Judy, Judy, there's just something about that name...

Many times I've heard people lamenting what is often called "Jesus is my girlfriend" songs. You know the ones... the song where the word "Jesus" is never mentioned, and although the song is on a "Christian" CD, it's never quote clear whether they're talking about their Savior, or a junior high crush. Or sometimes, as I read recently, the name "Jesus" is in the song, but if you replace it with a girl's name, the song still makes exactly as much sense as it did before.

I've always agreed with that, and I still agree that it is deceitful to write a boy/girl song and then rephrase things just enough so you can sing it in church. That's intellectual dishonesty at best... you're not being true to the song, and you're trying to trick perfectly intelligent people into thinking that's how you feel about Jesus when it's really how you feel about Jennifer or Christine or Amanda. But something I read in the Bible shocked me. Jesus calls us, the Church, His Bride! Jesus loves us like I love my wife (except infinitely more consistently and perfectly than any human is capable of)! So hmm. Maybe the problem is not that Jesus is the girlfriend. Maybe I am the girlfriend!

If God repeatedly couches His desired relationship with us in romantic terms, maybe it's not so bad to write and sing about it that way sometimes, not specifically as a way to make it easier to connect with someone who might be hostile to Christ, but as a true expression of the ardent passion that we have for Him. It's not bad to "love" Jesus, and it never has been. It's what Jesus wants.