'The Bachelorette' Cast-Off Sean Lowe Talks Faith, Christian Dating
Following his heartbreaking departure from ABC's "The Bachelorette" last week, Sean Lowe opened up further about his Christian faith and how it informs his views on dating.
Lowe, 28, told Priscilla Shirer of Going Beyond Ministries last Friday that he was convinced he was going to marry this season's bachelorette, Emily Maynard, until she left him without a rose during the filming of last Monday night's episode. During the week before his last rose ceremony, Lowe said, he wrote a prayer in his journal asking God to show him if a marriage to Maynard was in His will.
"I think the main thing that's helped me get through this is just my faith in Christ and knowing when all this happened, as shocked as I was and as heartbroken as I was, I knew God has a plan for me, and this isn't it," he said.
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When he left home for the show's taping, Lowe brought a Bible and a devotional book, Sarah Young's Jesus Calling: Enjoying Peace in His Presenc, with him. Although he says only about three of the 19 men who made it into "The Bachelorette" house were Christians, a group of five or six men would sometimes gather around to hear him read from the devotional book.
"I had awesome opportunities to share my faith, and eventually I gave the book to one of the guys just because he could not keep his nose out of it," said Lowe.
Shirer explained during the interview that many single Christian women believe that there are not enough single Christian men who are ready to make a commitment, but Lowe suggests it may just be a matter of perception. As women approach their early to mid-thirties, he says, they feel the need to settle down more so than men do.
"What I have noticed is girls feel more pressure ... and guys tend to be more laid back," Lowe said.
He also explained that women who are "super aggressive" in their approach to finding a man won't likely get very far with him, and he believes the same is true for other men as well. Lowe says he likes it when women make it known that they are interested and available, but give him a chance to pursue them romantically.
"I'll take it from there, you know. Let me pursue you. As a man I feel like that's my job," he said.
His approach to dating has changed, however, and he believes that the modern concept of dating is "distorted." Instead of dating a woman for a long period of time and trying to get to know everything about her before marrying her, Lowe said his only requirements in a woman are that he loves her, she "loves the Lord" and he has a chance to pray about their relationship before making a life-long commitment.
But that's not to say physical appearance and attraction aren't important to him, however. He says physical chemistry is vital, even in marriage relationships.
He also says men shouldn't overlook single mothers as potential girlfriends or spouses.
"It almost made me more attracted to Emily. It's hard to explain, but I loved Ricki (Maynard's daughter) without even meeting her," he said.
When asked if he would ever consider becoming "The Bachelor" in the future, Lowe said he was unsure. It would be difficult to put himself in an emotionally compromising position again, but he says he also believes the show can "work" for his love life.
On "The Bachelorette," Maynard has narrowed down her choices to two men – Jef Holm, 27, and Arie Luyendyk Jr., 30. USA Today reports that Lowe told the press that "it's anybody's guess" as to who she will choose in the show's finale.
"You know, Jef is his own person, which would probably be an attractive quality to most women. He's really funny, and he's fun to be around," Lowe said, according to USA Today. "And Arie's kind of his own person, too. He's got that European flare to him where he's not the macho American guy – like we're so used to seeing – and he's also got a great sense of humor. So, I think the common bond that Jef and Arie both have is that they're funny guys, and they're easy to be around. So, I could see why Emily fell for both of those guys."
On Monday evening, "The Men Tell All" episode of "The Bachelorette" – in which Maynard will face all of the men she eliminated from the show thus far – will air on ABC at 8 p.m. ET.
