Crushing it with Colton of The Bachelor
It’s been good news for millions of fans of The Bachelor to see hunky “Colton” swagger back into our screens with his boyish twinkle. At 26 years old, Colton Underwood is just darn cute, and his abs fill up the shower stall like no other. I pulled my marriage partner of 39 years alongside to this viewing, to which he remarked, “it’s a clean show, Colton’s always in the shower!”
Much has been made of the public unveiling of this Bachelor who is a Christian, and a 26-year-old virgin. Thirty gorgeous young women threw themselves at Colton on the premier of season 23 of The Bachelor this week, hoping for a chance to be his wife. For those in my generation who navigated a far different landscape of stepping into our strengths, giftings, and purpose, Bachelor has been a no go zone for years. I’ll lead the charge to declare it is appalling to discover that women and men have chosen to surrender their own autonomy to participate in a powerless identity auction. The Bachelor’s Season 23 was a soaring success with audiences reaching ten million fans in a three-hour ABC live special with a hot tub and house party of screaming and cheering young adults. There were three marriage proposals in the studio audiences alone – clearly, there’s a hunger for young people to belong to a life partner in a wedding.
Which brings us back to Colton, who feels he’s had all of his 26th year to just prepare and reflect on the hunt for a wife. The thirty candidates he met had varying approaches to Colton’s virginity, for some it was the first or second question they wanted to discuss. I’m watching this with interest because Christianity is being served light among the show, and among the thirty women is Cassie Randolph. Cassie is a lead cast member in one of Crossroads’ shows called Young Once. It wasn’t in the script for Cassie to head over to The Bachelor once done with our Christian media project, but it’s good publicity for us too. Cassie, 23, is a speech pathologist who used her skill in sign language to try and make herself memorable to Colton as he juggled keeping 30 girls names, dresses, and impressions straight in one night.
Colton, along with the audience, will also try to remember why Christian men would still be virgins at the age of 26. ABC’s producing and editing team should not be trusted to get that storyline straight.
Virginity happens for Christian single men and women because they believe the Biblical teaching that their body and mind carry the image of Christ. Christian virgins want to model their lives after God’s holiness so they follow seriously the teachings of the Bible. There are eight clarion passages in the New Testament that inspire people to live in virginity if they are not in lifelong marriage. My favourite is 1 Thessalonians 4:1-8… “God’s will is for you to be set apart for Him in holiness and that you keep yourselves unpolluted from sexual defilement. Yes, each of you must guard your sexual purity with holiness and dignity, not yielding to lustful passions like those who don’t know God.’ Never take selfish advantage of a brother or sister in this matter, for we’ve already told you and solemnly warned you that the Lord is the avenger in all these things. For God’s call on our lives is not to a life of compromise and perversion but to a life surrounded in holiness. Therefore, whoever rejects this instruction isn’t rejecting human authority but God himself, who gives us his precious gift – His Spirit of holiness.” TPT
The Bachelor has taken on a whole new drama; how Christians will stay holy in a hotbed televised coast-to-coast.
