Have you heard of a “love bomb”? I just learned the term this past week while watching the most recent episode (4/26/23) of the Apple+ show Ted Lasso. In this episode one character expresses their love for another character by giving them extravagant gifts. That’s a love bomb. One gift is a signed first edition of the Jane Austen novel, Sense and Sensibility. Another gift is a room full of vases of fresh flowers. Another is a very public proclamation of love.
Have you ever love bombed someone? Have you ever been love bombed? It’s probably a good idea to try it out on your loved one every so often. But love bombs also have a shadow side.
Maybe you feel uneasy about this idea. The person doing the love bombing in the Ted Lasso episode is wealthy, and therefore they don’t have to worry about whether they can afford it. You, however, might not be able to love bomb someone because you can’t afford it, at least if the love bomb you’re envisioning is an expensive gift, like the ones I mentioned above. You might wish you were wealthy and think that if you were, you’d be dropping love bombs all the time. Or maybe love bombs can be manipulative and wrong?
You might be reading this thinking, “I don’t know if I agree with this ‘love bomb’ idea. What a poor use of money! Does showing love have to include extravagant expense?” Whether you can afford it or not, you might find it to be an unwise financial decision. After all, there are plenty of other ways to show love, right?
My question is “How would Jesus respond to a love bomb?” This week on the blog, we’ll find out. In John 11:45-12:11, he gets a major love bomb dropped right on top of him. Is it a romantic gesture? Is it an unwise use of money? Or is it one of those extravagant expressions of love that should inspire us to do likewise?
We get started in the next post.
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