Extreme Home Makeover is one of my favorite shows. I love the stories of the families and watching Ty and the gang bring the family's dreams to life. I'm not sure what the motive behind the show is, but I like the message of giving back without any reward (that I know of) other than seeing the joy giving brings and helping people.
The Big Give is Oprah's new TV show. To be fair I am not a huge fan of Oprah. I used to be, but after her "Spirituality" bent and cheering for Obama, I have really lost respect for her. I digress.... The premise of the show is there are a group people chosen to give away money (Oprah's $) to those in need. They have a partner and are "graded" on how much money they raised to give, how creative they were, teamwork, and attitude. What they don't know is that Oprah will give the last person standing 1 MILLION dollars.
Alright, so this is good right? People are giving instead of taking... They are doing good for others... I guess my struggle is that they are doing it to win a competition. There is a criteria for their giving. I don't think the people on the show are bad, or even that everyone has selfish motives to be on TV or win the competition... But it makes me think about the parable of the Pharisee and the poor man who went to the temple to pray, or the rich man who made a generous gift to the church known while the poor woman with only a penny gave it away quietly... The obvious lessons of the parables are that the motive for giving or praying is not to be seen and heard. Giving is to be from the heart.
God is the only one who can judge the heart, let me make that clear. I just wonder what the "heart" behind turning giving into a competition is...
Hmmm. Good thoughts, Abby. The boys and I were reading today about "deeds done in secret."
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