The Ultimate Sacrifice
When the world first shut down in 2020, no one really knew what to expect. We were told it would be two weeks, then another two weeks; maybe by summer, things would be back to normal. My husband, our daughter, and I moved our lives from offices, classrooms, and daycare to our living room and kitchen table. Like many people, we went through a number of COVID projects and hobbies, like painting a bookcase, building a learning tower for our toddler, and hosting an out-of-control virtual game night. But the one journey my husband and I never would have guessed we would embark on together was a newfound love of ridiculous reality TV.
The show that started it all was The Circle. It kept coming up as a recommendation and both of us rolled our eyes every time we saw it. It seems completely absurd and nothing like what we usually watch together. But we were bored! We had so little going on at the time that one night, we took the plunge. The first episode we watched left us going, “Oh my goodness, what even is TV anymore? How do people come up with this nonsense?….maybe we should try one more episode just for a laugh?”
Welp, six seasons later, I’d say we’re pretty big fans. Judge away, if you must. I should add a note stating that this is by no means a Christian show, so be prepared for lots of language. Again, judge away.
The premise of the show is that a group of 6-10 strangers live in an apartment building together but only interact with each other via a unique social media platform called The Circle. They set up a profile that includes a photo of them and a short bio. Players can either play the game as themselves or as a catfish. There are group chats and private chats, games to get to know each other, and a ton of drama. At the end of the day, players have to rate each other, resulting in influencers and people being blocked and sent home. The winner of the entire game walks away with $100,000.
Every season has new twists and turns. In one season, two members of the Spice Girls played under a hijacked profile. In another, two players were blocked separately but got to come together and play under a new profile as a team. In the most current season, they introduced an AI Bot as a player to see if people could figure out it wasn’t a real person.
But something happened in one of this season’s episodes that has stuck with me. In this particular episode, players were secretly paired up as Ride or Dies, their fate now tied with another player. If one of them got blocked, the other would go home too. When the actual blocking happens, the two players at the bottom are surprisingly given a choice. They could choose to stay OR they could choose to sacrifice themselves for the other player. If they both choose to stay or both choose to sacrifice themselves, they will both go home.
In the end (spoiler alert), one player (Kyle) decided to stay and the other player (Paul) decided to sacrifice themselves. When Kyle realized that Paul had sacrificed himself for him, he was immediately emotional. He could not believe that someone would give up their whole game and a chance for $100,000 for him. He didn’t feel worthy. When he was alerted to the fact that Paul would be coming to visit him in person, he freaked out a little. He said things like, “How am I supposed to look him in the eyes?” and “What am I supposed to say to him?”
In the end, their meeting was beautiful and heartfelt. The player, Paul, was actually played by a woman named Caress, pretending to be Paul. Caress and Kyle met and embraced, and Kyle could do nothing but thank her for the opportunity she had given him.
The next day, this news was revealed to the rest of the group. Everyone had very similar reactions to Kyle’s. They were all speechless. They could not believe that someone would selflessly give up their game for another player.
Every player was shocked at the sacrifice because they understood the need and they understood the cost.
Maybe you see where I’m going with this?
My mind couldn't help but jump to a greater sacrifice—one that every human soul needs and one that costs someone everything. This sacrifice was freely given, not to people who deserved it, or even to friends, but to enemies of the one who gave it.
So many see this sacrifice and scoff at it. Some mock the ones who embrace it. Others treat it as a nice crutch instead of the life-changing necessity it is.
The sacrifice I’m talking about is, of course, the death of Jesus Christ.
We’re not talking about a sacrifice that can give someone a leg-up in life. We’re not talking about someone giving up a chance at winning for someone else because it was the decent thing to do. We’re talking about someone giving up their life and bearing the full wrath of God meant for those who were celebrating his death.
Each one of us is born with an eternal death sentence that we can’t do anything to escape. We have all sinned against the holy creator, God of the universe. The price that needs to be paid for the debt is not one we can afford. Look at these verses with me and see the reality of our need:
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” Romans 3:23
“And you were dead in the trespasses and sins in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience— among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.” Ephesians 2:1-3
“For the wages of sin is death…” Romans 6:23a
But God sent his Son to the world to live the life we could not live and die the death that we each deserve because he loves us. His sacrifice sets us free. When we look at the cross, realize the depth of our need for such a sacrifice, repent of our old life, and give our lives to Christ, we are saved from the destruction we deserve. Now, look at how each of the verses listed above continues and how Christ’s sacrifice changes everything.
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith.” Romans 3:23-25a
“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.” Ephesians 2:4-9
“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 6:23
I pray we regularly pause to look at the sacrifice our Savior gave for us with awe and worship. I pray that on the days we mess up, we remember that Jesus’ death on the cross proves strong enough to redeem our worst days. I pray that our understanding of the mercy and love that flow from his sacrifice will grow more every day. Friend, the cost is high, but Jesus paid for it. He sacrificed himself for you. How will you respond?
