spies
i don't think it is possible to live as a christian inside the big brother house.
suppose, against all odds, a christian made it onto the show. quite apart from having to reconcile themselves with the idol-worship encouraged by the reality genre--with the prospect of being elevated as a celebrity based solely on the merits of your personality, of walking down to the stage high with the exhilaration of popularity, selfishly won--i think the house is fundamentally, diametrically opposed to the christian life.
1. no reading matter permitted
this means no bibles. god's word is the sustenance of the christian walk. it fuels our steps closer to the living lord; by it we learn to fashion our lives more closely to jesus' example and so grow an intimate relationship with our father. the christian person has to give up the privilege of god's word not for a few days, but potentially for three months straight! i know how terrible i feel (not a guilty feeling, because i'm saved by faith not works, but i find it emotionally draining to face the world without god's word in my ear) and how much the world seems to crash in and permeate my sight if i neglect my bible-reading for more than a week. three months? unimaginable for the mature christian dependent on solid food.
2. nominations = bitchiness
each housemate must nominate others to determine the candidates for eviction. not only must they, critically and judgmentally, single out others...but they must provide reasons for voting. a lot of the time the housemates struggle for reasons to nominate, and for answers to the all-important question: 'how does that affect your time in the house?' so yes, a christian could vote purely on the basis of things like not helping out, or not cleaning. but then they would have to provide a personal justification...explain how their housemate not cleaning makes them 'feel'. i can't see that this isn't anything other than forced bitchiness. even if, somehow, the christian housemate is able to dispassionately nominate and provide dispassionate but sufficient reasons for doing so, the nomination process sets up a context in which one is encouraged to be overly critical of others.
3. nudity and depravity
this series in particular, sees a house populated with a bunch of losers--in my opinion anyway. usually there's one or two decent housemates that have you on side from the beginning. trev last year. reggie the year before. just likeable, good-natured, fairly down-to-earth people. i watched the first episode of this series because, well, it's nice to have some mindless but addictive tv to break up all the study etc. i guess my overall impression looked a lot like the little 'shocked' emoticon on msn messenger. now, i'm pretty naive (proudly so), but i'm not completely ignorant of the secular world of the sexually promiscuous 20-something. hell, i saw some pretty crazy stuff on the schoolies cruise last year. nonetheless, i was shocked by this batch of housemates. more than one of the women declared that other women hate them because they're jealous of their beauty and talents. or something to that effect. almost every male housemate announced that they treat women badly. the criteria for housemates this year was that they were single. further criterion are added when one considers that the sydney auditions involved producers asking candidates what the most outrageous (implying sexual) thing they would do in the house...and then proceeding to ask them to demonstrate those acts. accordingly, this season has seen marathon kissing sessions and questionable activity in a rewards-room bath. i mean, come on, the producers set up a pole dancing area in the house! and one housemate bought a kinky nurse's outfit in!
interestingly, big brother's ratings have dropped since last year. it would seem that a newly sexually-charged house isn't exactly what the public had in mind. i'm both surprised and glad about this.
but what of a christian amongst the drunken stupors and crude jokes? or, even, amongst a bathroom of housemates who, bar one i think, choose to shower completely naked (and together) in front of the entire country? i have been thinking a lot about what i wear, and what is appropriate for me to wear to church in order to be loving to my christian brothers. it's a telling contrast: me choosing jeans over a miniskirt, the housemates choosing neither.
this is all hypothetical. i doubt a christian would ever pass the auditions in the first place, particularly this season with its new and 'improved' criteria. and, even if the producers slipped and accidentally let in a rogue christian, as if they wouldn't be voted out in the first eviction! a christian with a peace-making streak and a passion not for threesomes but for the bible...i don't need to wonder how that would go down on national television.
i think it'd be cool to chuck a christian in there, to exaggerate by comparison the craziness of that house. it'd be mad to publicise the purity and goodness of christianity, to provide a christian example to mainstream australia. but it just wouldn't--and couldn't--happen.
suppose, against all odds, a christian made it onto the show. quite apart from having to reconcile themselves with the idol-worship encouraged by the reality genre--with the prospect of being elevated as a celebrity based solely on the merits of your personality, of walking down to the stage high with the exhilaration of popularity, selfishly won--i think the house is fundamentally, diametrically opposed to the christian life.
