As a Christian and a feminist (yes, we do exist) I have struggled so much with what to make of the situation between Hannah Brown, the current bachelorette, and infamous contestant Luke Parker, known by fans as Luke P. (or "Puke" by the other guys in the house.) From the beginning, I honestly wasn't a fan of Luke.
I admired his willingness to put his faith out there in a world that isn't always kind to Christians, but I also found him to be a bit condescending and hypocritical. I think my biggest problem with him was that he acted way different in front of Hannah than he did with the other guys, and it almost seemed like he was using his being a Christian to sort of "win" the show because he knew Hannah was a Christian, and he was very boastful and prideful the whole time, both in his individual interviews and in front of the other guys, albeit almost never in front of Hannah.
Despite my wariness of Luke, I did try to give him a chance. It wasn't really until the scandal with Luke S. when he literally told Luke S. he would say one thing to Hannah and then almost immediately turned around and said something different that I realized I definitely couldn't support him. As a woman of faith, I have not found Luke to be a good representation of a man of Christ this season at all. It seems to me more than anything that he wants people to think he is a Christian but doesn't want to put the effort into acting like one full time.
However, I can see why Hannah was so hesitant to let go of him for so long. As Christians, we grow up hearing that we should look for other Christians to marry that will allow us to grow in our faith and guide us in our walks with Christ, and I absolutely believe that to be true.
I believe with my whole heart that if it is God's will for a person to be married, there is a man or woman that is equally yoked to them out there that God has set aside for them to marry. However, I myself and many other Christian women tend to want to latch on to the first guy that exhibits even the slightest inkling towards being a Christian especially since it often doesn't seem that there are any good Christian guys left out there. Had I been in Hannah's position and seen the side of Luke that he chose to show her, as a Christian, I probably would've had the same reaction that she did.
As far as the fantasy suite episode goes, I definitely think Hannah was right in sending Luke home. His words and actions were hypocritical and judgmental and not at all how a true man of faith would have or should have responded in that situation. In fact, Matthew 7:3 says, "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?" (NIV) implying that we should not be judging others when we are not perfect ourselves, and Luke himself has even admitted that he is far from perfect.
I will concede that Hannah did not respond like a "perfect" Christian either when she implied that Jesus doesn't care if we sin because He will forgive us no matter what. The Bible does say that those who ask will be forgiven (1 John 1:9,) but it also says we should flee from sin and chase after Him instead (1 Timothy 6:11-12,) and when we choose to continue to sin knowing it is wrong, we cheapen grace.
In the end, neither Luke or Hannah behaved perfectly according to scripture, but neither do any of us, regardless of how hard we try. I think Hannah was absolutely right in sending Luke away and shutting down his misogynistic behaviors, I still support her even though I can see that she isn't perfect.
As a Christian and a feminist, I cannot support Luke P.'s actions based on how he was portrayed in the show. I think he used Jesus as a platform to promote himself, and I think he acted solely out of pride for most of the series. I don't doubt that their feelings for each other existed, but I do think they both have a lot of growing to do as Christians and really just as people, just like we all do. I'm excited to see both of them progress in the future, because yes, Jesus does still love both of them, and I'm super anxious to find out who Hannah actually does pick (#TeamTylerForLife.)
