“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.” (Hebrews 12:2)
“Reality TV” has taken prime time television by storm. Think about it. Many of us have become addicted to shows like Survivor or Big Brother; and in just a few weeks, we’ll be teased again by new shows like The Amazing Race, or Lost.
What bothers me about these shows is the values they’re communicating to our children about what it takes win in life. So far, most of what I’ve seen is that the way to win is to lie, cheat and steal your way to victory. In real life, we all know that’s not the way to get ahead.
Even the game shows are beginning to teach us that the same behavior can reap huge dividends. NBC’s hit game show, The Weakest Link, proves my point. The game’s hostess, Anne Robinson, gets rave reviews for hurling insults at contestants while the contestants show all of us that the way to win is to make sure that the weak survive, not the strong.
Ironic, isn’t it? Before the show is over, it’s not the smart contestant who wins. Instead, it’s the not-so-smart contestant, but only after he or she teams up with other weaker contestants to make sure that the bright ones survive just long enough to help them amass a respectable amount of money. Then, because they know they can’t stand toe-to-toe with them, the weaker contestants systematically eliminate them. The bottom line is intelligence has nothing to do with it. It’s shrewdness that counts. Is that how we want our children to behave in life?
No doubt we’ve all heard Anne Robinson say, “You are the weakest link. Goodbye.” That’s when we watch the just-ousted contestant take the “Walk of Shame”, showing all of us that it’s really not the strong who survive, but the weak.
Actually, that’s one of the few lessons with which I agree. In fact, it’s biblical according to the Apostle Paul, who said in his letter to a church he planted at Corinth, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” (2 Corinthians 12:10)
I’m not sure I should use a game show as despicable as The Weakest Link to drive my point home, but in a world where wrong has become right, why not turn one of Satan’s lies around on him? In fact, to draw an even stronger analogy, it might be the loser who must endure the “Walk of Shame” on The Weakest Link, but it was a winner, Jesus Christ, who took a much more deadly walk for us over 2000 years ago. And because He took on our sin, we are able to claim victory at the end, not to mention life eternal. They’ll never be a walk of shame for us. Goodbye.
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