Washington Conference of Seventh-day Adventists

By Doug Bing, Washington Conference president

Have you ever phubbed someone?

The English language is always changing. New words are added all the time. Phubbing is one that caught my interest. Phubbing is defined as a person who interacts with their phone rather than with another human. In other words, you phub people by staring at your phone. It is a new way of snubbing people.

Not surprisingly, phubbing has been found to harm personal relationships and lead to decreased marital satisfaction because of the harm that happens when people interact with their phones more than each other. 

It is an easy thing to do. There are so many cool apps, many not so cool apps, many great things to read, many not so great things to read, lots of funny and educational videos to watch, and lots of totally worthless videos all there to suck you in and use up your time of actually looking people in the eye and having real conversations and real-life experiences. I have certainly been guilty of phubbing. Maybe you have as well.

There is a real danger, not only for personal relationships, but a great danger in phubbing when it comes to your relationship with God. There are many spiritual things that can be accessed on our phones, and for that I am truly grateful.

However, we can also become so focused on other things on our phones that we forget to have a personal walk with God.

A walk that includes times of Bible reading and personal reflection. Prayer that includes praise, intercession, confession, submission, and petition. Paul had it right when he wrote in I Corinthians 15:51 “I die daily.” Walking with Jesus is daily means submitting each day to His way and will for our lives. It means not phubbing God and in those times of reflection and study listening to His voice each day.

Have a great week putting down the phone and talking to people and to God.