Tonight… But why not tomorrow?

I found this article via Mark Driscoll’s Twitter, “Friends With Benefits Mirrors Growing Teen Epidemic“. It talks about how movies such as this one reflect teen culture today: accepting casual sex as normal, diminishing the importance of responsibility and thinking about consequences. I would go even further and say that music is playing an even bigger role into this.

"Give me everything tonight
For all we know we might not get tomorrow
Let's do it tonight"

"If only For Tonight
You Could be the Only One
You Could be the Only One For Me
Only takes Tonight"

"Oh, let's not think about tomorrow tonight
Just live the moment"

"Live like there's no tomorrow
'Cause all we have is here, right now
Love like it's all that we know"

These are the lyrics to some of the hits that are playing on the radio right now. It seems like the most predominant word in all this club/dance/house hits is the word Tonight. Scan through the radio and you just might prove my point. The word in and of itself is not wrong; the problem with it is the underlying message:

“Don’t think about consequences!”

“Forget about self control”

“Don’t wait till tomorrow”

“What matters is here and now”

“Do whatever you feel like doing right now”

And all these are usually said in a sexual context. I will be adding to the noise by delving too much into how our consumeristic habits affect our whole lives; how technology has made everything so instantaneous that waiting for anything has practically become a curse. No one wants to wait for their online package to arrive in a week. No one wants to wait and save to buy a laptop or whatever. And no one would certainly wait until marriage for sex! Because I don’t want to wait till tomorrow or till next month or till next year. I want it right now, tonight! [Instant Gratification]

The Bible is very clear about the importance of waiting. Patience is one of the fruits of the Spirit, probably one of the hardest to exercise and master; very important nonetheless. And when God commands us to wait till marriage for sex, He is not just trying to make our lives miserable. His commands have our best interest in mind–but that’s a subject for another day.

To wrap up, I want to leave you with a question Pastor Adam Greenfield, from Riverside Christian Fellowship, said while preaching at my church a few Sunday mornings ago:

“What do you call a person who gets what they want whenever they want it?” SPOILED.

“I Loved Myself Enough to Walk Away”

These were the words from Jennifer Lopez’s mouth in her first interview after announcing her divorce from Marc Anthony. It came as quite a surprise because they seemed to have a very strong marriage. But it ultimately crumbled down. I don’t know the reasons for the divorce, therefore I don’t pretend to be the judge of her actions either. But all this hype with the divorce got me thinking about marriage.

Out of all people, Christians should most understand the sacredness of marriage. Not only because God established it so, but because these earthly marriages that take place every day between a man and a woman are a reflection of the marriage that will take place between Jesus and His bride (the Church). It’s a covenant that is supposed to last forever or until one of them dies [this is what the bride and groom promise each other during their wedding vows], but somehow, this bond, this promise can be broken. Divorces are getting more and more common, and they seem to me like an easy way out when you don’t want to make things work between two imperfect humans anymore.

Now think about the real marriage, the one humans try to mirror, the one between Jesus and the Church. It’s a marriage that will take place when Jesus comes back again for us. It’s not a marriage between two imperfect humans. It’s a marriage between one sinless, incarnate God and a redeemed, imperfect bride in process of sanctification.

When I think about Jennifer Lopez’s words, “I Loved myself enough to walk away”, all I can think about is: What would have happened if Jesus decided to say those words to us? We are, after all, a bride that fails Him over and over, a bride that can’t love Him the way He loves us, a bride that gets cold feet from time to time, a bride that even cheats on Him with other lovers. If we [as humans] were ever planning on marrying a bride like that, we probably would decide to not marry her after all because she doesn’t deserve our love.

BUT thank God that, even though He’s the only one who truly has a right to walk away from such a bride, HE DOESN’T! He doesn’t give up and walk away! On the contrary, every time we fail Him and sin against Him, He is gracious and forgiving, and He reminds us that there is nothing in this world [not even ourselves] that will break the covenant that He promised would last for all eternity.

A perfect God who had every right to boast on all His glory made Himself a servant, died on a cross and was scorned by those He came to save. He definitely put His pride and His self-love to a side because He wouldn’t walk away from the bride He loves.

When you feel like you are failing God, that you are being unfaithful, remember the love with which He loved you, remember the everlasting covenant He has made with you, and pray so that He helps you love Him the way He deserves. Thank Him for His unfailing love today!

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.      -Romans 8:38-39

I’ll leave you with Chris Tomlin’s “Unfailing Love”.