Big Brother still divides opinion. John Humphrys has said that it’s ‘damaging’. Julie Burchill loves ‘the giddiness and silliness and unquenchable high spirits of youth having its day in the sun’.

And the head of Channel 4, Andy Duncan, claims that it’s a Christian parable for our times…

He’s stretching the point a bit, surely – there’s only so much you can draw from the Parable of the Drunken Threesome in the Hot-Tub, after all – yet nevertheless, BB causes a splash, and throws up some useful insights into the building (and dismantling) of community and character today.

This year, one housemate in particular, Makosi, provoked an especially hostile reception from the public. With big hair and an ego to match, she acted with duplicity during her 11-week run. Viewers could see quite clearly her lack of integrity, yet it was only when her new ‘friends’ were evicted, and watched the replays, that they found out what she’d been saying and doing behind their backs.

Justice came for Makosi during Friday’s ‘final’, as she, in turn, was voted out and then exposed mercilessly by the presenter, Davina McCall, while housemates looked on with disdain, the crowd bayed and booed, and millions more of us at home sat haughtily in judgment.

Big Brother affords a God’s-eye view of how others can act, though in God’s position we’d surely be less forgiving, especially when we spot our own, nastier side in other people. Perhaps if we’ve anything to learn from Makosi’s unpopularity, it’s that there’s a bit of her in everyone, and that judgment awaits us all.

But we might also remember, gratefully, that if we cheat on our friends, gossip, or think something we shouldn’t, then we live in hope that God will erase such unsavoury clips without playing them back to those we’ve wronged.

We shouldn’t take anything for granted, however. Whatever we think about Big Brother, it should remind us not to treat lightly the forgiveness we receive from the God who sees everything. Makosi’s double-dealing hurt others when they saw the tapes, even though it was a ‘show’ and she was playing a game. Do our own - very real - hidden actions and private thoughts match up to the persona we like to present and portray?

God is always tuned in to us. But imagine, for a moment, that Big Brother was watching, too…

Brian Draper

additional resources

Read Julie Burchill's column about Big Brother at www.timesonline.co.uk.

'John Humphrys slates reality TV' - read all about it at www.bbc.co.uk.

'Big Brother is Christian parable, says TV chief' - at www.timesonline.co.uk.

'Is Reality TV Beyond Redemption?' - useful article from Christianity Today at www.christianitytoday.com.

'Anger at Big Brother Ambassador' - winner Anthony returns home to be made 'Ambassador for Youth' by Derwentside District Council', at www.bbc.co.uk.

'Iraqi reality-TV hit takes fear factor to another level' - report on a 'reality-TV' programme that leaves BB in the shade - from www.csmonitor.com.

'As truth (the Word of God) collides with culture, the TruthQuesters will see firsthand if truth does indeed hold up in the face of reality...' It's finally happened - a Christian reality TV show, called 'TruthQuest'. Visit www.truthquest.com for the gory details.