Let's Try Jesus Way

By:Ayana Bryant-Weekes 

Our Society doesn't believe in relationships any more, especially celebrity relationships. We’ve all witnessed the “celebrity courtship cycle”, as I like to call it, which usually spans from 4 -9 months at a time.

Stage One: Begin a public relationship with a celebrity

Stage Two: Become everyone’s “relationship goal”

Stage Three: Make a baby (in most cases)

Stage Four: Get engaged

Stage Five: Break up before the baby comes

Stage Six: Date another celebrity 

When I first saw the pictures of R&B singer Ciara on the arm of Seattle Seahawks quarter back Russell Wilson at President Obama’s Japanese State Dinner at the White House in April of this year, I thought, Man, these people move QUICK! To be honest, this cycle is so tiring to watch. I’ll admit, I LOVED Ciara and Future together, I loved how they seemed to be on the come up together and I couldn’t ignore how fly they were together. So, when it was confirmed that Ciara was preparing to give birth to Future’s fourth child, an unsettling feeling detached me from the celebrity couple and I could sense a breakup in the near future (no pun intended), and then in August 2014 they broke up...

I did not feel like hearing about another celebrity couple that broke up and would be left with another broken family, I didn’t want to feel like Beyoncé and Jay-Z were the only ones who could be married and stay married. I couldn't help but feel like society was being proven right, but I also knew as that these couples were omitting a fundamental element from their relationships.

I swept the idea of Ciara and Russell into the back of my mind until I came across an article on Fox Sports. The Seattle Seahawks Quarter Back was talking openly talking about his relationship with Ciara in an interview with The Rock Church over the weekend where he shared how God told him he needed to lead Ciara into a relationship, taking all the “extra stuff” off of the table and doing things Jesus’ way—and yes, we’re talking about abstaining from sex. 

“For me, I knew that God had brought me into her life to bless her and for her to bless me and to bless so many people with the impact that she has, that I have. We're not gonna be perfect, by any means. Life's not perfect. Nobody's perfect, but he's anointed both of us, and I know that he's calling for us to do something miraculous, something special…'Could we love each other without that (sex)?' If you can really love somebody without that, then you can really love somebody."

 

 This interview inspired me in the same way that Megan Good and Devon Franklin’s testimony did because here we have a very public example of two figures of pop culture, affirming that Christ’s standard for courtship (and potentially marriage) will guide them on their walks together.  As a Christian, it is very important to have Godly role models; people to show us that you can live to a Godly standard, even in celebrity, no matter what background/industry you come from or are interested in. I was also inspired by God’s example of what a man leading a woman into a relationship looks like using these two people who we don’t normally see as spiritual models. Wilson was first, led by God and he listened. He surrendered to the idea that his union with Ciara would allow their influence to be impactful to society, as God would have it.  

Now, of course there is still the chance that Ciara and Russell Wilson could break up, we’re dealing with two human beings, celebrities at that and just because they are celibate does not guarantee they will end up married, however, what we do know is that God’s will is being done, at the end of the day, if they don’t move towards marriage, they wont add to the number of broken homes in our society, and whatever is to follow will benefit the two of them as well as all those impacted by their story.

            It warms my heart and encourages my spirit, even as I sometimes miss the mark, to hear testimonies of people who are putting God to the test and are determined to walk by faith in a world where the social norm says that nothing about "Jesus’ way" makes sense. I wish Ciara and Russell nothing but the best in their relationship and I pray they succeed in their pursuit of a God-inspired courtship and that their testimony inspires many generations to come.