1. no reading matter permitted
this means no bibles. god's word is the sustenance of the christian walk. it fuels our steps closer to the living lord; by it we learn to fashion our lives more closely to jesus' example and so grow an intimate relationship with our father. the christian person has to give up the privilege of god's word not for a few days, but potentially for three months straight! i know how terrible i feel (not a guilty feeling, because i'm saved by faith not works, but i find it emotionally draining to face the world without god's word in my ear) and how much the world seems to crash in and permeate my sight if i neglect my bible-reading for more than a week. three months? unimaginable for the mature christian dependent on solid food.
2. nominations = bitchiness
each housemate must nominate others to determine the candidates for eviction. not only must they, critically and judgmentally, single out others...but they must provide reasons for voting. a lot of the time the housemates struggle for reasons to nominate, and for answers to the all-important question: 'how does that affect your time in the house?' so yes, a christian could vote purely on the basis of things like not helping out, or not cleaning. but then they would have to provide a personal justification...explain how their housemate not cleaning makes them 'feel'. i can't see that this isn't anything other than forced bitchiness. even if, somehow, the christian housemate is able to dispassionately nominate and provide dispassionate but sufficient reasons for doing so, the nomination process sets up a context in which one is encouraged to be overly critical of others.
3. nudity and depravity
this series in particular, sees a house populated with a bunch of losers--in my opinion anyway. usually there's one or two decent housemates that have you on side from the beginning. trev last year. reggie the year before. just likeable, good-natured, fairly down-to-earth people. i watched the first episode of this series because, well, it's nice to have some mindless but addictive tv to break up all the study etc. i guess my overall impression looked a lot like the little 'shocked' emoticon on msn messenger. now, i'm pretty naive (proudly so), but i'm not completely ignorant of the secular world of the sexually promiscuous 20-something. hell, i saw some pretty crazy stuff on the schoolies cruise last year. nonetheless, i was shocked by this batch of housemates. more than one of the women declared that other women hate them because they're jealous of their beauty and talents. or something to that effect. almost every male housemate announced that they treat women badly. the criteria for housemates this year was that they were single. further criterion are added when one considers that the sydney auditions involved producers asking candidates what the most outrageous (implying sexual) thing they would do in the house...and then proceeding to ask them to demonstrate those acts. accordingly, this season has seen marathon kissing sessions and questionable activity in a rewards-room bath. i mean, come on, the producers set up a pole dancing area in the house! and one housemate bought a kinky nurse's outfit in!
interestingly, big brother's ratings have dropped since last year. it would seem that a newly sexually-charged house isn't exactly what the public had in mind. i'm both surprised and glad about this.
but what of a christian amongst the drunken stupors and crude jokes? or, even, amongst a bathroom of housemates who, bar one i think, choose to shower completely naked (and together) in front of the entire country? i have been thinking a lot about what i wear, and what is appropriate for me to wear to church in order to be loving to my christian brothers. it's a telling contrast: me choosing jeans over a miniskirt, the housemates choosing neither.
this is all hypothetical. i doubt a christian would ever pass the auditions in the first place, particularly this season with its new and 'improved' criteria. and, even if the producers slipped and accidentally let in a rogue christian, as if they wouldn't be voted out in the first eviction! a christian with a peace-making streak and a passion not for threesomes but for the bible...i don't need to wonder how that would go down on national television.
i think it'd be cool to chuck a christian in there, to exaggerate by comparison the craziness of that house. it'd be mad to publicise the purity and goodness of christianity, to provide a christian example to mainstream australia. but it just wouldn't--and couldn't--happen.
painted pretty by alix @ 2:54 PM
7 Comments:
At 4:20 PM,
Anonymous said…
I love the show, and I think you should stop paying it out. Its quality viewing!
At 4:22 PM,
alix said…
whatev brad.
i'm not saying i don't watch it or that i'm not interested in the concept. just that bb living and christian living are almost completely incompatible.
