Christianity: Open Source or SDK

No, it’s not Spielberg, DeLorien, Katzman. It’s Software Developement Kit. When someone writes a program for a computer, they typically compile it into a version that can be distributed without the ability to change it. That way they can support it because all of the distributed copies are the same. The advantage is consistency; the disadvantage is that it cannot be changed to fit various uses.

There are some programs out there that are called “open source” which means that all of the code is able to be changed. The advantage is that if it has any problems, you can fix it yourself and even improve on it. The disadvantage is that the author cannot support it because it is constantly changed by others and redistributed.

The alternative is to have a SDK. The writer leaves certain areas open for change and the SDK enables you to make some changes, but not to the core program. This offers the advantage of consistency with the core program while allowing flexibility in its application.

Christianity is not truly open source. We cannot change the code or improve on it. Scripture is absolute, but it is a lot more open in its application than most would like to admit. Many people are under the assumption that the church as it exists in North America, is a closed source licensed version that is trademarked and if you don’t do it that way, then you are doing it wrong. The truth is that how the church functions is about as open source as it comes.

Now apply this idea to Christianity. It was not meant to be carbon copied or cloned. God gave us the code, that was compiled, but he gave us the developers kit, via the Holy Spirit, to help us adapt it to our generation and culture.

God followers in Haiti do not practice their faith the same way we do in the US. Believers in Nepal connect with God different from those in Uzbekistan. We are in a new era of the church from that of 1500 years ago. We desperately need the Holy Spirit SDK to help us find ways to adapt our lives to function with the source code of Scripture.