The Church vs. The iPad

Posted by Pastor AndrewcloseAuthor: Pastor Andrew Name: Andrew Yi
Email: andrew@binnerriem.org
Site: http://andrewyi.posterous.com/
About: Pastor Andrew is the Associate Pastor of Binnerri English Ministry.See Authors Posts (15)

As many of you heard this past Wednesday (January 27th), Apple announced their next greatest invention, the iPad. And although it’s only been a couple of days since its release, the iPad has garnered a great deal of applause as well as it’s share of criticism. In other words, it’s been getting a lot of attention.

Now, I don’t consider myself a full-on Apple fanatic by any means, I would say that I’m more of a fair-weather follower, but I decided to mosey on over to  their website on Wednesday night to watch the keynote address as well as the promotional video on this latest contraption. And after watching the promotional video for the third time I noticed something that really caught my attention, and it didn’t have anything to do with the iPad itself. What caught my attention was their posture and attitude in communicating their product. It wasn’t just some random employee or hired actors that did the promoting, they had their upper-level corporate management do all the talking – the Senior Vice President of Worldwide Marketing, Senior Vice President of Deign, and Senior Vice President of Software and Hardware. And what I noticed was how genuinely excited they all were about the iPad. Now, I realize that ultimately they’re trying to get the consumers to buy their product, but what got me sold on it was the excitement they had about the product for themselves, and this got me all excited about it as well. Before listening to what they had to say, I was marginally interested in the iPad, but after seeing how passionately they believed in their product I became a huge fan.

And this got me thinking about the Church, and about us as Christians. After watching that video, I asked myself, “Do I have the same excitement about Jesus Christ? Am I as passionate about Jesus as Apple is about the iPad, and furthermore is this visible in my life?” If we truly believe that He is the beautiful One, the the wonderful Savior, the mighty King, the life-giver, and the the hope of glory, then why aren’t we excited and passionate for Him? And more so, why do we often try to hide it? He gave His very life for us , the Church, and shed His own blood so that we may now have life through Him. And not only this, He’s invited us into an intimate relationship with Him.

After realizing this I watched that promo video again, and I could hear a faint voice inside me saying, “That’s the same attitude I want you to have for Me. I want you to be as excited about Me, your Savior, Redeemer, and Lord,  as they are about a piece of aluminum and glass.” And I pray that this would be true for me as well as for you, the Church. May we be marked by our passion, not for the things of this world, but for the One who has given us everything.