Rancho Bernardo Community Presbyterian Church

Luke 15:11-19 and Luke 15:20-31

This weekend we continue our series on Christ and Culture. The thesis of this series is that we live in a God saturated world. For those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, God speaks to us in surprising ways. Just as the Bible tells us that the Lord spoke from a burning bush, a donkey, or an invading enemy army, so the Lord can address us in reality TV shows today.

A few years ago as we approached the Lenten season leading up to Easter I was talking with Kate about what I might give up for Lent. I already had done chocolate one year. I had given up desserts. I gave up alcohol. I gave up one meal a day one year. “Kate, I am thinking of giving up something other than food for Lent, any suggestions?” She quickly replied. “Why don’t you give up Reality TV shows?” “Good idea.”

I thought it would be easy. Pretty soon, however, I realized that it all depended on your definition of Reality TV. I could give up game shows, dance competitions, and “Fear Factor.” But did Reality TV include sports? I love March Madness as the college basketball teams vie for the national championship. I guess that is Reality TV since it is not scripted. “Kate, can I watch college basketball?” “It’s between you and the Lord.” “Lord, I really want to watch the college basketball play-offs. Is that okay?” Pretty soon I was bargaining with the Lord, “How about this Evening Interview show?” “Lord, is it okay if I watch a blooper show on the computer?” How do we define Reality TV?

When I was growing up I recall how my grandmother used to rail against the junk on TV. “I don’t see how anybody can sit and watch that stupid tube,” she espoused regularly at family gatherings. Yet, several times a week she would call over to our house and tell one of us, “Turn on channel four there is an interesting show about….” I used to comment to my mom, “For someone who can’t stand that ‘stupid tube’ she sure watches a lot of television.”

I think in my grandmother’s mind, she was watching “the good shows” while others watch junk. What she really meant about “junk on television” were the soap operas, daytime talk shows, and game shows that seemed to her a mindless waste of time. I am sure she would roll over in her grave with the proliferation of modern reality television shows.

Before we go any further in this message, let me pause to reflect that I agree with the concerns many of us have regarding the content of much of modern television. This is not an issue merely for Reality TV. Shows that used to be aired only in late night now show up in daylight hours. Content that would not be allowed a generation ago is acceptable today. Children are exposed to sexy advertising from young childhood. We hear language on modern TV that was not allowed before.

Of course, there is an easy answer. Just turn it off. A few years ago Kate and I decided to get rid of HBO. It was one of the best decisions we’ve made regarding TV. I respect the church members among us who have completely eliminated television from their homes. For most of us, however, we are not ready to get rid of the television set. How can we engage our culture in helpful positive ways?

Rather than use all our energy railing against the content of television shows, what if we looked for ways to connect with God and our neighbors through TV? We could merely be known as people who critique the sensationalism of modern news shows, complain about the immorality of soaps, and disagree with the topics discussed on modern talk shows. Or we can seek to be redemptive representatives of Jesus. Of course, we all see that there have been huge shifts in modern television. However, if all we do is have a knee-jerk reaction against the content on television we might miss an opportunity to engage our culture the way Jesus did.

Let’s define Reality TV as unscripted shows that play with the fourth wall. (I’ll explain what the fourth wall is in a moment.) Would it surprise you if I said that Jesus’ parables were shockingly similar to some of the reality shows on television today?

Read Luke 15:20-31.

Remember the old days when microphones used to be attached to a cord? The preacher would have to carefully step around the cord dangling from the shirt. One little boy visited a church service where the preacher stretched the microphone cord to its fullest extension and walked to one side of the stage to shout about sin being wrong. The preacher stepped over the microphone cord and worked his way over to the other side of the platform and railed against evil in society. The boy watched the preacher pulling the microphone cord to its limits and finally asked his mom, “If he gets loose will he hurt us?”

An important key to engaging the phenomenon of modern Reality TV is to understand something in theatrical performance known as the “fourth wall.” This is the idea that there is an invisible barrier between the performers on stage and the audience. The performers invite the audience to look in on the action without feeling threatened that if they get loose they will hurt us.

The “fourth wall” protects the viewers from feeling violated—put on the spot. We turn on the television and watch a sit-com. In the sixties we saw Rob hurt Laura’s feelings and within a half-hour they resolve the strain in their marriage. In the nineties we watched as Ross argued with his sister Monica, but they worked it out. In recent years we’ve seen Michael Scott act more and more bizarre creating a dysfunctional office. We watch to be entertained. We are passive. We laugh and then go on with our lives.

