I think this latest ad by Samsung poking fun at BlackBerry’s “platform for professionals” ads that were going for sometime is pretty neat. Lots of people who use BlackBerry devices testify to their continued use of them on the strength of being so profitable for getting things done. And in doing so, they point to something that kind of happens pretty often – we frame one another by the mobiles in our hands and what we think those mobiles are most likely able to enable us to do.

I can remember years ago that the appeal of the iPhone wasn’t that “it had so many apps,” but that it had so many games. A distinction made by many who only saw the platform for the fun that it induced, not for the work that it could enable to get done. You can argue that such a perception still exists, and because it does, many of the application and service makers for the platform, do a hard job towards making sure the platform keeps a sense of seriousness amongst this ease of play that it continues to have.

When I tell people about MMM, I still am asked one core question, “what’s your Bible app like?” Then there’s that looking for a cross or some other kind of religious symbol on my device(s) that shows that I’m not just a mobile user, but the brand of faith that I have is also to be pushed out in front. Folks won’t find it, but I wonder if there’s a overriding perception of religious mobile users that developers, organizations, and even ministries tend to put forth… perhaps unintentionally.

Gaudy or pastel colors, pale skinned front-persons, or darker-skinned persons with looks of melancholy or need in stock images. Crosses, halos, and that neat inner-glow filter from Photoshop. English-first, and perhaps a biblical quite that is KJV before any other. Do our mobile services and apps posture the faith that we live, or a perception of religious mobile users that doesn’t look much like the people using them?

Are we guilty of building into mobile ministry these perceptions of religion that don’t lead to much of anything at all except a passing fad of faith that never pointed towards the grace that Jesus offered? Leaves me much to think about concerning MMM (am watching the inauguration as I type this, so you can figure some of that context).