The B99 and I are pretty big fans of the show, Survivor. Every season they seem to change things up a bit, and this season is no different. But one of the changes stood out to me because it seemed a bit much. Allow me a moment to explain it, and then I’ll share with you how God used it to remind me why authenticity matters so much to Him.

“Come on in, guys!” Is one of the more iconic lines of the show, and is yelled out by the host, Jeff Probst, every time the competitors gather for a challenge. But this year, on the very first episode, he asked the contestants if they thought he should stop saying the word, “guys.” After a discussion, there was a vote, and they all decided that the four-word line should only be a three-word line. As one who uses the word “guys” in a very generic way, it seemed a bit much to me, but not so much that I’m going to make a stink about it. But I did turn to The B99 at that point and say, “Let’s wait and see how many times that word gets used this season by the contestants.”

Last night, it was twice. Once as a member left tribal council and turned back to say, “Good luck, guys,” and once when another member who’d survived tribal council turned to the group and said, “Thanks, guys.”

I want to avoid sounding nit-picky, but I also don’t want any of us to miss the obvious: we live in a culture that makes a show about whatever the latest PC thing is and demands that you and I toe the line even when they themselves don’t maintain the standard that they demanded.

Jesus had strong things to say about people like that; people whom we would call hypocrites:

So you must be careful to do everything they tell you. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they preach. They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. Everything they do is done for people to see. (Matthew‬ ‭23:3-5‬ ‭NIV, emphasis mine)

My point isn’t that we can’t live for a standard that we sometimes miss. If we’re breathing, we’re going to fall short. My point is that the standard has to come from a place of authenticity, not duplicity. Hypocrites live duplicitous lives, one in public and one in private. They say a lot more than they seem to live out. They demand of others what they themselves don’t do.

God desires authenticity. He’s searching for people who live lives of integrity — literally, one whole life, whether they are alone or in front of a camera. He’s looking for those who display for others more than they demand of others. That’s why this isn’t a post about Survivor as much as it’s a post about me. God isn’t asking me whether I should be saying “guys,” but rather whether I’m living out the very things that I profess before others.

That is the authentic faith that will survive the fires of this life.

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So, it’s over.  Survivor: Redemption Island wrapped up last night and Rob Mariano – better known as Boston Rob – finally won the million dollar prize and the title of “Sole Survivor.”  It’s something that he’s wanted for over 10 years, and now, he’s got it.  The crazy thing, though, is that last night’s finale showed me a scary side of our culture, one that brought me back to a book I read years ago when I was in graduate school, and made me wonder if Rob really won what matters most.

Peace Child is a book that details the saga of Don Richardson and his work among the Sawi tribe in Western New Guinea.  It’s a great read, especially for those who are interested in cross-cultural stuff, and in it Richardson shares the frustration of trying to explain the concept of Christ’s love to a culture that held treason and betrayal up as virtues instead of vices.  Think about that for a moment.  A culture totally turned upside down.  A culture that exalts the bad and diminishes the good.  Missionary historian Ruth A. Tucker wrote about Richardson:

As he learned the language and lived with the people, he became more aware of the gulf that separated his Christian worldview from the worldview of the Sawi: “In their eyes, Judas, not Jesus, was the hero of the Gospels, Jesus was just the dupe to be laughed at.”

This year on Survivor, I started seeing that gulf more and more.  The ones on Survivor who tried to uphold the teachings of virtue and honor became the punching bags, and the ones who orchestrated the betrayals – the “blindsides” – which have become such an integral part of the game, were lauded with praise.  It is so evident that, after a season in which Rob admitted to multiple blindsides and treachery, host Jeff Probst said Boston Rob had played “as close to a perfect game as anybody’s ever played on ‘Survivor.’ ”

In other words, the qualities that all of us try to work out of our children are now the same ones which allowed Rob to play the perfect game of Survivor, and the qualities which we would want to be strong in our children – honesty, integrity, etc. – are the ones which come under fire.  I’m reminded of Paul’s words to the Romans:

Do not allow what you consider good to be spoken of as evil. (Romans 14:16)

It’s interesting that Paul wrote those words after a pretty lengthy discussion concerning outward actions that we may differ on that really don’t have anything to do with the foundation of the faith.  In other words, we’ll draw lines over trivial things like our opinions, but we won’t draw lines over issues of substance, like a culture that is growing more and more comfortable with our heroes having a dark side.  One must ask the question: what allows us to blindly follow the culture as it runs the good of Christ’s message into the ground?  My answer?

