Christianity

Is Twittering in Church a Bad Idea?

twitterTime magazine recently published an article about pastors who encourage their parishioners to Twitter during worship services. Josh Harris has responded with a timely little essay on why it is in fact not good or healthy to Twitter during corporate worship. Today, John Piper has followed with an endorsement of what Harris has written. Piper writes:

“There is a difference between communion with God and commenting on communion with God.

“Don’t tweet while having sex. Don’t tweet while praying with the dying. Don’t tweet when your wife is telling you about the kids. There’s a season for everything. Multitasking only makes sense when none of the tasks requires heart-engaged, loving attention.”

Read the rest here.

7 Comments

  • Matthew Staton

    Busy fingers and frenetic minds rebel at the attempt to sit still and think. But they need to submit.

    Not all will agree. Surely some can worship using twitter. But as a general rule: Sit and worship, twitter later.

    BTW, can you tweet the reason you should not tweet during worship? sorry, had to do it…

  • Jesica

    I think I may still be in the dark ages, but I have yet to understand the value of Twitter.

    And Twibe now…what is that?

    I can’t help asking myself if everyone I know really needs (or desires) to know what I’m doing/thinking at every moment of the day.

    I dunno…maybe I’m just too old.

    Writing a blog and trying to keep up with Facebook is enough for me…I can’t imagine Tweeting, too.
    (Why isn’t it called “twitting?) 🙂

  • Tom 1st

    I think this is a bad idea, really.

    What I think it does right, however, is that it reminds us that the congregation has a deep seated need to participate in the sermon and the service – as opposed to just being passive observers/learners.

    I don’t think Tweeting in the service is the right answer to this problem, but at least it raises the problem afresh in a generation that has often not even acknowledged that this is a need.

  • Erik

    If you can’t put your phone down for 90 minutes on a Sunday morning to meet with God in worship, preaching and fellowship, then you’ve got some serious spiritual issues.

  • Barry

    “Don’t tweet while having sex.” That one was worth the read. Wow. I am all for multitasking, but I only get one day a week when my church family is all gathered together to hear God’s word sung and preached. I am jealous for that time, and I don’t want to share it with my phone. Tweet after lunch, once the kids are napping and you’ve talked to your wife, but not during the sermon.

    Good word, Denny. Good wisdom from Harris and Piper.

  • Travis Smith

    Piper always has good things to say (and I strongly believe); however, does anyone ever consider the purpose of church when discussing this question. For Piper, church is for worship, encouragement, and the teaching of the Word of God, but not all churches are like his. What about Mars Hill? What about other churches who believe that church is for evangelism? Should they exclude Twitter because Piper and Harris say so? I just don’t believe a blanket statement is the answer. I believe it depends heavily on each individual church. See my blog for more.

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