the basic message #E206
10/26/03
What does "The Bachelor" have to do with modern Christianity? Nothing and plenty, to be sure. My wife loves to watch The Bachelor, and while I protest that it's a stupid show, I must admit that I sneak a peek every now and then. Just what is the appeal of this show? I think it's pretty simple- a person, in this case the bachelor, is able to have his cake and eat it too. Isn't that much like the modern Christian church?
I'm not sure just how many girls are present in the beginning of the show, but I'd say there was over 12. As most of you know, with each passing week the group narrows down until the bachelor finally chooses the one he allegedly wants to marry. Am I the only person in America that finds this whole process peculiar? Think about this for just a moment- these women have applied to be part of a process that will either get them to the point of a proposal, or get dumped. First of all, these girls are obvious gamblers. Now maybe they've never been in a casino in their lives, but make no mistake, they're big-time gamblers. Oh, you disagree? If so, then maybe you've accurately pegged them for women who are self-assured and egotistical since they've decided ahead of time they'll win. What else can we say about them? Surely you aren't such a romantic that you really think they'll find love on national TV.
Our current bachelor is "Bob". Bob was on "The Bachelorette" some months ago, but didn't get picked. Somehow or another old Bob has not only gotten past that little setback, he's actually entered the promised land to where he gets to do the choosing. In the earlier episodes Bob is just politely courting the ladies, but by the time he's down to 5 or 6, he's spending some "quality" time with the girls. We never quite figure out just how much quality Bob is getting, but the some of the scenes don't leave too much for the imagination. So just what do I find so distasteful about the program? Plenty.
First of all, these girls have all stated that they're looking for the man of their dreams. If the man of their dreams courts over 10 women at the same time, their dreams don't shoot too high. Secondly, the courtship process is aided by the TV network by putting all of the players up in fabulous places with a zillion cool things to do. Is that real life? Not unless you're Donald Trump or Bill Gates, and I don't think the girls want to marry either of them. Hmmm, maybe I might need to rethink this, since they might well be nothing but a bunch of gold-diggers. Back to the show. Toward the end of the process, Bob is getting pretty snugly with all of the girls, and I'd have to think Bob is doing a little more than holding hands with the ladies. So what do you think the topic of conversation is going to be once they get married? "Say Bob, just what were you doing with the other girls on the private dates?" Here's another little factor no one seems to consider- in the end, he must narrow the field down to about 3 girls. He will likely grimace and shed a tear as he dismisses the last few until he gets down the final choice. If you were the new Mrs. Bob, what would you likely ask Bob after the wedding? I'd have to say, "Hey Bob, just how close was I to so-in-so?" I think you get the picture by now.
How is the modern church similar? We claim to be looking for a Savior, but in reality we like to whore around with everything out there while we're looking. We want to be able to tell Jesus that he's our final choice, but while we're taking his hand we're still clinging to the world. We want to convince ourselves that we really want to settle down, but in reality we allow ourselves to be drawn quite easily back to the cesspool called the world. There's really only one big difference between "The Bachelor" and "The True Church", and that is that we can lie to each other, and we can lie to ourselves, but Jesus Christ knows who is serious and who is playing. Jesus is no fool, but what about you?