The Office as a sit-com, however, plays with the boundaries of the fourth wall. Instead of offering us merely another scripted sit-com drama, the actors pause every so often to look directly into the camera and talk to us, the audience. The show is disregarding the fourth wall. Reality TV takes this idea of eliminating the fourth wall to the fullest extent so that viewers to become part of the story. This is exactly what Jesus did with his parables.

Jesus often spoke in parables that played with the fourth wall. Prior to Jesus, it was common for rabbis to tell stories to their congregations. Most of the stories had clear fourth wall boundaries. The stories of heroic faith came from the lives of prophets and priests, kings and generals. The congregation listened to these stories and nodded comfortably. God works in mighty ways in the lives of leaders, they thought. But the implication of the fourth wall meant that this kind of thing doesn’t happen in the lives of ordinary people like you and me. Maintaining the fourth wall allows us to remain passive observers.

Along comes Jesus telling stories of faith where the hero is an ordinary person just like us. “A man was walking from Jericho to Jerusalem….” There is no fourth wall here. His listeners regularly walked this same road. “A woman lost a coin….” People in the crowd could relate. His parables were not about some VIP a long time ago in history. Jesus talked about ordinary events in the lives of ordinary people. He invited the crowd to see God in their own lives. “Wait Rabbi Jesus, now you’ve gotten off the stage and started talking directly to me.”

Consider the lack of a fourth wall when it comes to the familiar parable of the Prodigal Son. What part of God’s truth does this reveal? We are all either the younger or the older son in this story. Most of us as followers of Jesus see ourselves as the Prodigal younger son. When we were young, our primary prayer and concern was “give me what is mine.” I want it. I deserve it. Give it to me now. Then we discovered that we tend to waste God’s gifts. In order to come back to God we had to give up the control of our lives. We humbly discovered that we could never earn forgiveness or a second chance. Conversion happened when our prayer changed from “give me what is mine” to “make me your servant.” No sooner did we admit our mistakes and ask forgiveness than we found ourselves welcomed and forgiven. Following Jesus means we practice the daily prayer, “Lord, make me your servant.”

Some however realize we are the older son in the story. We have had little sense of needing to repent. We felt pretty good about how we lived our lives. In fact, we are upset to discover that others are being welcomed when they don’t deserve it. Holding onto our self-righteousness, we failed to appreciate God’s love.

Jesus moved his traditional Hebrew listeners from their familiar culture of passivity toward the Roman couture of the coliseum. While faithful Jews listened to their rabbi, the Romans went to the coliseum to participate in the outcome of the gladiator fights. The crowd could give the thumbs up or down and participate. Jesus tells his parables and then waits for the listeners to cast their vote with their own lives.

By the end of Jesus’ parables we are inspired to do something positive. Could a Reality TV show do this as well?

Last year I was moved by a father and son team competing in the Amazing Race. For those unfamiliar with this television show, it involves ten teams competing in pairs as they travel around the world following directions to obscure destinations. In various locations and cultures they have to perform rituals, eat unusual foods, and perform various local labor activities. Each week the couple coming in last place is eliminated. Some of the teams involve a pair of siblings, close friends, a married couple, an engaged couple, etc.

I was watching as a father and son team were at risk of being eliminated. The task at hand involved heavy manual labor. I think the teams were in Sweden and one member of the team had to unroll huge bales of hay looking inside for a hidden envelope. The father—I am guessing he was in his sixties—volunteered to do the hard labor that day. The son could not assist. He had to stand by and watch his dad unroll hay bale after hay bale. The father was growing dehydrated and exhausted. The son tossed him a bottle of water worried for his father’s stamina. We viewers were beginning to fear this man might have a heart attack. The other teams found their envelopes and moved on while this father-son team faced the threat of elimination.

I sighed in relief when the dad found the envelope. I cheered as they took off down the road. I held my breath as the host announced that they had not been eliminated. Then a strange thing happened. The son started crying as he hugged his dad and told him how proud he was of him and how humbled he was to be on his dad’s team. I started crying. The story was no longer about a team in Sweden, it had become my story.

Using our questions for dealing with culture, “What does this part of culture inspire me to do or be?” I was inspired to be a better son who was more appreciative of my father. In fact, the next morning I picked up the phone and called my dad to tell him how much I love him. Over these last few months I check in way more often with my dad.

The Amazing Race is just a stupid reality TV show—right? Or is it sometimes a messenger for God’s truth? Let those who have ears, hear what the Spirit of God is saying even through reality TV.