“The Bachelorette” contestant Luke Parker, who has been widely ridiculed for his Christian views on sex before marriage, has penned an Instagram post explaining why he went on the show in the first place.
“I never wanted to go on the show to begin with,” the Georgia native wrote in his post, noting that his sister signed him up. While he was skeptical, Luke decided that if God wanted him to go on and spread the message of Jesus, then he’d do it — so, he went ahead with the interview stage.
“He said he was jamming to worship music the whole way down there because he didn’t want to waste his time with this whole thing,” Luke’s brother, Mike, told the Gainesville Times of his brother’s journey to the interview. “He really wanted it to be a God thing.”
In his post, Luke talked openly about being drawn to Hannah because of her faith and integrity.
“Going through the interview process I watched Colton’s season and a beautiful southern girl stood out to me during the intro videos. She told the cameras she respected Colton’s virginity and that it was super appealing to her that he was a virgin, and was the bachelor because sex was a big deal to her. I saw her Instagram and in her bio read “I love Jesus with my whole heart”, I was sold and if I was going on this TV show it was for her,” Parker wrote.
“I also noticed she told Colton how she wanted to be a wife of Noble character. I knew she was quoting Proverbs 31 which gave me the impression there is a way God could use this show… yes, even the “Bachelorette” as a way to bring him Glory. The first night I made her a Proverbs 31 bracelet then explained to her that I noticed what she said to Colton and I knew where it came from and how important my faith was to me. Shortly after that, I get the first impression rose.”
Talking about bringing Hannah to his hometown, Parker noted that he invited her to attend a Bible study. “[I] brought Hannah to a bible study with my college church group, where I shared my story of how God transformed my life and gave me a desire to live my life for him in obedience, that included waiting until marriage for sex,” he explained.
“Hannah on the date, stands up and tells the group her story of how she was convicted to live a life in pursuit of Jesus. She also told them that she wasn’t going to use the fantasy suites for sex but for conversation, no matter how @abcnetwork made it look.”
Unfortunately, things took a turn for the worse as the season progressed, and the pair eventually parted ways after Hannah admitted having sex with one of the contestants.
After challenging her behavior on the show, Parker found himself on the receiving end of the Twitter mob after openly talking about his desire to keep sex for marriage in an episode-ending discussion with the bachelorette, Hannah Brown.
In a dramatic final scene with Bachelorette contestant Hannah Brown, Parker talked openly about his confusion over some of the other contestants who “proclaim their faith” and yet desire to explore relationships “on a sexual level.”
“To me that’s like, ‘what? excuse me? there’s something missing here.’ I don’t believe that’s something that you should be doing,” he said. “I just want to make sure we are on the same page.”
The contestant continued: “If you told me you were having sex, or you had sex with one or multiple of these guys, I would be wanting to go home, 100 percent.”
Soon after being booted off the show, Parker took to Twitter, where he and Brown exchanged more words on the issue.
In some further remarks on the matter, Parker wrote that “the difference in how we view sin is seen in the response.”
“I’m weeping at mine and you’re laughing at yours,” he said. “All sin stings. My heart hurts for both of us.”null
Brown: Luke “weaponized” faith against me
Amazingly, the pair’s debate over sexual ethics and faith has continued into another week.
In an interview on “Men Tell All” Monday, Brown again took aim at Parker for his Biblical response. “I’m so over being slut-shamed and being felt like that makes me not a woman of faith,” she said, noting that she felt the bachelor had “weaponized” their faith against her.
“I was, at the end, threatened by the shared faith that we had,” she said. “Unfortunately, the people that believe the same thing I do do that a lot sometimes, using the same words and same things we believe to call out specific things and poke.”
Luke’s family say Bachelorette is “opposed to the gospel”
Parker’s family has been vocally critical of the reality show, insisting that it is driving an anti-Christian narrative.
“The only thing that’s obvious to me is this show is produced by people who are very much opposed to a biblical gospel,” Mike told the Gainesville Times. “And I wholeheartedly believe that from the very beginning of the show, they have meticulously drawn this narrative that Luke’s a liar, that he is a manipulator who, to this point that we are now, no matter what Luke says, no one is going to listen to him.”
Mike added that his brother’s relationship with Hannah was “built on faith,” but that the network chose to largely ignore this. “The show doesn’t highlight it, but that was the foundation of their relationship,” he added.