More and more and more and more of the programming on TV is what we call Reality Shows. It used to be that the news was our reality TV. But, that was just reporting on real life, almost always after-the-fact, and not showing real life as it happened. Then we had talk shows, where the conversations about real life may also reveal real moments between people. Now, we have TV shows that by design record people living life. Many of the shows create the situations, so they are not really real. Still, we get the chance to see people respond at an instant to the challenges of life, we get to see real responses.

If you watch TV, and if you watch many Reality Shows, I bet you would find it hard to identify more than one or two people you thought were benefited from being on the show. Now, I’m not talking about whether or not they won the show and any money or prizes. I am also not talking about whether or not their appearance on a show translated into more fame. What I am talking about is whether or not you think more highly of them having watched them respond in front of the cameras. Most the people I have seen on Reality TV are trainwrecks.

What about you and me? Would we be more or less attractive and impressive to a watching world if we had the cameras rolling 24/7? What if all our alone time was on tape, what would people be surprised to find us doing? What if all of our internal conversations were given a voice? What if everyone was aware of our secret evaluations of others and not just the nice words we actually say outloud? How would we fare as Reality Stars?

As I have been thinking about this, I have concluded that I am the star of a reality show, one with a very small but significant audience. The cameras may not be rolling, but my wife and kids are watching and listening 24/7. I wonder how I am faring with them?

I am also the star of a less intimate show with a larger audience. There are people who know me. they may be friends, they may attend SouthEdge, they may intersect with me because of school or sports or shopping or something else, but they know who I am and they are watching and listening. How am I doing with them?

This must be one of the greatest challenges to living a sold-out Christian life. If we take the Bible seriously, we will live our commitment to Jesus more and more publicly and more and more transparently. How big a challenge is that for you?

I know a few people who are willing to talk about it and many more who just express it with their life choices, that they are unwilling to be public with their Christianity because they know it will mean that more people will be watching and likely finding inconsistencies. In an attempt to avoid public scrutiny, they keep their relationship to Jesus undercover and hope to fade into the woodwork. So much for being a light in the midst of darkness.

In addition, being a follower of Jesus also means becoming increasingly transparent with more and more people, sharing your hurts and doubts and failures. The New Testament even teaches us to confess our sins to one another. Now outside the Bible, there isn’t anyone who is going to try to sell that advice as a life strategy. Why would you ever give others ammunition to take you down?

So here is this crazy way of life: Live as publicly as possible and live as transparently as possible. Choose to put a camera on you 24/7 and then try to get the biggest audience possible in order to point people to God. This is the way of Jesus and it is unbelievably threatening, unless you have been set free from having to prove your worth to others, or having to create an image to impress others, or having to hide your flaws for fear they will be your ultimate undoing.

That is exactly what Jesus has promised to do, to set us free. We are the stars of a Reality Show and God is the audience that sees ever second of the footage, even what is going on inside of us. Yet, He has found us valuable anyway, valuable enough to pay the price of His Son. He is not impressed with our image, instead He is constantly at work shaping us into His image. And, He already knows all our flaws. He loves us inspite of them, not because He is unaware of them.

I am about to go to a country where I will stand out every second of every day. I am preparing to teach and I hope Ugandans will listen. But, I know they will all be watching how I live, how I interact with people and respond in the face of difficulties. I am sure I won’t be perfect before them. That’s not the challenge. The challenge is to live free and when I blow it to deal with that in a Godly fashion as well. They really don’t need me to be a perfect man, then how would they relate to me? They have Jesus for perfection, they need me as an example that God could love them because He could love someone as messed up as me.

Still, my time there will be brief. It will be unlikely that I will be in a situation during those few days where I would display my worst self. It is possible, but really unlikely. Instead, displaying the worst of me is a greater challenge right here in my real life where people will see me over and over and over.

What I have learned is, contrary to popular opinion, you can’t really avoid being a Reality Star if you are living a real life. So, I want to encourage you to take the crazy advice of the Bible and on purpose go more and more public with your relationship to Jesus. I also want to encourage you to become more and more transparent with others. Don’t wait to feel free before you get started. Once you get started, you will begin to experience a freedom you have never known before.

There will be challenges. Some people will judge, and judge harshly or even wrongly, but you will survive. Someone you trust will probably hurt you deeply, but you will survive. This is a threatening lifestyle, but worth it! And, as a result, not only will you experience freedom, so will oothers who will fall in love with the God who loves you. Don’t miss out!