Reality show

X factor, Strictly, Jungle, Big brother, ski jumping, diving , skating and tumbling..... it seems that in the past few years we have developed an insatiable desire for watching people we don't know do things we cant do ourselves.  Why?   What makes it compelling television viewing for so many millions?  What makes people phone in their votes and tweet and facebook their opinions endlessly?  I'm sure the sociologists have good academic explanations for it all......

Watching the X factor final it seems to me we haven't moved on terribly much from the days of Gladiators and lions :-)   We still like to cheer on the underdog.  We still like to wait excitedly for the thumbs up or the thumbs down from the supreme judge.  OK, so most of the time there's no blood and death, but we know when we are watching that there is an element of jeopardy  ( especially when eating live cockroaches in the jungle or diving from the top board)  There is something we find fascinating about watching people ( especially celebrities) being put in testing and difficult situations.

We live very boring lives these days.  We don't come up against too many physical or mental challenges as we sit in our offices, or drive our buses or do the ironing. Our ' reality' isn't terribly interesting for the most part so we like do a bit of vicarious living through our television sets.  Imagining that we could do just as well or better.  Putting ourselves theoretically in the place of the dancer in her flowing dress or the actor standing at the top of the ski jump feeling hopelessly out of his depth.  Some of the experience, none of the actual effort!

John Eldredge in his rather brilliant book Waking the Dead says , in a nutshell, that the problem with modern life is that men are bored and women are frustrated.  And its a problem which spills over into church.  ( This is a huge over simplification and I dont want emails complaining that Im being sexist so please go and read his book if you want to know his rationale - I promise you it all makes perfect sense)    Eldredge contends that human beings are made for adventure - to be part of a story.  An exciting and interesting story where men can be heroes and rescuers and intrepid conquerors and women can be cherished and fought for and highly prized.  Which is why men like watching the boy movies and women go for Titanic and Braveheart,  because those films capture our imaginations and offer us a glimpse into how our lives should be really  ( I know, I know..... go read the book)
The point is that our first world lives have stopped being an adventure.  When was the last time you felt genuinely excited about your week?  When Jesus said ' I have come to give you life in all its fullness'  was this life - your life- what He was talking about??   Jesus came to put a sword in your hand.  When was the last time you went dragon slaying?

The life that so often consumes and overwhelms us isn't real life at all.  Neither is the reality of the reality television shows.   Real life is the life Jesus died to purchase for us.  It's the life He lived and now wants to live in us.  The walking-on-water-healing-the-sick-overturning-the-tables-upsetting-the-authorities- sort of life.   I suspect that if we aren't actually living that life then we are short changing Jesus on His investment.

And no, Im not living it either.

But its something to aim for.