Cell Phones -- Blessing or Curse?

Cell Phones - Blessing or Curse

This is an interesting Freedom Fighter topic, but one that I would lovingly like to address. Can you remember what life was like BEFORE the cell phone?
Maybe I am getting old - but it seems to me that what is a great instrument to help us to be connected has become a tool to rob us of enjoying worship and the ministry of the Word.

At a recent Keswick conference I sat in the back and counted twenty people get up during the ministry of the Word to answer cell calls. At least a dozen folks were outside in the freezing cold weather talking on their cell phones when they could have been sitting in the meeting with their spouse - this was a couple's weekend.

And yesterday was the icing on the cake. During the last session of our Hispanic Weekend, the service was built around the Lord's Table. I was absolutely amazed at how many cell phones were going off. It just didn't seem right.

I don't want to by cynical or sarcastic - but I wonder what we'd do if we were invited by President Bush to visit the White House for a State dinner.
Would we keep our cell phone on? Would we leave to take a call? I don't think so.

Take that a step further - what might it have looked when Jesus was giving the Sermon on the Mount with the disciples standing in the back yakking on their cell phones? Or maybe picture the night of the Last Supper. Jesus is sharing his most intimate thoughts with the Twelve and Peter gets a call on his cell. Being a sanguine, Peter gets up and goes out to talk to his friend and tells Jesus, "Hey, Lord, I need to take this call from one of my fishing buddies. Can you wait to finish this discussion till I'm done?"

Or put it another way - how would we feel if in the middle of our prayers, the Lord said, Can you hang on, I have a call coming in on my cell phone?
How would we feel?

We would most likely be quick to rebuke and criticize the disciples who fell asleep in the garden of Gethsemane while Jesus was praying. How could those guys do that to our Lord during His last hours? Jesus was puzzled too because He asked them why they couldn't have stayed awake for just that brief period of time. But do you think He might ask us the same question today? "Could you not spend time with me for one hour without worrying about your cell phone?"

I have a sneaky suspicion that we have become way too connected. Worship should require our undivided attention. It is the time that He has access to speak to our hearts and transforms our lives. Can I challenge you in love - make a date with the Lord this Sunday, and turn off your cell phone. Allow Him to speak to your heart. I think you will find that you made the right choice! - Bill Welte is President and CEO of America's KESWICK

Great Quote: "The real test of a Christian is not one's willingness to preach the gospel, but one's willingness to do something like washing the disciple's feet - that is being willing to do those things that seem unimportant in human estimation but count as everything to God." - Oswald Chambers