Maybe its me, am I really getting Old? I recently sat with one person and we were going to have a meal with a second person and were waiting on them. Both young people. The first occasionally pulled out his cell phone, texted, but for the most part did not. The second person arrived sat down said, hallow and proceeded to pull out his phone and text…. meal came. He would frequently stop look at his phone and text with such hurry, seemed to me he was in a bit of a frenzy- it had to be important! As I sat back and watched them both I thought, “Should I say something?”

Let me put it this way, if you are in a room with a person, having a  meal and you have to have  your phone next to you constantly texting, you are not “addicted” you are…
1. SELF ABSORBED- You are so overly concerned with yourself, your agenda, that the person opposite you is of no real significance as far as your actions show. They might as well not be there as far as your behavior {or mine for that matter} demonstrates ! It is a heart issue…. and manifested in the word known as….

2. RUDE!
-I Cor 13 says Love is not “rude” as one translation says. Rude is to be inconsiderate of others. It is “bad manners!”J.B. Phillips paraphrases it by saying that “love has good manners.”  “The root meaning of the word “RUDE” comes from behaving indecently, improperly, disgracefully or dishonorably.  The word “Love” in 1 Cor 13 is a verb and at the heart of it is the denial of self to prefer the other person, seeking or demanding nothing in return, except the other persons highest good for God’s honor! Love does not behave rudely….  thinks, recognizes, and chooses to renounce it and instead embrace CONSIDERATION, COURTESY, RESPECT, GOOD MANNERS TOWARDS the other person or people in their company! The RUDE person is INCONSIDERATE OF OTHERS! Love is a choice of the will and LOVE chooses not to behave so, instead, being attentive, considerate, courteous, interested in and expressing GOOD MANNERS! Ok, so maybe I am getting older- I will surrender to that point:) But  we are raising a generation, modeling to a generation through with our Cell phones- CONSTANT, INCONSIDERATE TEXTING WHILE IN THE COMPANY OF OTHERS, WE ARE THE ONE IT IS ALL ABOUT, WE ARE THE ONE WHO IS THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON AT THE TABLE IN THE ROOM, WE ARE ABSORBED WITH OURSELVES, WE FEEL NO SHAME, NO INKLING OF THE FACT WE ARE DISPLAYING POOR MANNERS AND INCONSIDERATION TO THE PERSON, PEOPLE IN OUR COMPANY!

RUDENESS ON DISPLAY…..LOVELESSNESS ON DISPLAY.

Its not the phones fault, its not the letters on the phone’s fault that poor manners and Inconsideration is being displayed. It is the person who CHOOSES TO TEXT as though you are not in their presence, and even if they acknowledge you are, their incessant texting says more about them  then the person they are CHOOSING TO IGNORE… Unless it is an EMERGENCY…. of some sort or another, UNLESS it is a family Member trying to get a hold of you, where you can ask politely if you can take this call, text, otherwise why waste the persons time whose company you are in to DEMONSTRATE how SELF ABSORBED you are and HOW RUDE YOU ARE- by carrying on another or countless “conversations” with others through texting ? Why even meet with the person you are with if this is the behavior of contempt you are willing to inflict upon them. Why waste their time, effort, energy and in some cases financial expenses for you to display your BAD MANNERS?

LOVE IS NOT RUDE, IT DOES NOT BEHAVE BADLY……IS NOT BAD MANNERED. Maybe no one has told you before, maybe you have never THOUGHT of it, maybe you are nervous, maybe it is time to THINK ON TRUTH- LOVE DOES NOT BEHAVE BADLY….LOVE IS NOT BAD MANNERED….INSTEAD LOVE IS CONSIDERATE, ATTENTIVE TO THE OTHER PERSON.

TEST?
Ask yourself this, when you are in someone’s company, how much time do you spend pulling out your phone and texting in comparison to how much time you seek to minister, serve, BE CONSIDERATE to the person, people opposite you or in the room with you? It has been said you can describe the life of the Lord Jesus while on earth in one word, “OTHERS!” It is the opposite and devoid of being self absorbed or rude!  Are you SELF ABSORBED, Or OTHERS Conscious who are in your presence? Do you display RUDENESS, as demonstrated by the evidence of your behavior through constant and thoughtless texting to the person, people on front of you? OR DO YOU GIVE YOUR UNDIVIDED ATTENTION TO THE OTHER PERSON? ARE YOU being  CONSIDERATE OR INCONSIDERATE?

A GREAT TEST IS see how often you TEXT on your phone while in the presence of others. When you get in someone’s presence are you quicker to pull out your cell phone and TEXT Someone else, or to seek to engage the person before you in a conversation concerning their welfare and seeking to either evangelize them or encourage them in the LORD? I left the restaurant… having prayed quietly to the LORD for these two young men…THANKFUL for them. They live in a society where RUDENESS is Not seen as such, it is “acceptable.” It is the “Norm!”

TEXTING is not bad in itself but can be  very RUDE in the presence of another, by showing them “speaking” with your actions, what I have to do, and who is on the other end of this text who I am communicating with  is way more important than you are! It was not the expense of the meal which I paid for that bothered me, just the seeming “spiritual dullness,” acceptable bad manners as a way of life and failing to understand God’s way for life. I can only guarantee one thing, by God’s grace these two young dear men have now become a part of my prayers, that they become OTHER Conscious for JESUS Sake- 2 Cor 4:5 ” ….ourselves your SERVANTS for Jesus Sake.”…. and they choose and seek to engage people in their company by choosing to be attentive, CONSIDERATE, of the other person, seeking or demanding nothing in return only the highest good of the other person, through sacrificially preferring them for Jesus sake

Maybe its time to STOP letting SOCIETY set our “moral” standard and let the SCRIPTURES Teach us God’s Way which is LOVE…. and “LOVE IS NOT RUDE…” LOVE is CONSIDERATE. I prayed for the two young men, especially the second one who joined us late for supper, that God would meet them and teach them….of Himself, His ways, LOVE IS NOT RUDE! LOVE IS CONSIDERATE OF OTHERS AND DISPLAYS GOOD MANNERS! It seems we find it easier to “talk” through texting than to marvel at our inability to talk to the person across the table to us. How will we communicate the Gospel, is we cannot speak, because, our words are texted, while our tongues are tied and the person sitting opposite us, feels insignificant, when in reality they are not they are merely in the presence of someone who is showing they are
1. SELF ABSORBED
2. RUDE

TIME TO THINK OF OTHERS…… BE CONSIDERATE…..

A CHANGE IN FOCUS; Do you need to THINK and DEVELOP a New Habit to express Love to the person who is in your physical company? If so what ACTION do you need to take in regards your cell phone, TEXTING….. its all about LOVE……Its a love issue-Love for self, or love for God and others…. the next move is yours….”LET ALL THAT YOU DO BE DONE IN LOVE”- {1 Cor 16:14}. Praying you and I both will seek to live CONCIOUSLY CHOOSING OTHERS AND BEING CONSIDERATE OF THEM rather than SELF ABSORVED AND RUDE!