I must admit, I was drawn into a new television program just to see what the hoopla was all about. I am always wary to tell anyone what I watch or do not watch so as not to offend anyone if possible. But, here goes. A very popular number one show in the USA this year is "Moment of Truth." Contestants win up to $500,000 for truthfully answering deeply personal questions. Each contestant has several family members present. At any time a family member can hit a button to stop the contestant from answering a difficult question. I watched the season finale completely shocked by the kinds of questions and willingness on the part of the contestant to risk destroying their marriage, family relationships and friendships. More shocking to me was that each contestant had already been hooked up to a lie detector machine and answered the questions. The contestant knew what questions would be asked, knew how painful it would be for family and friends to hear the answers, but forged ahead in order to win thousands of dollars.

The purpose of the show is to prove that some people are willing to pay any price in order to win money. The show is designed INTENTIONALLY to juxtapose money and greed against destroying a marriage and other family relationships. The host repeatedly warns the contestant of the potential risk of answering the next question because the answer could destroy their marriage or other relationships. If the season finale is any indication of a typical show, mothers have listened to sons (in the presence of girlfriends) admit to having sexual relationships with over 100 women and keeping a spreadsheet of his conquests. Wives have heard husbands admit they are reluctant to have her bear his children and husbands are humiliated to learn about their wives' sexual immorality and regret in marrying them. It is a sleazy show and one you should take great caution in watching. Your kids should not be allowed to watch this show. I absolutely do not recommend watching this show but the season finale put into clear focus trends that seem to be slithering throughout our western culture.

Here are my thoughts:

1. As I listened to the questions I sometimes thought, "Wow, if I was asked that same question under oath (so to speak), what would my answer be and what would the truth do to my family and friends?" I concluded that my wife would not be surprised by anything I might answer because we have kept no secrets in our marriage but also knew that those secrets were ours - never to be shared in a way that would humiliate her or my family and friends.
   
   
2. The preparation for acceptance of this program was made by other "tell all" programs, books and interviews. The difference in this program is an intentional choice on the part of the contestants to sell out their most important relationships for money. Though I didn't see all the programs, from the season finale it appears that any respect for relationships is absent from the hearts of the contestants. The program producers have keyed into the sinful side of human nature. The lie detector test doesn't differentiate between temptation and actual sin. It requires a yes or no answer. There is no opportunity to put an answer into context. As a pastor, it hit me hard to see once more how easy it is to use a person's own words out of context to twist their meaning and create a bigger issue than is real. The program producers edited the program to be as inflammatory as possible. The reality of some of the "quotes" was far less steamy than the advertising promised. I wonder how often I am quoted (yes, I said the words) out of context in order to paint a picture that suits the speaker's own needs rather than the reality of my character.
   
   
3. Shows like this exist because there is an audience eager to watch. What is it about a "tell all" show that grabs us? We are all capable of incredible evil, either by thought or by action. Paul speaks of this in Romans 7. His split personality, marked by his struggle between the flesh and the spirit within, is revealed when asked such pointed questions. In the great final verses of this great conflict, Paul asks, "What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? " (Romans 7:24-25) Most of us mask our real selves so as not to let this incredible monster of carnality out of the prison of our infected flesh. In other words, we draw up borders as to how truthful we will be or not be with those around us. We even choose not be to be honest with ourselves. Here is the greatest Christian who ever lived, the great Apostle Paul, saying of himself that he is a wretched man because of the evil he knew he was capable of committing. Is it possible we watch because we want to know someone else is as evil as or more evil than us?
   
   

4. The price tag for lying is that the contestant loses everything he has accumulated up to that point. That is, he or she can tell the truth 20 times and accumulate hundreds of thousands of dollars. But if he or she lies once they lose EVERYTHING. There is no grace, no mercy, and no second chance. In some of the questions one could be caught in a lie if the truth is merely a partial truth. For instance, one female contestant (who had already humiliated her husband and admitted to gross immorality) said she would not pose nude for $100,000. The lie detector said she was lying. She tried to explain that she would pose nude for $200,000 or more. She lost all the money she had won and destroyed her marriage and betrayed her mother in the process. The program producers did not feel sorry for her and give her a consolation prize. No second chance to be truthful.
   
   

   Notice what Paul says after he discloses the truth of the real person he knows he is inside.
   
   

   What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? "Thanks be to God--through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, I myself in my mind am a slave to God's law, but in the sinful nature a slave to the law of sin. Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus, because through Christ Jesus the law of the Spirit of life set me free from the law of sin and death". (Romans 7:24-8:2).
   
   

   This is called GRACE, the antidote for the liar within.
   
   

5. I found myself rooting for the lying sleazes to get caught, especially if they were callous and greedy. Once again Paul who was brow beaten by his enemies and forsaken by his friends and family said, "I speak the truth in Christ--I am not lying, my conscience confirms it in the Holy Spirit--I have great sorrow and unceasing anguish in my heart. For I could wish that I myself were cursed and cut off from Christ for the sake of my brothers, those of my own race, the people of Israel." (Romans 9:1-3). There it is. Paul was willing to die and go to hell if his corrupt and sinful family and nation could be saved. You see, when one truly experiences grace one desires it for others. On the other hand, we also want justice and for evil to lose. It is when we fail to see our own giant nose a la Pinocchio sticking out of our dark souls that we lose sight of what GRACE means to us.
   
   

O wretched man that I am! Thank God for grace.