A winning smile.

As I watched Survivor this season, I kept finding myself liking Boston Rob more and more.  Maybe it was the smile, or the “aw shucks, who me” demeanor.  Whatever it was, I found my defenses dropping the more I watched, and I wasn’t even in the game with him.  (Apparently, Boston Rob won over America, too, as he took home the most popular player award and another $100k.)

If you were like me, every Wednesday night you’d find yourself hoping that someone – anyone – in the game would blindside the blindsider, but we forgot that they had been won over by the seemingly innocent smile and drivel, as well.  Funny how the people on the opposing tribe could see Rob for who he was, but those closest to him couldn’t.  There’s a lesson in there about distance and perspective, but I’ll let you hash it out.  We’ve still got a bit to go on our current idea.

Now, before you start bashing me for hating on the lovable Boston Rob, let me write what I know you’re thinking.

“It’s only a game.”

To some degree, I think that might be true.  But what degree would that be?  When does the line between the game and the true character of the player become so blurry that there is no longer a distinction between the two?  Isn’t that in part what Grant was getting at in the live finale?  These 2 guys were close on the island, but have no relationship now because Rob stabbed Grant in the back, and Grant started seeing that maybe there’s a reason why someone can do that so easily in a game.  Perhaps it’s actually just a part of who they are.

I don’t know Boston Rob.  He seems like a nice enough guy, but isn’t almost always the nice guys that do the most damage?  They’re the ones that can get in close, and at just the right moment, hurt us the most.  Isn’t that probably why the devil doesn’t actually wear red long-johns and carry a pitchfork?  He’d be way too easy to spot and guard against.  Instead, the Bible say that he masquerades like an angel of light. That’s right.  Apparently, the devil seems to be a real nice guy, too.

In a culture that is driven by art (which ours is), there comes a time when the artist has to be aware that the artwork is a piece of him or herself.  It isn’t always enough to do whatever we want and then sweep it under the rug with “it’s a game” or “I’m just acting out a role.”  If you can portray something that is totally opposite of who you say you really are, then I suspect that you don’t really know yourself that well, and upon further examination you may be surprised to find out that you are more like what you portrayed than you think.

All of us fail in this area.  It is not just Boston Rob, or Natalie, or the Federal-Agent-Stealth-Bomber dude.  We all see things in our own lives that are 180° from what we want to be, and instead of doing the hard work of the soul, we shrug it off with a simple, “That’s not who I really am.”  Really?

Perhaps the greatest lesson that can be learned in this season of Survivor is that bringing your values into every circumstance is difficult, and at times we will fail.  But in the end, the struggle to maintain faith and integrity in every arena we find ourselves in is worth it.  Just ask Matt, who heard Mike say with tears in his eyes during the live finale that Survivor had transformed him through the conversations he’d had about God and faith with Matt during the game.

Matt was tested.  Did he do everything perfectly according to his convictions?  Maybe only the cutting floor knows for sure, because we don’t get to see every second of the game, but my guess is that his head is high this morning because of the witness he was for Jesus, faith, and character.

The tension between faith and culture is hard, and it makes me appreciate people like Matt and Mike who are willing to live in that tension instead of taking the easy way out and allowing the situation – or “gameplay” –  to dictate what they’ll believe and when.  In the end, of course, they lost.  Didn’t they?  Because Boston Rob won.  Didn’t he?

