Thought of the Day 07.14.08

Imagine a very wealthy man in his sixties is suddenly seen around town with a sexy woman decades younger than he. Soon after, they marry. What do we all think? We assume his interest in her is mostly physical, which we rightly view as shallow, perhaps even exploitative. And we assume she is just showing him affection to get at his money.

Rather than truly wanting him, we assume she just wants the lifestyle that comes with him. If he suddenly lost it all, her departure would surprise no one. But why is this so bad? Because he deserves to be loved for who he is, not merely loved for his goodies. After all, gold-digging is just a more prolonged and less anonymous form of whoring.

But doesn’t it seem strange that we judge her manipulation of him so harshly and then turn around and praise people for advising non-Christians to engage in precisely this sort of manipulation of God…even calling it evangelism? Doesn’t God deserve better?