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What’s Wrong with this Picture?

January 12, 2016 by Sam Williamson

I’m in the middle of another bout with bronchitis (I think I’m losing), so I planned to skip my blog this week. But last Sunday, a TV advertisement for a Christian dating site changed my mind.

A walk on the beach r1

 

I’ve never used an online dating site (I found my wife before Al Gore invented the internet), but I know many believers who found like-minded spouses online. The concept makes sense.

Last Sunday I tuned out the clichéd advertisement for Christian dating, with its images of smiling couples holding hands while strolling on a beach at sunset. But then the ad ended with this tagline:

“Helping good people find good people.”

Am I just overreacting?

The image of “good people finding good people” broadcasts all kinds of bad messages:

  • To non-believers: it reinforces the image of pompous Christians (“We’re the good guys and you’re the bad guys”).
  • To believers: it reminds me of the Pharisee who prays, “Thank you God I’m not like….”
  • To everyone: didn’t Jesus say he came not to the “well” but to those who know they are sick?

How can a “Christian” website get it so wrong? I’m all in favor of finding “like-minded” people or people with “shared beliefs” about God.

But to label ourselves as the “good people” undermines the essence of the gospel; because Christianity begins when we finally admit we aren’t.

There’s nothing wrong with a sunset walk on the beach, but to appeal to our superiority doesn’t make us look very … good.

Sam

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