Beloved or Almost Lover?

The following are the thoughts of Chris Durso, Youth Director of Youth Explosion and Arts Champion for Willow Arts.  I thought you would appreciate his words.

I was watching TV the other day and came across a music video for a song called "Almost Lover" by the band "A Fine Frenzy". The song talks about a relationship between two lovers that almost happened. Even though the song is secular, it sparked a thought of the true relationship between Christ and man, beloved and lover, and what can cause the break up between the two.

One line in the song that sticks out so strongly to me is, "I never want to see you unhappy and I thought you want the same for me." I started to think of how men and women have allowed so many empty and meaningless things to separate them from God. If you were to ask a Christian, "Would you want to make Christ unhappy?" they would probably give you an answer like, "No way" or "Who would want to do that?"  Then, they would look at you like you were crazy and walk away. The crazy thing is we upset and hurt God every day by allowing anything to get in the way of our relationship.

Once we allow whatever that may be that catches out attention, we start to neglect our lover. He is there waiting for us like in Song of Solomon 5. He is there waiting and knocking at our door but we procrastinate and tell him to wait and that we are not dressed. You can tell when you're reading the very dramatic story that the women is running around her room looking for something decent to wear because she did not want her lover (God) to see her undressed. She is talking to him through the door and trying to keep him there while she gets dressed but when she finally opens the door he is gone. At that point she could have went back to sleep but she doesn't. She runs through the city and gets abused by the city guards but does not stop until she finds her lover. You know when you read the story that we (mankind) are the woman and God is our lover.  We start to think "Am I a good or at least a decent lover? Am I intimate with Christ? When he knocks am I ready or do I have to try to get ready?"

I deal with youth on a daily basis and see time and time again, young people fired up to live for God but then they allow a relationship, whether it be romantic or platonic, to come between them and God. It's either caused by their own desire to fit in, to have a significant other or being pressured by their peers. Either way they have allowed something to come in between their marriage with God. The sad thing is that it's all rooted in the same thing- not knowing in whom or where to place your emotions.

When you think of the overall picture you would probably say that the right thing for me to do is to stay with God because he should have all of me. However, when caught up in the love triangle between you, them and God, we usually pick them or ourselves. Our emotions are then out the window and wasted on empty promises. When you finally realize that you should have never neglected God, you just made it that much harder to live right for him. Peer pressure is not just something young people deal with. Our peers will pressure us until the day we die. You just need to decide now which one you love more, God or Yourself. By making this decision now, it will affect your overall relationship with God tomorrow and for the years to come. You need to start questioning your actions.  Ask yourself, "Is this going to bring me closer to God or further away?" Then, when you start grabbing a hold of your situation, you are now able to make a clear decision; whether it is the right one or wrong one. So, please grab a hold of your life and your relationship with Christ so you don't have to go running through the streets looking for God! Instead, you're able to open the door when he knocks. It's up to you today.  Are you going to love Christ and live for him? Are you going to strive to become more intimate with him on a daily basis by staying in constant communication with him? Or are you going to reject him for something he never wanted you to experience in the first place? The truth is, while the answer is so simple yet so hard to live out, the outcome is priceless. It all boils down to this question... Are you going to have the privileged title of "Beloved" or the shameful name "Almost Lover"?

"...Should have known you would bring me heartache, ALMOST LOVERS always do." - A Fine Frenzy

If you would like to hear more from Chris you can meet him at a Conversation during the Wonder conference.