Don’t just pretend to love others. Really love them. Hate what is wrong. Hold tightly to what is good. Love each other with genuine affection, and take delight in honoring each other. [Romans 12:9-10 (NLT)]
Although I enjoy the various cooking competition shows such as “Chopped,” one Food Network program troubles me: “Cutthroat Kitchen”, with its phrase, “Sabotage is back in season!” Four competitors start with $25,000 each. During the various cooking challenges, they bid on ways to handicap their opponents, such as making them cook the assigned dish on an iron, removing all their knifes or bowls, or even taking away an essential ingredient, such as sugar when the task is brownies. The host chuckles with glee as the hampered chefs struggle to complete their cooking task in the allotted time. The bidding gets fiercer and more vengeful as the show goes on. The winner isn’t necessarily the best cook; it’s the one who is most devious and underhanded. The victor only gets to keep the money that remains after he or she has paid out thousands to destroy the other chefs’ chances; often it is a just pittance.
It’s just a television program and, admittedly, it’s interesting seeing how the cooks manage to rise to the challenges. Most of the time, however, they can’t overcome the hindrances. It’s disturbing that watching people take delight in limiting other individual’s opportunities in a contest (or life) is ever considered entertainment. Unfortunately, much of “reality” television is just that. Every time we find it amusing to watch someone get hurt or humiliated, our humanity erodes just a little. We may become more willing to sabotage others to win at all costs in our own lives. Our schools talk a lot about bullying; let’s be careful that we don’t ever find bullying entertaining lest we become bullies ourselves.
Lord, fill me with your Holy Spirit so that I follow your guide to life.
Devotions of the Heart 