Last night (for the second Sunday evening in a row) I found myself flipping back and forth between two very similar television programs: ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and MTV’s Pimp My Ride. If you haven’t seen them, both shows choose a deserving individual or family and completely renovate a piece of their property. In each episode, Makeover takes on a house, while Pimp My Ride fixes up a car.
It’s really amazing to watch what these people can do. Not only do they repair what was broken and bring the house or car back to its original state, they improve it immensely. The owners start out with broken down pieces of junk and end up with something that is better than it ever was. I love watching the transformation.
The hallmark of good art that it points one towards something more real and more important than the art itself. It may sound strange to call these shows art but I’m going to because I think their strength is that they (unintentionally, certainly) give us a great picture of the fulfillment of deepest needs and desires. We live in a beat up, broken down world and we desperately, on both a personal and universal level, need to be made new. Of course that is exactly what the Bible says God is in the business of doing. The old is being made not only like new, but better than new. When we see the finished product, I imagine our response will be even more emotional than the recipients of these benevolent networks. Unless of course, we refuse the offer of transformation.