This is a sobering headline, isn’t it?
We write about technology and creativity on ChurchMag each and every day. How to communicate with greater impact and reach, how to use the latest tools that technology provides us, and do it with a kind of creativity that gets peoples attention. We are all about the church, technology and creativity.
And then there’s a headline like this.
Christian Couple Sentenced to Death for ‘Blasphemous’ Texts
From Pakistan:
“A Pakistani court has sentenced to death a Catholic couple convicted of blasphemy for insulting the Prophet Mohammed and the Qur’an. The sentence came a week after Sawan Masih, another Christian, was sentenced to death on the same charges.
Shafqat Emmanuel, 44, and his wife, Shaguftah, 41, residents of Gojra, Punjab, were accused of sending blasphemous text messages. Gojra Additional Sessions Judge Mian Amir Habib, who conducted the trial, convicted them April 4 and pronounced their death sentences. An appeal is planned.”
[via World Watch Monitor]
Perspective
It’s a headline like this that puts things into perspective. It’s a headline like this that makes all that fun and shiny stuff seem dull and gray. Technology is fun and awesome, but it isn’t our mission. It can be easy to focus too much on the tool and craft and forget about the creation. It can be easy to focus too much on the greatness of the artist and not understand the message being communicated through their art.
While having a good website and sharp video is important, this is not the mission of the church. While we enjoy YouVersion and share scripture verses publicly on social media, our fellow members in the Body of Christ are facing dire persecution for a private text message sent from one mobile phone to the other.
Please, take a moment in your day to pray for the persecuted Church, encourage others to do the same, and keep your focus on Christ.
[Image via williamhartz via Compfight cc]
Jason D. says
A sobering, yet necessary reminder.