The Moment of Truth

I had never seen it before. It just looks...hard to watch. I can't fathom why someone would go on that show and answer the most personal, embarrasing questions for money. My dad was telling me about a particular episode so I had to go to http://www.fox.com/ and see it for myself. You know it's not going to be good when the host is shown alone in the studio making a disclaimer at the beginning. He said that if it had been up to him, he would not have aired the show and that it was the most uncomfortable he's ever been on television. He warned the viewers that it was "difficult to watch". So of course, anyone who heard that...watched.

You may have seen the preview. It made the claim that a woman would put her marriage on the line and the questions seemed very personal. Apparantly, the game keeps going as long as you agree to hear the next question. Once you agree, you have to answer and if you lie, you lose ALL the money. It's not like Millionaire where you go back to $25,000 or whatever. You can say, "no more questions" and take the money you have, or you can accept the question and you have to answer it.

So, here's the rundown. I can only guess that this woman was planning to leave her husband and figured she could make some money in the process. She answered the following questions:


Question: Do you believe you may have been in love with an exboyfriend on your wedding day?
Answer: Yes - true


Question: (Asked by exboyfriend) Do you think you should be married to me?
Answer: Yes - true


Question: Have you had sexual relations with someone other than your husband since you have been married?
Answer: Yes - true


Each time was really drawn out and it was obviously very uncomfortable for her husband and family. Her parents and a sister were there too. The husband gets angrier and the answers really seem to take him by suprise. The more it goes on, the more clear it becomes that her marriage is over. The host encourages her time and again to stop and take the $100,000 she already has. He keeps asking if it's really worth it. At one point the husband ends up telling her that she might as well go for it because he doesn't think it can get much worse. The host assures him that it will. Each time she says she wants to go on. Anyway, here's the fascinating part. The next question.


Question: Do you think you are a good person?


Interesting isn't it? I mean, we've got questions of infidelity, exboyfriends, etc. and then for the big money they ask, "Do you think you are a good person?" All she has to do is tell the truth and her money amount jumps way up. What happens next is unbelievable.


Answer: Honestly, yes, I think I am a good person.


And what do the lie detectors say? FALSE She's shocked. The host says something like, "What this shows is that somewhere deep down you don't think you're a good person at all." Isn't that sort of profound?

A machine was able to pick up on what we all know deep down...we deserve hell. We may not be cheating or dreaming of an ex. We may not steal or kill. But we may have suppressed the truth of our own hearts. If we really look, if we really understand how HOLY God's holiness is and how SINFUL our sinfulness is, we always answer that question with a no. Paul says in Romans 7:18 I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, my sinful nature. And in 7:24 What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? What do we do? The good news is found in v. 25 Thanks be to God-through Jesus Christ our Lord! It just makes it all the more amazing that we have such an awesome God that he would condescend to save a bunch of liars like us. And that's the truth.