Whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord
Jesus, giving thanks through Him to God the Father. Colossians 3:17
Whatever you do, do your work heartily as for the Lord rather than
for men. Colossians 3:23
Whether, then, you eat or drink or whatever you do, do all to the
glory of God. 1 Corinthians 10:31
Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children. Ephesians 5:1
It's a sure sign of the end of summer:
Big Brother has crowned a winner, and Survivor has
opened a new season. Best of all, The Amazing Race began
tonight. I confess, I'm hooked on these reality shows. Add to these
America's Got Talent, Dancing with the Stars and Hell's
Kitchen, and you have a pretty good outline of my television
viewing habits. You will not find any batchelors/ettes,
Kardashians or housewives on my viewing list, however. I have to draw
the line somewhere.
The reality shows are sometimes the
only tolerable choices for the Christian viewer. At least for someone
who only has antenna reception. Even these shows sometimes get on my
nerves. I could hardly stand to watch Survivor the two seasons
that Russell-jerk was on it. Why in the world didn't they vote him
off????
There's something else that bothers me.
Every season we can be assured there will be at least one token
Christian on each series. I don't know that the producers look at it
that way when choosing contestants, but it seems to happen. And every
season I cringe at the behavior of the Christians. I remember
one Christian mother and daughter team on The Amazing Race who
were the most hateful, backstabbing, name-calling people in the race.
Several seasons ago there was a youth
worker on Survivor. He played the game just like everyone else
- the lies, the backstabs, the broken promises – and in the end
when he was asked what the youth in his church would think of how he
played the game, he was sure they would understand that this was
“just a game,” and how he lived while he played the game was
totally separate from his life in the “real” world.
This season of Survivor gives a 2nd chance to players who were previously voted out. On the season opener one Christian contestant said that after the first time she played, people in her church asked her why she didn't play harder, and they've encouraged her to do what she has to do this time around. So she says, “I'll lie and backstab like everyone else, and when it's all done I'll pray for forgiveness.”
I'm not condemning these contestants.
They may be totally committed Christians outside of the games they
are playing. I do want to point out that if they (or we) start
rationalizing one area of our lives, what's to stop us from doing it
in any other area of our lives? Doesn't it give us a license to sin?
Can't the spouse now say, I'm going to commit adultery, and then
I'll ask for forgiveness? Couldn't the teens watching their youth
leader interpret his example to mean, I can cheat when I'm playing
football, because it's just a game? Can't people put a little box
around their jobs and think if they lie or steal it's okay – that's
my work life. It has nothing to do with my life in the “real
world.”
I say everything we do IS the real
world. Take a look at our focus verses at the top of the page. They
say WHATEVER we do . . . Not just what you do at church. Not just
what you do at home. Not just what you do when there are other
Christians around. WHATEVER you do. The kicker is, of course, the
verses that tell us to be imitators of God. Let me hearken back a few
years and ask the question: “What Would Jesus Do?”
God didn't give us compartments in our
lives, though most people try to create compartments. The Holy Spirit
doesn't just dwell in the part of us that wants to live right. He
indwells the Christian completely. The problem is, most of us have
trouble listening to Him. And if we hear Him, we're even worse at
obeying.
There's not just money on the line for
participants in reality shows. For the Christian there is also the
responsibility to live as Christ commanded us to live. If that means
being the first person voted off, so be it. The example you set to a
nation in that one episode might be worth more than a million
dollars. It might be worth someone's eternal soul.
Not many of us will ever appear on
national television, but we have the same responsibility to live our
lives for God. Remember the warning Jesus gave to anyone who causes
someone to stumble (if you need a reminder it's in Matthew 18:7).
Non-christians know we're supposed to be different. In fact, they
seem to know how a Christian should live better than we do. They have
high expectations of us, and the world loves it when we fail. But as
Jesus said, “Woe” to us if our failure, especially when it's
deliberate, causes a non-christian to turn from God. And woe to us if
it causes a young Christian to be misled to believe that it's okay to
sin.
As Christians when we strive to
“outwit, outplay, outlast,” we need to remember that we outwit
using the Bible's wisdom. We outplay following the Holy Spirit's
lead. And we outlast for all eternity.
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