relationship with God

I've just finished writing an article for our church newsletter, to be letter-box dropped around Easter. The idea is to introduce the idea of "relationships" to sow the ground for future mission. Carrie subbed it for me, so much credit goes to her.

Prizes* for anyone who can write a killer conclusion (one or two sentences only).
And apologies for talking about Gen Y. I am so over the term Gen Y - this will be the last time I write about it.

By SOPHIA RUSSELL

In the 80s, it was all about believing in The Power of Love. In the 90s, Bryan Adams crooned “I’d die for you, walk the mile for you” and Shania Twain pledged her love “From this moment on”.

Today, love songs are a lot less optimistic when it comes to commitment. From Beyonce comes, “Don’t you ever get to thinking you’re irreplaceable”. And from teen band PussyCat Dolls: “I don’t need a ring on my finger, I get off being free”. Even Justin Timberlake, who once cried a river after Britney left him, has now taken to celebrating the freedom of casual relationships in his songs rather than a lifelong commitment.

Are these just meaningless pop songs, or do they reflect a larger trend in today’s society? Social commentators have often put the spotlight on “Generation Y” and its lack of commitment to a long term plan, let alone to relationships. If we are to believe what we read in the papers and the magazines, this hip, technology-savvy generation of twenty-somethings pursue marriage less, career and travel more, and run a mile from anything that requires long-term commitment.

And it’s not just Gen Y. With divorce on the rise and the birth rate declining, it seems the concept of “relationship” and all the things that go with it – commitment and fidelity – are on the way out in the 21st century. If you add to the mix hectic schedules, job-related stress and the lack of time to spend with our children, Sydney-siders can’t be blamed for thinking that our commitment to relationships has been lost in the noise of the city.

However, it’s possible that we have made too many assumptions when it comes to statistics. While social commentators have been quick to pronounce the death of long-term relationships due to the fact marriage rates have fallen sharply over the past 10 years, this may simply mean that our desire for committed relationships is being expressed in ways outside of marriage.

Figures from the last Census in 2001 show that 72.5% of Australian households were occupied by more than one person (in Annandale, 62%), suggesting the majority are choosing to live with someone, whether it’s family members, a life partner or a share-house of friends. In the cinema, movies about people falling in love and dealing with relationships are still making money in the box office. Even the internet, once perceived as a threat to the family unit, has become a new social forum, with platforms like MySpace responsible for creating thousands of online communities and networks. At the end of the day, we still want to be committed to someone – whether for friendship, companionship, or the simple fact that kicking back on a weekend is much more enjoyable when there’s more than one.

Our need for relationships is not something new. God said it in the beginning when he finished creating the first human being: “It is not good for man to be alone”. We were designed for relationship. Perhaps that is why we instinctively crave it, whether in the form of friendship, romantic love, as children or as parents. This desire doesn’t stop when one generation abandons Bryan Adams for Justin Timberlake. The desire for relationship was real for the first man and woman, and it’s still real for us today.

When people think of reaching out to the God of the Bible, they often think of “being religious”, i.e. something you’re born into because of your parents, or ascribe to as a tradition. However, Christians understand God in the context of a relationship. God not only put the desire for relationship in us; he also fills it. He offers every one of us a relationship that never fails. It’s the kind of bond that goes beyond the self-indulgent pop tunes of today, beyond the declarations of love from the 80s and 90s.

*Prizes is probably deceptive. More the singular "prize", and more a coffee made by Sam.