The Amazing Race

I think I watched the very first season of The Amazing Race, and I enjoyed it, but for some reason I have not watched it since then. However, I wanted to watch Fed Chief Bernanke’s interview on 60 Minutes last Sunday, and the Race immediately followed, so I watched once again.

The teams were in Russia, started in Siberia as a matter of fact, and I was intrigued as they communicated with the local people. Interestingly, one of the teams has a young man who is deaf, as well.

I vaguely remember feeling this same way the first time I watched the show, but isn’t it fascinating how Americans just expect that everyone should speak English? One of the teams was loudly yelling, “Stop!” to its cab driver and then did not hide their disgust when the driver did not stop right away. At another moment, ladies were appalled when none of the Russian snow plow drivers spoke any English.

Once when I was attending mass at St. Peter’s Basilica in Vatican City, I witnessed a lovely older Italian man politely asking an American to remove his hat before entering. The senior was very proud of his church and felt it should be respected. Now, does God care if we wear a hat in church or not? Of course not, but God cares a great deal about whether we violate what is treasured by another person.

My fellow American refused, said something about it being his inalienable right to wear a hat and all, and a scene erupted. I felt completely mortified as I realized that many Americans really do think we are an amazing race, and that everyone else is somehow secondary. Naturally, I got involved, and said a few four letter words in both English and Italian to make my point. What can I say? I was young and foolish, but the old man smiled and later sat with me through the service. Turns out he was a seasoned tour guide, employed by the Vatican, and after mass I was treated to stories and back rooms that most people never get to hear or see.

The deaf man on The Amazing Race communicates using his hands. Some of the teams have bothered to bring language translation books and are making the effort to speak in a brand new, often hard, way. I admire their effort.

Sometimes I think that Christians do the hat thing, too. We have our own language – better known as Christianese. We forget it is a foreign language to some and we somehow expect people to just get it. Then we get defensive or elitist when we are asked to dig deeply and explain what our catch phrases mean beyond their sounds. I wonder if the truth of our lives behind our words aren't sometimes as hollow as the words themselves.

Perhaps we should remember what is truly amazing and what’s not. Jesus is amazing. Being forgiven is amazing. Knowing God is amazing. Feeling entitled to judge is not an inalienable right, and pretending that the Christian life is a perfect life is just plain foolish - and not at all amazing.

Just a thought, but I wonder if Christians would solicit more credibility/respect by treating people to stories and back rooms that they don't usually let people hear or see.