Is Love Creepy?
My guess is that most of you are familiar with Facebook, and if you are not familiar with it, then at least you have heard about it. Facebook is part of the new wave of social web sites that are very popular. These kinds of web sites bring people together and allow for a greater opportunity to get to know each other on a personal level, hence the moniker, “Social Media.”
The fact that Facebook is so personal can sometimes create awkward situations. For example, when you seek to befriend someone on Facebook, this can have unexpected consequences. The other person may not want to be your friend, or they may see your request to be a friend as being “creepy” when all you were trying to do is express love toward someone else.
Is love creepy? In a nutshell, yes. We live in a society that is dominated by the concern for privacy; we don’t want anyone to have our information. This is primarily due to the activity of a few unscrupulous people: identity thieves, stalkers, perverts, politicians, etc. But these have been so publicized, that everyone is scared that his/her information is going to be stolen or used for some nefarious activity. Moreover, we don’t want every telemarketer in the world making our phone the test bed for the company that makes the ringers! Privacy is also hotly politicized given issues like abortion, homosexuality, and other sins that people want to hide. For all of these reasons, privacy has become a strong cultural value.
But love is anti-privacy, and that is why it is creepy. Love is supposed to be intimate and personal. It seeks to break through all of our private and personal business. Love wants to know intimate details about our social life, our marriage, our mental state, our health, and our families. Love wants to get all up in our business! In an age dominated by the concern for privacy, love is creepy!
Here’s the kicker: we want people to love us. This means that we must open up to others and let them creep into our lives, the very thing privacy detests. So, on the one hand we want people to love us, and on the other hand we don’t want people to love us. Now we have real issues. Now we start developing mental health problems. Now we start behaving erratically and inexplicably around others because we have serious contradictory feelings in our lives. One of these two things must give, and has not the word of God told us what is ultimate? “Love never fails” (1 Cor.13:8), and “The greatest . . . is love” (1 Cor.13:13).
One of the greatest things we can do to show that we love and that we want to be loved is to open up. Sit down with a brother or sister this week and just share with them what is going on in your life. They will know that you love them for trusting them enough to do this, and you will receive love from them as well through their listening and helping with your personal issues.
Yes, we may get offended, and we may step on someone’s toes, but isn’t love worth it? Isn’t the fact of having a deeper personal relationship with our brother or sister in Christ something that we will value? Psychologists tell us that what we humans want more than anything is intimate personal relationships. Don’t let love creep you out! Instead, receive the loving overtures of a brother or sister today!