Wen R U Thru W/ Jss?

As a youth pastor, text messaging (texting) is becoming the bane of my existence. I have nothing against the idea of texting. I do it all the time. It is a cheap, efficient, and often necessary form of communication. But for those same reasons, I also despise it.

Sunday nights are my primary youth ministry nights at my church. This is the night we gather together for ministry team rehearsals, food, fellowship and Bible study. During the food and fellowship times the idea is for the students to build community with one another, get to know each other a little better every week, talk, chat and have fun. BUT NOOOOOOOO! I usually have at least 5 or 6 of the little angels sitting around a table texting with some other kids in some other place with very little interaction among the ones who are physically present. As I was sharing this problem with a friend, he related to me a story he had heard.

A mother and her daughter were sitting in the sanctuary of their church one day in the middle of worship service. The mother noticed that her daughter was doing something funny with her hand under her leg. Upon further investigation, she realized her daughter was texting her cell phone. After impounding the device, the mother saw the latest text on the screen which read, "Wen R U Thru W/ Jss?" -translation- "When are you through with Jesus?" or "When are you going to be done with church?"

In reality, the daughter was through with Jesus when she started texting. You see, while texting may be cheap and efficient, true relationships are quite the opposite. True, meaningful relationships come at a high cost and they are often rather messy. It takes effort and time to build them and it takes great effort, time, and patience to maintain them. But in the end the investment is well worth it. Because in the end , whether your relationship is with a dear earthly friend or with the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, you will have obeyed Christ's greatest commandments, "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind; and Love your neighbor as yourself."

Let's put the cell phones down once in a while and talk with the people right next to us. You may be surprised at the treasure you may find.