November 23, 2010

Anti-Nexus: To Legitamize Something, Illegitamize Something Else

The way sex and relationships are viewed in our culture may be Satan's greatest accomplishment. I mean besides getting Eve to eat that darn fruit, this is probably his highest achievement. I say this because more and more Christians are beginning to accept these as culture defines them and put no thought into the ways that they are buying into his schemes.

See, culture continues to tell us that we NEED a relationship in order to be successful. If you want to have the best jobs, the best friends, the best life, the best of anything, you NEED to be in a relationship. Culture repeatedly and through different avenues inundates us with a message that those that do not have a relationship must be doing something wrong and in no way can be considered successful. Culture sells the idea that you cannot be complete and content in your self if you aren't in a relationship or pursuing a relationship. If you don't find a mate to be with now and forever, you will never find peace in your life and you will constantly be unstable and imbalanced. This continues to be a repetitive message that comes out of cultures constant attack on a person's mind and ultimately their heart.

We see this through the ads we see on TV or in print, the TV shows we watch or the movies we take in. When was the last sitcom you saw that didn't involve the single guy or gal of the show trying desperately to find someone to be in a relationship with and when they didn't find it that week they would be devastated. Sound familiar? I mean come on, Friends aired for ten years! Some that come to mind now: Glee, Outsourced, Community, The Good Wife, many more.

So what we have done in response to this blitz of messages is to do something that we can hardly control unless we identify it and control it. In response to all of this, we have legitimized our relationship with another to the point that it has led to the illegitimacy of our relationship with God. That's not to say that we have abandoned our relationship with God completely. But it is quite clear that we have placed a high enough priority on our relationships with people that we have had to reduce the priority of our relationship with Christ. And that seems very counter-productive.

The thing about this is that given the right context, amount and motive, it can be healthy. Example here is marriage. But we're doing this well before marriage and it is leading to much more than just divorce. There is an undercurrent that exists in the attitude that we have begun to take in reference to dating. Dating has become much more than just a relationship to determine compatibility and possible future desires. It has become something so much more and has upped the ante when it comes to the dating relationship. This and more will be coming up in this series.

The bottom line is this, Jesus said, "If anyone comes to me and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple." He has called us to love Him with everything. Our devotion to Christ should pale in comparison to our love and devotion to another person. When we begin to see this in our own lives we will begin to see much more.

What do you think?
How do you relate to this one?

GC

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