God of the Game Show?

I do not enjoy game shows. My eight year old son and my wife love to watch Wheel of Fortune, and Jeopardy. I would rather shovel snow! If you have never heard of "The Amazing Race" , this show is the exception to my rule. There is never a dull moment, the pace is exhausting, and the contestants are extremely competitive. The players are teamed in pairs, some are father and daughter, "life partners", married couples, and so on. It is the most thrilling show I have ever watched, but some players have me squirming in my seat. Ever since Amazing Race first aired it has casted pairs of born again Christians asking God to help them in the race. Does God rig game shows? Do good Christians win, and what if they do? Do they have to tithe their winnings? Most of the Christian pairs in this show are decent people and in no way mean to cheapen the Christian faith, but I think that is what is happening. Christ , redeemer of man, and the ruler of the kings of the earth is rigging game shows (only Christians need apply to win). Christians suffer in prisons throughout China, Sudan, and Iran; hundreds of thousands brutalized and murdered for Christ and his gospel, but American Christians cry out for divine power in game shows! We are the richest nation on the earth, but our Christianity is in a cultural crisis. In the eighties we had Jimmy Swaggart and Jim Baker deal devastating blows to the public integrity of Christianity. Televangelist jokes were the norm on late night TV, and the pure gospel as the power of God was shrouded in scandal and late night humor. This did not happen over night and as side show entertainment merged with the pure religion, integrity was compromised. I am not suggesting that we cannot be witnesses of the faith on prime time game shows or any other entertainment outlet, but how we portray the depth of the Christian message of God's love through Christ sacrafice, requires Christain maturity and spiritual wisdom. When Christains make public petitions to God in superficial circumstances, it conveys a silliness about prayer and the Christian's intimacy and dependence on God. I have often wondered why our nation is in such moral and spiritual confusion, when there are churches on almost every street corner. Why are our best selling Christian books rapture novels? Why are vain TV evangelist taking in hundreds of millions of dollars anually, and why are "seeker freindly churches" keeping controversial symbols (such as the cross) from view of those seeking truth. The Apostle Paul said, "And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ" (Ephesians 3:17-19). We cannot effectively convey this knowledge in the current climate of the church. We divorce as much as the world, we fornicate as much as the world, do we also believe as the rest of the world? Is Christ an American icon or God revealed in flesh? What is the depth of faith in the american church? We must overcome our shallowness of spirit and mind if we are to keep our lampstand.