometimes the person sitting right next to them. Some are playing Candy Crush or some other game and others are scrolling through Facebook or Twitter. A few are keeping Snapchat streaks alive. Some are updating fantasy football or baseball teams, while others are checking scores of ongoing games.
Think about the trade they are making.
- They are trading an endless sea of power and grace for an 8-inch pool-shaped device made of metal and glass.
- They are trading the infinite glory of God for a finite message or game.
- They are trading the privilege of being in the presence of the almighty God for a quick check on what some finite human being is doing, sometimes in the same room.
Our elders at Central recently requested that people not be on phones in worship. Some will likely still use phones for a Bible and that is fine, especially if a “paper” Bible is harder for them to see or handle. That is legitimate and completely understandable. Overall, though, the announcement was made because some are constantly trading the endless sea of God’s grace for a quick check on things of this world.
This is not a technology issue; it is a heart issue! How could I possibly think that my heart is right with the Lord when, for just 60-70 minutes a week, I cannot remove myself from the transient and worldly 8-inch pool-shaped device in my pocket and be transfixed by the endless sea of majesty that I am allowed to enter?
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the definition of a bad trade; in fact, an eternally bad trade.
“I give You thanks, O Lord, with my whole heart…” (Psalm 138:1)
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AUTHOR: Adam Faughn
