Theology TV

Dating In The Dark

My wife and I have been watching this new and interesting reality TV show called, […]

Jacob / 8.18.09

My wife and I have been watching this new and interesting reality TV show called, “Dating in the Dark.” The show asks the question, “Is Love Blind?” They take three men and three women, who are all looking for love and stick them a house together. Now, while initially they have no chance of seeing each other in the light, they can date in complete and total darkness. After several days of dating in the darkroom, the participants will select the one member of the opposite sex that they want to see revealed in the light. For the first time, the participants see whom they’ve been dating, wooing, kissing, snuggling with and forming bonds with. And after they see each other in the light for the first time, they have to make the difficult decision…do they stay with the person they fell for in the dark, or leave them behind?

On last nights episode only one couple decided to stay together. The other two women left the house after finally seeing the men whom they had been dating in the dark (looks do mean something, even to women). Anyway, this got me thinking about how love in Christianity is revealed as something completely different. From a human perspective love is never blind. We are like the two women who walked out disappointed in our dates receding hairline and big ears. The truth is we would prefer to love something a bit more hunky, with great teeth, and a perfect set of abs. Although, we may like some of Jesus’ teachings, when the lights come on, facing Jesus, we also would leave the h

ouse (Isa. 53:2) The idea of loving a crucified messiah is foolishness to us (1 Corinthians 1:16). This is because love begins with God, because God is love

(1 John 4:8-16) and he reveals his love to and loves unlovely people (Eze. 16:1-14, Rom. 5:8, Eph 2:4-5). I kept thinking that if God had been a contestant he would be able to not only see in the dark- he is after all God- but peer into all of our dark hearts (the hidden lusts, motivations, objectifications, etc.) and, because of Christ, love us anyway. When the lights would finally be turned on, he would see exactly who we are and still reveal himself to us, claiming us as his own (2 Corinthians 4:6).