Looking For Love

“Looking for love in all the wrong places…” This song made popular in 1980 by Waylon Jennings is iconic to the plight of our culture. People in desperate search of meaning through relationships, and if that can’t happen, then through some other type of fulfillment. The song describes a man that was going to singles’ bars and any place that most people would go to find quick, meaningless relationships. However, it seems that he didn’t really want that, instead he wanted a friend and someone who would really love him.

I won’t pretend the song had much of a spiritual undertone to it, but perhaps it’s representative of how people are constantly looking for something, or someone, to bring meaning to their life. What they search for in those places will always be elusive. Regardless of how close they get to what appears to be the “real deal” it slips out of their fingers or leaves them at a dead end.

Sadly, the search isn’t only made by lonely bar-hoppers but people in the church as well. People are constantly on the search for something spiritual, only to find that where they ended up wasn’t what they were looking for.

Some religious analysts have suggested that the age of contemporary worship is coming to a close. That may be up for debate, however the dropout rate in those arenas aren’t much less than the dropout rate among more conservative churches. Where are they going? What are they looking for? Why can’t they find it?

When I’m building a piece of furniture, it helps to have a detailed picture of the armoire. Just like an engineer, an architect, or even a surgeon, knowing what everything should look like in the end is extremely helpful. That’s just as important for a person who is searching for meaning, it helps to have an idea of the end result.

So without a pattern to follow anything, or everything can be a possibility. The result is a person looks for meaning in all the wrong places. The human mind and heart is typically only going to take so much before it gives up in the search. Satan has offered plenty of detours that lead us to nowhere we want to be.

However, we and Waylon Jennings know the appropriate places to find someone that genuinely loves us and cares about us. The bigger question is are we willing to be there? Then are we willing to accept the fact that we all have faltered? Our goal can’t be in a job, a sport, a school, a hobby, or even a spouse. Those things are fine in their proper place, but the only way to experience true and genuine love is in Christ. That’s where all the hope is found, and he’s also our pattern to follow.

Paul wrote an encouraging letter to a church in Philippi who had set out on a mission to help spread the gospel. Like a lot of us, they started out strong and problems cropped up occasionally. Comparatively, their problems were far less than many other churches, but they were problems that may have caused some to consider going somewhere else. But Paul reminds them in Philippians 1:6, “God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.” – Stay faithful to the plan.

He also appealed to them not to forget what they had seen and, more likely, heard in the example Jesus left for us. Philippians 2:3-5, “Don't be selfish; don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves. Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” – Understand the designer.

There are a lot of qualities Paul outlines for a church that really was on the right track. A church that demonstrated something that shone brightly to the world. They just needed some encouragement to continue to be that beacon of light to those people still searching for purpose and meaning. One of the key themes to the letter to the Philippians and also happens to be one of the most impressionable qualities a Christian can possess (perhaps outside of faith) is joy.

Joyful people draw others to themselves. That consistent joy becomes one of the greatest ways the gospel is introduced to someone. Without joy, we don’t look to have discovered a true and meaningful purpose, like the purpose we have in Christ. Are you a joyful person? How do you think that impacts how spiritually attractive you are to those desperately searching for meaning in this world? Do you know how to become joyful?

Stay tuned next week to hear what the Bible says about joy.