An Evening With The Bachelor And The Gospel

| By Scott McClellan | Found in Communication, Design | 5 Comments

If you missed last night’s episode of The Bachelor (and I use the word “missed” loosely), here’s a quick recap of Bachelor Jason’s (above center) hometown date with contestant Naomi (above left) and her family in California (I’m going somewhere with this, I promise):

  • Brief introductions
  • Everybody Hula Hoop!
  • Backyard funeral for a dove killed by Naomi’s mom’s car
  • Small child attempts to decapitate deceased dove
  • Awkward gospel presentation from Hector, Naomi’s dad
  • Subtext: “I raised my daughter as a strong Christian … did she not mention that?”
  • Dad’s question: “Do you have much experience in that area?” (“that area” = Jesus)
  • Bachelor Jason’s answer: (grimace … )“No.”
  • Dad’s invitation: “Oh, well, that might be something that you want to think more about.”
  • Naomi’s mom interrupts the conversation and steals Bachelor Jason away
  • Naomi’s mom begins spouting something about Indigo kids and reincarnation
  • Bachelor Jason has a look on his face like he’s trying to remember if there’s a window in the bathroom he can sneak out of, and if so, how long it will take him to jog back to the highway

My intention isn’t to criticize Hector for his attempt to share his faith with the guy who could end up marrying his daughter. In fact, I applaud his boldness in talking about his faith to a stranger in front of network TV cameras. But I am somewhat glad that the cameras caught the look on Jason’s face during their exchange. His reaction made it look more like Hector had just passed gas, rather than invited him to grab hold of abundant life in Jesus Christ.

I don’t know for sure, but I wonder if that’s the norm when evangelism happens outside of context, narrative, clarity, and relationship. And that’s what I think is so special about the subject of our March/April cover story, iamsecond.com. Yeah, it’s online evangelism, but it’s more than a cheesy flash presentation of the Four Spiritual Laws set to a hip-hop backbeat. It’s real people sharing real stories of redemption and offering site visitors the opportunity to connect with real people in response.

Check out last night’s episode of The Bachelor at ABC.com if you’re a glutton for punishment (the visit to Naomi’s family is the last of four). But more important, check out iamsecond.com and then wait for our March/April issue to learn the story behind this innovative new project.

It might be tough for you to answer this if you didn’t see the episode, but do you think I’m being too hard on Hector? Am I wrong about the need for context, narrative, clarity, and relationship in evangelism?

***SPOILER ALERT***
This should come as no surprise after reading that recap: Jason gave Naomi the boot at the end of last night’s episode. As he walked out to the limo that would whisk her away, he was nice enough to assure her that it wasn’t because of her family (Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight … wink wink).

  • http://ryanbrymer.com Ryan

    I think that Hector was a little bit more direct than you make him out to be. He struggled but he did say Jesus and seemed very genuine. No offense, but cut the guy a break.

  • http://www.collidemagazine.com Scott McClellan

    You’re right, Ryan. I didn’t mean to imply that I’d transcribed the entire conversation between Hector and Jason. Any thoughts on the context/narrative/clarity/relationship angle?

  • http://ryanbrymer.com Ryan

    Thanks for the clarification, sorry if I came off as completely offended.
    You know, we have to take into account that there had to be some editing going on that keeps us from knowing the true context. I was just amazed that Hector cared so much about his daughter that this dude’s salvation was the most important thing for him to talk about. I mean, he had what, maybe 5-10 minutes to find out if the guy was good enough for his daughter. Most dad’s, even good, Christian dads would want to know if you make enough money to take care of their daughter. So, I applaud him for making the most of the little bit of time that he had.
    I dig where you’re going with context/narrative/relationship, but sometimes you’re in a place where you don’t have the time to do that – which is where Hector found himself. (Plus, I can’t say for sure, but it wouldn’t surprise me if differing beliefs played into the reason for his divorce.)
    My 2 cents.

  • http://www.dailyscroll.net/archives/5029 Evangelism on The Bachelor | The Daily Scroll

    [...] Evangelism on The Bachelor February 10, 2009 COLLIDE’s Scott McClellan has a recap [...]

  • http://claytonbellonline.com/?p=1622 Clayton Bell | Online » The Hot Links! 02.21.09 Edition

    [...] How NOT to do evangelism with a national TV audience… [...]