On Strength and Conduct

I watched the Survivor series for two or three years straight on a semi-regular basis. I was first drawn to the show due to real-time conflict and conflict resolution on screen. I never could determine the draw of the Big Brother series, but that’s an aside. Survivor at least had challenges that truly challenged contestants’ mettle. Big Brother couldn’t boast of that.

Given the rugged conditions and the nature of the challenges, you would think the strong would be championed and last the long haul. This was true of Kobe (second season?) who came in second. He was a man of principle. He was strong internally and externally, intervened in conflict, and did well in the standings. He even confronted people.

Over subsequent seasons of the show, I noticed a trend: the weak would band together to vote off the strong. More and more, it seemed Survivor was becoming a show where the strong were universally envied and destroyed prior to their ascendancy by the weak and those with victim’s complexes.

One thing Survivor has going for it is an aspect of relationships that is true to life: you reap what you sow. This was often visible in the voting / cast-off system, especially toward the end when faced with the Jury. But even that punished the strong for being strong. The rewarded were often the ones who ruffled the least feathers or kept the lowest profile or those who chose not to assert themselves to resolve conflict or to lead. That bugs – why reward indolence.

I stopped watching Survivor after noticing that trend. Maybe I’m wrong, but something is off in society when the strong get pushed aside in favor of self-centered favoritism and retribution. The strong should be rewarded and championed; in fact they should be sought out and developed by those who have gone before. Maybe in the long run, character does win. I believe it, but shows like Survivor (later seasons - have not seen recent seasons) – and to a greater extent Big Brother – convey the opposite – the weak and the indolent excel while the strong struggle against all odds and in the end get ousted.

Psalm 37 states that the humble and the righteous will inherit the land as a reassurance to continue being faithful in your endeavors, in delighting yourself in God and in trusting God with your life so you don’t resort to worry over evildoers who prosper (and the implication that they are prospering while the faithful (or the strong as defined above) are not – at least in the short term).

Character reveals itself in inner strength in the immediate (circumstantial) and visible strength over the long haul. In a world where the weak increasingly band together to rid themselves of the strong (or the truly beautiful), then thwart each other in battles over ascendancy only to whither/destroy their domain once reaching the top, character seems to be less and less pragmatic. So pursuing virtue and character becomes a matter of faith. Psalm 37 also states, “I was young and now I am old, but have never seen the righteous forsaken or their descendants begging bread.” This is further encouragement by the Psalmist to stay the course, to fight the fight. Given the societal trend toward rewarding the weak, character expressed in inner strength will be more frequently required by the strong. God will not be mocked. Psalm 37 will still be proved true, even today, and will glorify God in the process.

This may also explain why movies like Gladiator and Braveheart have such a lasting audience appeal: the weak rule and have their “15 minutes of fame”, but the righteous (the strong) are victorious in the end (both lead characters are martyred in the final scene of the movies, by the way, and both leave a lasting impact and legacy on those around them and society at large) – but that’s another topic for another time).

So, what can we say in the interim (while character is visible only to those who know to search for it – and to God who knows all hearts)? Stay the course. Or as the Apostle Paul put it, “Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, and be strong. Let all that you do be done in love”, so that indeed, in the end, “the humble will inherit the land” and we can stand with Paul at the end and say with confidence, “I have fought the good fight, I have kept the faith, I have finished the race”, and know from experience, like the Psalmist, that we “have never seen the righteous forsaken or their descendants begging bread”. Then, like the heroes of old, leave a lasting legacy in the life we leave behind.

“Now to Him who is able to keep you from falling and to make you stand the presence of His glory blameless with great joy, to the only God our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion and authority, before all time, now and forever. Amen.”