When God Plays “Let’s Make a Deal"

My purpose in this forum is to encourage others by making application of Scriptural principles to leadership and ‘real life’ subject matter.”--RT

[Excerpt from "The Discipleship Dilemma," by R. Templeton]

Joshua 24:15, “And if it seems evil to you to serve the LORD, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”

Perhaps many will remember the very popular television game show, “Let’s Make A Deal.” For those who missed it, show episodes can still be watched on YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/user/LetsMakeADealCBS). The game show, with its host Monte Hall, was entertaining largely because it traded on the human tendency to minimize risk and assume an optimistic outcome when considering our future circumstances. Mathematics has even given a name to the set of probabilities presented by the choice of “Door #1,” “Curtain #3,” or “keep the $1000 you have already won”—it is called the Monte Hall Problem.

Recall from the show that the “Let’s Make a Deal” conundrum depended solely on the contestant’s evaluation whether their known reality is better or worse than their future possibility. Human psychology is known to favor an optimism bias, and that bias is that human trait on which the show format played. The contestants were picked, ostensibly at random, and asked to join the host in the aisle, where they were presented the first in a series of potential “swaps.” The idea was, of to realize when one has maximized his or her outcome and stop the trading, hopefully before trading away something of value for a piece of junk. The classic dilemma of the game show contestant was “Should I trade known reality for future potential good, yet with the high probability of bad outcome?”

The heavenly version of Let’s Make a Deal operates on a different premise and by a different set of “rules.” First, the show’s host—the Holy Spirit—is totally on the contestant’s side, and gives him or her all kinds of hints and coaching about which choice optimizes their good and beneficial outcome. He does that in a number of ways, not the least of which is that He opens the doors, pulls back the curtain and lifts the box to let the contestant “see” what the reward of their choice will be before they have to make it. That may seem like a rigged system—“cheating,” if you will. You are correct! It is rigged, and it is rigged in your favor! The truth is that you cannot lose if you are paying attention at all.

When the Holy Spirit calls a believer from their contestant’s seat and into the aisle—onto the stage, as it were—we leave our place as an observer of life and become a full-fledged active participant and partner. There, He gives us three choices—“Choose you this day whom you will serve.” This initial choice is, of course crucial to determining future choices and actions. Joshua 24:15 tells us our potential initial choices behind Doors #1, #2 or #3:

• Door #1: “The gods your father served that were on the other side of the River.” Most Christians assume that, since Joshua was addressing Israelites, that He was talking about Jehovah God in this reference. However, if that were the case, the “G” in “god” would be capitalized. No, the “god on the other side of the River” is a false god, a god of religion, a god of rules and laws and rituals that cover sin, but are unable to remove it.
• Door #2: “The gods of the Amorites.” The gods of the Amorites are neither the True God nor the god of religion. The names “Amorites” and “Amalekites” seem to be used interchangeably as a group of people decedent from Cain (who killed his brother able in a fit of jealousy). In typology, Amalekites stand for “the flesh,” with which we will always be at war all of our days. Those that choose to serve” the gods of the Amorites” have chosen to serve themselves, and enthrone themselves at the center of their life.
• Door #3: “We will serve the Lord.” For those who are informed, the choice of Door #3 is the only rational one, and the only one that is in the contestant’s best and highest interest. Choosing to serve the Lord of religion and over self opens up a realm of endless possibilities of good, including all of the “exceedingly great and precious promises [by which we] partake in the divine nature and escape corruption that is in the world through lust” (2 Peter 1:4).

One way that God’s “Deal” is different that the world’s “Deal” is that He tells us plainly ahead of time what the nature of our choice is. He tells us the consequences. He tells us the potential and future of each. Sometimes He even labels and hangs a sign for us! From that perspective, it is truly mind-boggling to understand that any person of reasonable snap would make any other choice than Door #3, to serve the Lord. Another difference between the “Real Deal” and the “world’s deal” is that, once the choice in favor of Door #3 is made, the contestant cannot lose it, nor can he or she “go home” with less than full standing in the Kingdom of God!