I am completely done the obsession the college age bracket has regarding relationships and dating. I know all the justifications, "Well, I'm at that time in my life." and "This is very important to me right now." etc., etc. But I hope that I never become one of those individuals who confines my topics of interest solely to the items that are "very important to me right now." Eighty-year olds are at the time in their lives when hip replacements are "very important," but let's be honest, it's not attractive when a twenty-year old only talk about boys, or when an eighty-year old only talks about hip replacements. Such a narrow breadth of interest confines you to a narrow point of view, which leads to a narrow life, narrow joy, narrow personality, narrow growth.
God forbid I become that stunted, hip-replacement eighty year old...
This Sunday I was handed a very well-researched packet of information regarding dating. I'm not even going to go into the titles: "Counsel for the Concerned Single" (am I supposed to be concerned!?!), and "The Case for Early Marriage" (which I didn't finish because I'm pretty, gosh-darn sure it would have told me that I needed to be married four years ago), etc.
The people who wrote and compiled this information are wise, intelligent, loving individuals. I am so thankful for the interest they are taking in shaping this aspect of individuals' lives, but as I thumbed through yet another compilation of "dating advice" (to add to my already rich library of authors kissing all sorts of stuff goodbye), I became frustrated.
Why is this such a point of interest? Look at the Bible. How many verses deal with dating. (Yeah, that's right, count them.) Now look at the percentage of Christian literature that deals with dating. (Hmm, interesting, right?) Now look at how many verses deal with, well, I don't know, say-- gluttony. What percentage of Christian literature looks at that aspect of Christian life? (Yeah, interesting, right?)*
Why are we Christians, in a culture ridden with so many other issues of importance (abortion, gluttony, divisiveness, hatred, etc., etc.) concerned with dating? As far as I can tell, God doesn't really seem to care how you find your spouse, provided that you're both growing and godly.** Hmm...
Perhaps instead of fixating on how to get married, we should instead fixate on, oh gosh, I don't know: growing to be more like Christ, abolishing sinful habits, developing fruits of the Spirit, practicing transparent fellowship with other believers, bringing glory to God through the beauty of the Gospel instead of trying to hash-out minute details of: when you can see a person of the opposite sex (not at night, God forbid!), who else should be there, how long you have to "get to know someone as a friend" before you can ask her out on an "intentional meeting to define our relationship," etc.
I'm over it! It's ridiculous! For crying out loud-- Grow to become more like Christ! Stop trying to find that perfect, pin-point of contrived "holiness" which the latest dating book tells you will help you find your Prince Charming (or Lady Fair). Good grief!
Maybe I should write a book: "Date And Get Over It, You Christians." Actually, that's a good idea...
Here's my dating book:
Don't sin.
Get married.
The End.
Pithy. It'll be a best seller because it has the words "Date" and "Christians" in the title.
I'm done. My relationship-related blog rants are over. (For the time being.) I'm just so completely exhausted with the entire topic. It's starting to nauseate me from its sheer insipidity.
Tomorrow I'll discuss something less horrifying, like pandemics or athlete's feet...
*A cursory overview by this author found more than 15 Bible references to indulgence/gluttony and none regarding dating...
** In the Bible there are accounts of people who married reformed prostitutes, persons they had never seen before, people who cheated on them, etc.
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