Did iTunes Ruin the Bible?

iTunes is one of the greatest innovations in human history.

There, I said it.

Fire, the printing press, electricity, flight, donuts and iTunes: the Mt. Rushmore of discoveries. These things changed the way we live.

iTunes was a portal that led to a better way to listen to music.

In one fell swoop, this iInvention killed cassette tapes and compact discs mercilessly. You may still own a CD player, but, be honest, it’s just your angry protest to change. Go ahead and shake your fist at an MP3 world; you and my Papaw would have gotten along swell.

For the rest of us, iTunes changed the way we listened to music.

The real miracle of downloadable music wasn’t that you could carry your music around with you (the Walkman did that years ago); the real miracle was you no longer had to buy the entire album.

Now, for the first time, you could simply choose the songs you like. 

Hate the ballad? Unclick!

Not feeling track #2? Don’t buy it!

Just want the single? Just buy the single!

iTunes gave us power—the power to pick and choose.

Empowered consumerism is intoxicating.

We have become deliriously selective. We no longer watch the entire movie; we DVR it and watch the best parts. We don’t read entire articles; we read tweets. We rarely watch documentaries; we watch shorts.

Pick and choose. Find what you like. Ignore the rest.

This works fine with music, television or the Facebook machine, but this new power doesn’t work when it comes to the Bible.

When it comes to God’s Word, you don’t get to select only the passages you like. You don’t get to click and unclick certain books or chapters. People have tried, but it doesn’t work that way.

The Bible speaks of grace, but it speaks of judgment too. The Bible speaks of a holy standard, but it offers forgiveness for when we fail. The Bible speaks of healing, but it deals with death. The Bible accepts sinners, but it asks us to change.

It explains and baffles.

It soothes and angers.

It is poetic and literal.

The Bible isn’t iTunes. You’ve got to buy the entire album.