by Gethin Russell-Jones
There are more mobile phones than people in the UK. Sixty million mobile phones are now in use compared with around 25 million in 2000 and 4.5 million in 1995. Like it or lump it, this observation is beyond dispute.
Here's the thing; I'm perched on a deeply uncomfortable stool in a department store mezzanine. Whatever that is. The coffee is execrable and the weather outside is wet and grey. So I look around me and I see them. Locked in private communion with black, silver and pink talk boxes. Slimline mouthpieces that flip and slide at the caress of many fingers. Gone are the wired bricks of yesteryear. Objects of beauty, blessed by the names of Prada, Apple and D&G.
I'm reminded of Wesley's words: ‘lost in wonder, love and praise'. Looks like a kind of devotion, fingering holy instruments. In my foul mood, I'm inclined to call them household gods, designer idols. However, I'm hamstrung by my own words. This modest boat of words is being built and ultimately launched on my T Mobile Vario II. I'm the drinker who berates others for their intemperate habits whilst clutching his bottle of Scotch. Like the other lost souls wandering around these perfumed halls, I cannot live without my mobile.
But here's another thing: mobiles are the new missionaries. Last year I heard about a company that's put the Bible on ‘cell phones', as the Americans call them. For a small price you can download an entire version onto your little irritant. King James could become your best friend; your own authorised version. There's more: other Bible versions, ring tones and wall paper. This is the latest in the long run of examples where technology has been used to proclaim the message of Jesus.
The earliest Christians made the most of all the Roman Empire had to offer, in particular the amazing road network that criss-crossed the empire. The message ricocheted around the known world, so that within three centuries it was the dominant world religion. Above all, those savvy followers of Jesus, took advantage of the Pax Romana: the Roman Peace. Within the safe borders of the known world and under the nose of the Caesars, Christianity erupted into the culture.
Fast forward fifteen centuries and Christians exploited the latest innovation: the printing press. This extraordinary device became the greatest apparatus of the Christian faith, churning out millions of Bibles and books. Bearing in mind this impressive track record, you can be sure that the mobile is the new global pulpit.
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