Commitment & Chocolate

I know someone who doesn’t like chocolate. Just one person. Asking almost any other human being if they like chocolate is silly, it’s better to ask which sort they prefer. It may be the sweeter kind with chewy textures and contrasting flavours, or perhaps the pure, dark stuff with it’s complex bitter sweet balance. 

Good chocolate, regardless of the variation, consists primarily of cocoa butter and cocoa powder combined in a precise temperature controlled process. This is critical because chocolate hardens through the formation of up to six different forms of crystal structures, depending on the temperature and speed of cooling. Only two of these forms result in a smooth-textured, firm, and great tasting final product. The presence of the other crystal forms can quickly spread and wreck the whole structure, leaving nothing but a sad and expensive mess.

Committed relationships are like chocolate, they also thrive on purity, the slightest compromise can initiate a process of sad and costly deterioration. It was a blessing to witness this kind of unadulterated and uncommon commitment at a recent wedding our family attended. The couple not only vowed to forsake all others and devote themselves to each other for life – but had done so all their lives up until that point. This may be old fashioned, unpopular and difficult, but is statistically, still the best foundation for a permanent marriage commitment.

In our modern context, we have so much choice that we avoid making commitments out of fear of missing out on something better. This fear of missing out, drives our decisions, keeps us glued to news feeds and social media, and tempts us to compromise our relationships. This same technological and global context exposes us to many different religious traditions, rituals and festivities. Participation in these rituals and festivities seem harmless, and they promise a sense of community and connectedness which we are afraid to miss out on, but are they a compromise?

Our faith is not something we can mix and match, hang back on, and wait for the most exciting options to present themselves. Our faith is a commitment to an exclusive loving relationship with our Creator, lived out on His terms, and He provides His own rituals and community (1 Corinthians 10:21).

This is why our family chooses not to celebrate or participate in festivities like halloween. Halloween has it’s roots in another religion and is still celebrated by other religions, these religions worship another god, not the God who our family has already committed to. Relationships, like chocolate, work better with commitment. This is a timeless principle, please think about it as you consider the myriad of choices you’re faced with today.