The past few days I have been with the youth group on a mission trip at Childrens Homes. At the beginning of the trip I told the youth “No Cellphones.” They either had to leave them at home or turn them in to me for the week. At first there were some looks of fear and anxiety, even anger from the group. Last night during our devotional I asked how they were doing without their phones and with the exception of one or two, the overwhelming majority said they were enjoying not having their phones. As one girl put it “[Having no phone] removed the barrier between me and some of the other people here. I’ve had to get to know the other kids better one-on-one. And that’s been good.”

Now the bible doesn’t say much about cell phones, but it does talk about:

  • Putting others before your own interests (Phil 2:4)
  • Meeting face to face with people in their homes (Acts 2:46)
  • Making physical contact with people (Matt 8:3)

Phone are a means of communication and certainly have their place in our society. But let’s be sure they dont become a barrier that has us loving people at arm’s length. 70% of what we communicate has nothing to do with words, and the feel of a hug, hand shake, or pat on the back can never be replaced with an emoji.

May you physically embrace those you love today.

~ Shawn