“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)
Over the last decade, reality television has taken prime time television by storm. Some of shows — “American Idol,” “America’s Got Talent” or “Dancing With The Stars” — require talent and skill. However, others — including “Survivor,” “The Amazing Race” and, sometimes even, “The Biggest Loser” — require other qualities (or none at all).
These programs communicate what it takes win in life. It appears in most of them 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. In 2001, NBC had a game show titled “The Weakest Link.” Hostess Anne Robinson received 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 just the strong.
Ironic, isn’t it? Before the show was over, it’s not the smart contestant who wins. Instead, it’s the not-so-smart contestant. However, it is 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 knew they couldn’t stand toe-to-toe with them, the weaker contestants systematically eliminated them. The bottom line was intelligence had nothing to do with it. It’s shrewdness that counts. Is that how we want our children and teenagers to behave in life?
The show has been off the air for eight years, but many of us can still remember Robinson saying, “You are the weakest link. Goodbye.” That’s when we watched 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 Paul, who said in his letter to a church 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 like “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? 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 about 2,000 years ago. And because he took on our sin, we are able to claim victory at the end, not to mention life eternal. There will never be a walk of shame for us.
Share on Facebook