Anybody watch the season finale of ‘The Biggest Loser’ this week?
That’s the TV show in which 16 really obese people compete against one another to lose weight. The winner is of course, the one who loses most- or The Biggest Loser. And in this case, the two biggest losers left the show boasting that they were half the men they used to be, literally. First prize winner Danny Cahill, from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma (photo above) went from 430 pounds to 191 pounds. He lost 55% of his body mass.

During this show you and I see what these contestants’ lives are like. It takes a bit of time and hard luck to put on 430 pounds. There is depression and anger and even neurosis. Contestants have been teased, made fun of and have very low self-esteem. And now they have finally reached rock bottom. They will do anything to get thin. So how many people audition to be on this show? Thousands. Tens of thousands. These are people who are so desperate they are willing to attend open casting calls and take off their shirts in front of strangers and judges - not a hard thing to do if you're built like Gov. Arnold, but definitely a challenge if you look like Homer Simpson.

All this, in hopes of getting selected to endure even more humiliation. Trainers Bob and Jillian pour it on, using oft-censored language and vocabulary that includes words like 'pathetic' and 'lazy,' to keep it mild. Contestants are mocked, threatened and made fun of, yet they keep coming back, with even more determination.

At church on Sunday we will hear the bizarre account of a man named John the Baptist who will attract crowds and crowds of people basically doing the same thing. He will use criticism and humiliation ('You brood of vipers!'). He will mock and threaten ('The ax is lying at the root of the trees!'). And he will speak directly to the hearts of seriously hurting people and offer them a way out. And these people, too, will keep coming back.

For the beauty of The Biggest Loser is not the humiliation and criticism, it is the crown and the unbridled joy. We see the triumph of human determination and the first steps in brand new lives. We hear winners say that no matter what they endured, it was all worth it.

This is what the Gospel means when it calls John's coarse words 'Good News.' Despite the hard words, they are real words - words we need to hear. For you and I know that becoming our best selves is no walk in the park. It means looking at the harsh realities of our lives, coming face to face with our frailties and shortcomings - not being afraid to hit rock bottom. Have we done this? In what ways do we need to?

Reading:
Healing and Christianity - Morton Kelsey
Rescuing the Bible from Fundamentalism - John Spong
The Source - James Michener