:P
At 4:26 PM,
Anonymous said…
Im saying, in my own cryptic, Brad way, that it is the most pathetic show on television. That the concept is completely crap and i cant stand anything about the show. Least of all the stupd Gretel woman... I wish the witch would hurry up and turn the oven on!
At 4:36 PM,
Anonymous said…
Hmmm.... i enjoy watching the show at times, but admitidly it contains ALOT of garbage.
I think that's where we need to assess, as christians the things we fill our minds with needs to be monitored. You don't fill your body with bad drugs and expect to be completely un-harmed or affected.
Of course you may say "i'm an adult and mature christian i can deal with it". OF course you are, and of course you can. BUT.... after a while it will get to you.
I think this goes for the kind of music we listen, the types of movies, the people we hang out with, and everything we do in life.
Well i'll stop yapping. Feel free to comment more.
JD
At 6:27 PM,
Cam said…
shows like this really show how much society has gone down the crapper.
At 12:20 PM,
Anonymous said…
I agree to an extent, but I also disagree.
Personally I believe there is no situation that is incompatible with "Christian living". The more depraved the situation, the more their is a need for Christ. Where people need salvation the most, you will find Jesus there.
In China, christians find it almost impossible to get their hands on a bible. When they do, they memorise as much as possible while they have it. That's one of the bad things in our society. If our bible is lost or taken away, we just by a new one. We don't see God's Word as precious like it should be.
I believe that if I knew I was going to a place where I wouldn't have a bible for 3 months, I'd be motivated to memorise it. Even just one book. Colossians, Ephesians, Phillipians. These books aren't huge, but packed with ways we can live for Christ. I'd memorise one of those.
Having never watched a single episode of this show ever, I don't really know how voting off people works. But I doubt they'd kick you off for not providing a personal reason. If they don't count your vote, big whoop. I'd prefer to have my vote discounted than have a bitchy vote counted.
The nuidity and depravity would be a problem. We are called not to be involved in these things, yet in a confined space it would be impossible to escape. I think I'd spend a lot of time in the loungeroom. Away from the bedrooms, bathroom and spa.
I would not be anti social, but I would not be involved in acts of depravity. Sexual sin is one of the toughest sins to stand up against, especially for us guys. Some people don't have a problem with it, and they would be more effective in the house. But if you're make it clear where you stand on these issues, people are more likely to respect you.
I think it's possible for christians to live in the big brother house, and I think it would be good for all Australia to see what true christians are like. Not just people who wear the label, but people who walk the talk.
In a house where guys are proud of treating women badly, it would be awesome to have a guy who treats them with the respect that Jesus had. Not to be a sleazy dude who gets all the women by being nice, but someone who truly cares for their sisters as much as Jesus cares for them.
But as you said, noone could make it past the auditions. And if they did, they'd probably be voted out pretty quickly. But I think it would be interesting to see the reaction when the one person who actually respects everyone in the house is voted out.
Guess we'll just have to see what the future holds for BB (hopefully a cancellation of it's contract :-P)
At 1:18 PM,
alix said…
i agree with the memorising thing, wilmo. but the nominations are conducted SPECIFICALLY to extract a personal, bitchy reason for nominating. you literally can't nominate without providing personal, 'i feel', justification. and you can't stay in the house unless you nominate. you have to have a vote counted, or yeah, i guess they'd kick you out. it's never happened before. big brother is constantly telling housemates to justify their nomination or to nominate someone else for a 'better' reason. i remember trev going through almost everyone of his housemates before bb would accept his reason for nominating, because he honestly wasn't negatively effected by the others in the house that week.
perhaps i should have said 'nearly impossible'. anything is possible for god, as is said repeatedly from genesis onwards. and the big brother house is, of course, within god's creation. i guess i wanted to point out how difficult it would be to live in the house. so difficult, that i think perhaps only jesus could have actually lived in a godly manner in there.
but then, we all sin anyway. only jesus was able to live in a godly manner in our world! so maybe my point is more that the show, as a product of our fallen world, is diametrically opposed to the 'alien' christian life. we are strangers; our real home is heaven. perhaps the bb house is a microcosm of the world--a place where the ultimate incompatibility of godly purity and our sinful world becomes magnified.
alix
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