His prize? One million dollars, the “Sole Survivor” title, and a glaring, soul-burning question:

“It was just a game, wasn’t it?”

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I have to confess a couple of things before I can really get into the point of this post. One, I really like “Survivor.”  Not just like the way you might like something on Facebook, or like this post; and not even when you really, really like something, or like-like it, you know, the way you would a girl in middle school because you know you’re not supposed to love someone that still watches Saturday morning cartoons and yet what you feel for her is definitely more than just being pals.  No, when I say I like “Survivor,” I mean that I am captivated by it, totally drawn in, will DVR it and watch it even if I can’t start until midnight.  I really like it.

Two, I’m an idiot for liking it that much.  I know it, but I can’t stop it.  Even though they spin it as a reality show, I know that the finished product CBS is giving me is a manipulated, edited, manufactured version of reality, and so sometimes when I watch it and like it, I feel like a car buyer falling in love with a car on the lot of a cheating used car salesman.  It drives nice, looks nice, and sounds nice, but you just never really know.

All that to say this: Matt Elrod has become the most compelling story in the game now.  More than Phillip and his pink underwear, or Boston Rob and his little cult following, watching this young man stand firm in his faith while playing what could possibly be the toughest hand of “Survivor” ever dealt a contestant has been rich.  And last night, just when I thought it couldn’t get any more compelling, it did.

Now, if you’re not a follower of “Survivor,” let me at least give you the nutshell.  Castaways compete as 2 tribes, and each time one tribe loses a challenge, they go to Tribal Council and vote off a member of their tribe.  In past seasons, the person voted off was finished; this season they are sent to Redemption Island and given a shot to get back in the game.  Basically, if you go there, you spend a lot of time alone.  Matt went there on Day 5 of a 39 day game.  He got back in the game about 2 weeks later and and was immediately sent back at the next Tribal Council by the same teammates who had sent him there before.

For all you Bible readers, it’s basically John on the island of Patmos…twice.

Each week the cameras catch Matt alone – praying, reading a Bible that another contestant gave him when she left the game, and holding fast to the hope that God placed him on the island for a reason.  And then, at last night’s duel to stay in the game, Matt said he was at peace with going home.  He said he felt like he had accomplished what God wanted him to do and that he had honored his God in how he’d played the game.  He went on to win the duel and is still in the game, still on Redemption Island.  Out of 30 days, he’s spent somewhere around 23 of them banished, broken, and trusting God.

In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

We could stop there and we’d all be encouraged, and yet, I’m afraid that we’d be stopping too soon.  Matt’s stand has been encouraging, and most of us have seen others stand strong, too.  But last night, on a nationally and internationally televised primetime show, I got to see the last part of that verse lived out.  I saw men giving glory to God because of Matt letting his light shine in the darkest part of this game.

Julie Wolfe

As soon as the duel was over, Jeff Probst commented that obviously Matt’s God wasn’t done with him yet.  Did you catch that?  The host of the show acknowledging the truth of God’s guidance in Matt’s life?  And then, when Probst asked Julie Wolfe to sum up her experience before leaving the game (because she had lost the duel), she said that watching Matt live out his faith had made her ready to get back home and find a local church.  Say what??  More praise to God on primetime television, all because one young man has carried the light of Christ in a way that is honoring to God and receivable by men.

Don’t miss that last part. Too often we do the first, but we do it in a way that hinders the second.  Sure, we shine our lights before men, but usually they’re like the bright lights of an interrogation room showing the world their sin as opposed to a candle providing the light we all need to find our way.  As a result, those around us think we’re the crazy Christians and want nothing to do with our Father.  Most of the time, Christians on shows like “Survivor” come across that way, and it makes me cringe to watch.  But Matt has been different, and as much as I know that reality television isn’t always reality, I know that God is receiving praise because one man has chosen to shine the light of Christ in a way that can help lead a culture to Jesus.

Imagine if we all did the same.