How to Share Your Faith Using The Perfect Couple?
It was supposed to be a storybook ending. You know - “They rode off into the sunset and lived happily ever after” sort of stuff. They even had a wedding that ran up a million dollar tab, complete with a beautiful beach background, a gospel choir, and everybody who is anybody in attendance.
Oh yeah- and did I mention that they were a perfect couple? Handsome and beautiful, rich and famous…I doubt if there is anybody on the planet that wouldn’t (at least for a little while) trade places with them. Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston were probably one of Hollywood ’s most distinguished duos and certainly its most powerful couple. With all they had going for them, nothing could stand in the way of the Cinderella-ever-after we all dream about.
But that’s not the way it all turned out. After 4 ½ years of marriage, they have decided to separate. True, no one has dropped the divorce word, but for those of you playing along at home, this one has about as much of a chance as a snowball in really, REALLY warm place.
So now the big question is why. Why does an apparently perfect couple crash and burn? Was it because of financial difficulties? I’m pretty sure not, since each of them makes more money in a few days than most of us will see in a lifetime. Maybe they couldn’t stand the sight of each other? Um…no. Or could it be that they just didn’t have enough “Friends?”
I’m sure over the next few weeks the gossip columns will be full of heavily researched theories on why the unthinkable breakup happened. Each one of them will share the blame. Reports of unfulfilled expectations and possible affairs will fly out of the rumor mill like some stuff hitting a fan, and we will all just figure it was too good to last anyway.
And you know, we would be right in thinking so. Hollywood gets shocked when their happy ever after turns into crappy ever after, but I for one am not.
Not because I am naturally negative or cynically conditioned. It’s just that I know something La La Land does not.
All people everywhere have a God shaped hole in their heart that can only be filled by, well, God! No amount of cash, credit, possessions, or perfection can even make a dent in this gaping gap - which is why what seems like too good to last is really not good enough to last.
Jennifer Aniston and Brad Pitt are smart, wealthy, famous folks who have a life many people would give their right arm for, but in many ways they are no different than the addicts who sleep on the street at night. In both cases, we have people who have a desperate need to connect with their Creator, but are unwilling to believe that’s the answer. So whether it’s someone staying in the Hollywood Hilton or the Heroin Hotel, people without God are the same on the inside.
My guess is that this perfect couple was looking for just that: perfection from imperfect people and circumstances. So after nearly 5 years of searching for it in each other, they have decided to move on. Oh yeah, I know that the papers will say it was about Brad Pitt being charmed by Angelina Jolie or Jennifer Aniston not wanting to have kids - but make no mistake about it, this one (like all the other ones) is about Ecclesiastes 3:11:
“He has planted eternity in the human heart…”
God made everyone with an unquenchable hunger and thirst to connect with the One who made them, but unfortunately we fool ourselves into thinking that if we just had the right relationship, the right career, the right paycheck, the right looks, the right whatever, we will be content. Yet only God can fill a God shaped hole…nothing else even comes close.
So students, here is your Culture Commission. The big bad breakup of Beauty and the Brad is big time news, so the next time the subject comes up, why not bring up the subject of holes in our souls? Ask people if they were shocked about the news, and what they do to find happiness. Remember that deep down, we are all looking for the same basic things: meaning, purpose, and value. Most folks try to EARN these things through earthly strategies, especially when they are one of the “beautiful” people. Yet God wants to GIVE us these things through a restored relationship with Him. Jesus Christ came to earth, lived the life we should have lived, and died the death we should have died to bring us back to God. Our job is to take people on the GOSPEL Journey which leads to true satisfaction.
You might not be able to do anything about the breakup between Brad and Jennifer , but you should do something about the breakup between your friend and God!
