extreme makeover: home edition

May 1, 2005

i got the chance to check out an episode of extreme makeover: home edition today. it's the first episode i've ever seen, despite seeing some previews for their shows on countless occasions. all i can say is wow. i'm so very touched by what i saw. a while back, i wrote about how there wasn't much quality tv on the air anymore. most of the tv programs we watch nowadays contain materialism, sex, alcohol, drugs and violence. and while this show could be considered to be materialistic in the sense that these families are getting incredibly beautiful homes, it really isn't about that at all. they don't focus on brands/companies of products that go into the home, but instead they look at the family. it's about transforming the lives of families in the homes within which they live. i love that because it's so my heart. i long to make a difference in the lives of the people around me for the cause of Christ.

what really got to me about this show was how much of a difference the design team and all the helpers made to the family in the construction of this home. there were a lot of tears shed not only by the family, but also by the design team, and i'm sure all the helpers too. i bet the people who watched this episode also shed a few tears of their own too—i know i did (and on several occasions too). there was so much love. you could feel it the whole way through. for the rest of their lives, that family will remember what happened that week. it's something that will change their lives forever. and i know they'll feel a deep sense of gratitude, one that words cannot express, towards all those who made it possible. the amount of kindness and love shown towards them has undoubtedly impacted them.

as much as i get down on the state of humanity, it's amazing to see mankind's capacity to reach out and do something like this. sure, there are probably ulterior motives, but nonetheless, the ability to do this, and to get so many people onboard together for it, that really says something. i think there is a general desire for us to help out our fellow man, to do this thing we call life together. we were created in the image of God after all. i think that exists within every human being, but due to circumstances and due to sin, that ability is sometimes withheld or restricted.

if the church could be the ones doing acts like this, man, what a different world we would be in. last friday, we did a Bible study on acts 6. it talks about how the early church's efforts on meeting the physical needs of the people were so great that they ended up neglecting the ministry of the Word of God (the teaching/preaching). in acts 4, the early church was so generous that there were actually NO needy people among them (see acts 4:34). how did they do this? they would sell their houses from time to time and give the money from the sale to the church! as a result to all this, the church exploded. thousands of people were coming to Christ, sometimes on a daily basis.

what the early church was doing, was exactly what an episode of extreme makeover: home edition is all about: transforming lives. the big difference was that the early church was transforming lives in the name of Christ, in the power of the Holy Spirit, a transformation that lasts for an eternity—a house cannot do that. but you know what really gets to me about all this. how is that abc, a tv station, can make such a profound impact in the lives of these families, while the church sits idly by and remains silent? what happened to the early church mentality?

perhaps it's the western culture that has put a blind eye over us. we think we're entitled to everything. we think that because we worked for it, it's for us to enjoy. what a lie. we've been sucked into believing this without even knowing it. we have a wrong paradigm. yes, we do earn the money through work. but we forget that the money we have has been entrusted to us by God. we forget that God has given us the capacity to earn this money in the first place!

if the producers of abc can be motivated to do this, out of their own kindness (or for whatever reason they have), how is that the Christian body, the ones who serve a omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, living God fail so miserably at doing similar acts? we're supposed to be the ones out there loving our neighbours, putting others above ourselves, and acting the way Jesus would. if we say love God, our actions must reflect that. faith without action is dead.

the early church struggled with the ministry of the Word of God when they were out doing the daily distribution of food. they realized that this could not continue and appointed seven people to oversee that, while the apostles focused on the teaching/preaching. this meant that the church was reaching both physical and spiritual needs, and when that happened, the church exploded that much more (acts 6:7).

oh how i long for the church to be restored to what it was like: a place where people, regardless of ethnicity, socioeconomic class, background, gender, age, could come together and experience the love of God for themselves through the Holy Spirit and the tangible actions of the body of Christ. that's the hope. that's the dream.

Posted by Leo Chan at May 1, 2005 10:22 PM