Angry Birds

I recently read an article by Michael Hite at http://ministrytechonline.com, in which he raised an interesting observation upon which I would like to add a few comments of my own.

I have a confession to make.  I’m hooked by “Angry Birds.”  For those of you who don’t know what I’m talking about, “Angry Birds” is a video game you can play on your phone.

Just recently, at the “2011 Slush Conference” in Helsinki, Finland, Mikael Hed, the CEO of Rovio (the company that created “Angry Birds”), reported that since 2009, the collective time spent by people playing Angry Birds is equivalent to 200,000 years!  Just think of how much time has been “killed” by playing this game.

But now, here’s where Michael Hite turned this story to a point of relevance.  Rather than “killing” time playing a game, what could be accomplished if God’s people would collectively make good use of time?

Consider the following facts.  If just 200 of us  would spend 2 hours a week for 5 years in intentional service to God, do you realize how much we could accomplish collectively?  That collective time of work would be equivalent to one preacher working 60 hours a week for 33 years or 40 hours a week for 50 years!

Wow!  I think we’re on to something, don’t you?  There’s tremendous power in “collective work!”  And of course, God knew it before we did.  We have correctly taught that in the Lord’s church there is no clergy/laity distinction.  As Christians, we are all a royal priesthood (1 Peter 2:9), and we all have priestly obligations.  If we all pitched in and did our part, just think of the collective good that could be accomplished.  Collectively, with as little as two hours a week for five years, we could devote as much time to the cause of Christ as a man who spent 50 years of his life in full-time ministry!