The Chapel Light - January 2010

The apostle John lay quietly in the cave on the island of Patmos, when the world before his eyes is transformed. He hears a loud trumpet behind him and turns to see the risen and glorified Christ standing in the midst of seven lampstands–his hair white as snow and his eyes gleaming as though they are red coals burning through John’s soul. “Do not be afraid,” Christ says to the startled and trembling John. “I am the First and the Last; the one who lives and was dead. And look! I am a----” Beep … beep … beep … John grabs for his bag and retrieves a cell phone. “Excuse me,” the apostle says. “I’ve got a text from Ephesus that’s really important. Gotta answer it. I’ll be with you in a moment, Lord.”  Can you imagine that sort of thing happening? Well, not in the first century–but I’ve been amazed at the way people use cell phones and texting in the presence of others these days. I’ve been in conversations with people when all of a sudden their phone rings, or they get a beep that they’ve received a text message–and they turn away from me and take the call–or they start texting back to whomever wrote to them. I’ve also been in group interactions where there is a discussion or activity, and noticed people looking down into their laps; upon closer observation I realize they are texting. With new technology comes new societal behavior–and manners; manners are a form of love–and perhaps we need to do some thinking about how to use our phones and our texting in love. Have you ever considered that answering a phone when it rings is NOT a necessity? This is what answering machines and voice mail are all about! Even before the days of such things, if I was in the middle of an activity or a conversation and the phone rang, I felt no obligation to answer it. Who says I have to let the caller interrupt what I’m doing??? I don’t allow my children to interrupt me this way; why would I allow someone on the phone to do so? A ringing phone tells me that someone would like to talk to me; it does not obligate me to respond. Phones have rings and ringtones that are intentionally disruptive. We have little choice but to answer when they go off in public. Thankfully the creators of the cell phone made it possible to have phones vibrate or even be silent–and I would suggest that whenever you’re in a public place–in a meeting, in a class, in any sort of group setting, and especially in church–the phone should be off, silenced or at the very most set to vibrate. And if it starts buzzing in your pocket during a service or a meeting–unless you’re in the emergency medical field or were expecting a call–let it ring. You can take the call after your meeting. There are very few calls that are THAT pressing. Whenever you are in a meeting with other people, that meeting should have precedence over all other aspects of your life and the people in the meeting should have your complete attention. I have been completely shocked on a number of occasions to have people not only answer calls or texts in a meeting, but I’ve seen people who are disinterested in their surroundings simply sit back and look down into their lap–they are initiating text messages with others. Understand that when you do this–when you break eye contact with living people around you and when you focus instead on a cell phone–you are sending a message to everyone in the room: “I am not interested in you; you are wasting my time; the person on the other end of my phone is more important to me.” You don’t need to say the words; your body language says it all. And that, too, is just plain rude. And love is not rude … Develop some self-discipline and some love. Make face-to-face interaction with others the top priority. Let the phone ring; let the text message wait; don’t text when in the presence of others (except in an emergency).