The Risk of Love
05-08-2007
by Johann Snyder

Mary Jane is in trouble…again. You’d think either one of two things would happen here; either Mary Jane would realize that dating Peter Parker is a little too risky to life and limb and find a safer boyfriend to be around, or Parker’s alter ego would realize that having a girl in your life makes you vulnerable to your enemies and gives them a way to draw you out into risky and deadly situations. But no, despite the risk and the near-death experiences, Mary Jane and Peter Parker are still together by the end of Spider-Man 3. Why? Because they love each other, and in the end love is worth the risk.

I read an article recently that questioned the super-hero’s need to have a love interest. From Mary Jane to Lois Lane, these women only serve as a vulnerable chink in the most invincible armor of any super-hero. The article pointed out how much simpler Superman’s life would be if he wasn’t constantly getting Lois out of trouble. Peter’s life in the Spider-Man movies would certainly be less complicated if he didn’t have a girlfriend that was constantly being used by various villains to get to him. Yet, even the greatest heroes are willing expose themselves to deadly risk, vulnerability and even betrayal by daring to love. (The only exception being the Batman, who despite some brief romantic interests doesn’t have anyone who can compromise his mission – of course I’m not including the movie versions in that statement).

The fact of the matter is love is risky. To truly love someone, you must expose yourself to danger. You must let your vulnerable side show through. You have to allow someone to truly get to know you, and be willing to put that person before yourself. This is a risky proposition, and all of us have probably been hurt by love at some point in our lives. So why do we do it, why do we feel that love is worth the risk?

Well, a long time ago, there was a being who is Love.  Because love is relational, He created a creature whom He could love and who would love Him in return. This was extremely risky, because there was the possibility that this created creature would spurn the being of love and not return his love. In fact, this is exactly what happened; and the perfection of creation was forever shattered all because Love was willing to risk being in love with his creation. However, He wasn’t willing to let it end there. In order to restore the relationship, He gave everything – including the life of his One and Only Son – to restore the relationship and show his creation just how much He loved them. He offered to freely take back his wayward creation, if they would choose to love Him in return; there were some who realized that they were specifically created to love and be loved, and the greatest fulfillment of that purpose was a relationship with the being of love; God the creator.

Why do we pursue love? Why are we willing to risk the heartbreak and emotional devastation of love lost? Why do superheroes willing make themselves vulnerable through love? Because it’s what we were made to do. It’s our deepest desire, and we will go to great, and often painful lengths to fulfill that desire. Now we can certainly avoid that pain by refusing to love, but then we’ll only end up like Bruce Wayne – despite all the good he did for others, he ends up alone, isolated and bitter; all because he didn’t allow himself to love. Or, although we may still feel pain and still be vulnerable, we can fulfill our purpose and our greatest desire and restore our relationship with the God of love who gave his only son, Jesus, for us just because He loves us. If the creator of the entire universe found love to be worth the risk, and if fictional heroes like Spider-Man, Superman and others find the pain and vulnerability to worth the price, than certainly I think we can find the sacrifice well worth it to love and be loved. No one ever said love wouldn’t be risky, but there’s nothing greater that fulfilling your purpose and fully experiencing what you were made for.