Jesus Sets the Bar

Someone sent me a video clip of the sweetest marriage proposal. It opens with a young man singing a love song to his sweetie. Suddenly a friend of theirs dances into view lip syncing joyfully. Then another arrives, and another. As the boy guides his sweetheart along a marked path, their loved ones appear from all directions performing solos, duets, and quartets. The girlfriend has clearly figured out what the musical is about and who’s behind it, but she’s still reeling by the size of the cast that includes both sets of parents. The growing parade ends on the beach with her beau on his knee. Yes, of course I cried.

Afterwards, I scanned the comments below the video. The women were swooning. The men were protesting good-naturedly that the young man had set the bar way too high! Then I saw it, the comment that has stayed with me. One woman typed, “It was nice but the music was too high.”  Really?! That was her takeaway?
It reminds me of what Jesus once said to the religious people that were hammering John for being a wild man who refused to eat and drink while they criticized Jesus for dining with publicans and sinners. Jesus said, “To whom shall I compare this generation? It is like children sitting in the market places, who call out to the other children and say, ‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge and you did not mourn.’”

Jesus depicted these petulant childish people who refused to accept the gospel, regardless of its presentation, as sitting in the marketplace. That’s interesting. A fickle culture craving endless entertainment, now where have we seen that before? Right. How vain it is to try and please this world. Whatever we do someone won’t like it, someone will demand we top it, and the bar will be raised another notch. May I recommend instead a life given over to Christ? It means full acceptance with God and it’s based on Jesus’ merits and not our next great performance. Someone needs to say amen!

 

Hugs, Shellie