Christians behaving badly on "I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!"

June 2, 3:28 PMChristian Living ExaminerJoanne Brokaw

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Last night NBC's new reality show, "I'm A Celebrity Get Me Out Of Here!" debuted, with ten celebrities dumped in a Costa Rican jungle and left to the mercy of viewers at home, who vote for challenges and rewards and generally get to watch the castaways perform like monkeys. Like most train wrecks, it's one of those shows that you don't really want to watch, but for some macabre reason can't seem to tear your eyes away from.

Fortunately, I was only mesmerized for about 20 minutes. But that was long enough to burn images into my retinas that I won't be able to get rid of for a long time. That's because, once again, we have another reality show featuring Christians behaving badly.

Stephen Baldwin, who's also on the show, has become the token Christian on reality shows like this, from "The Mole" to "Celebrity Apprentice," but I'm not talking about him. He's generally a good guy; just annoys his co-workers sometimes. He's goofy, but sincere in his faith.

I'm talking about pop culture's most frightening couple, "The Hills'" Heidi and Spencer. That I even know who they are is scary enough, but that these two have been promoting themselves as Christians last night is even scarier.

Don't get me wrong. I'm thrilled that they've found Jesus, and that they've been vocal about it. That's not the kind of PR that a hot TV star usually needs. But the kind of behavior they displayed last night isn't necessarily the kind of PR Jesus needs, either.

I'm talking about Spencer's meltdown. When the primping and preening newlyweds left the show again, the remaining characters decided to divvy up their goods. Problem is Heidi and Spencer weren't really gone, and when the duo came strolling back into camp they found Sanjaya had taken their cot and the others were using their hair care products. Oh, the horror! They used Heidi's hair spray! Call in the National Guard!

Spencer went on a rampage, yelling, stomping and generally threatening everyone else in camp, at one point screaming, "I’m a big, mean, angry grizzly bear!" Heidi tells the camera later that Spencer is a new Christian and is working on his anger issues.

 Christians aren't perfect, obviously, and there's no doubt that you've seen non-celebrity Christians act equally self-absorbed and unhinged in real life. But when celebrities do this, it's even harder to get out from under the stereotype that Christians are hypocrites, that we preach out of one side of our mouths and then act like lunatics with the other.

The only thing we can do is remember that the Christian walk is a bit like a reality show. Someone is always watching, and I'm not just talking about Jesus. The minute you tell people that you're a Christian, you're under a microscope and everyone is waiting for you to act, well, human. The only thing you can do is pray, pray, pray and when you act badly, ask for forgiveness and do better next time. If you're going to be transparent with your actions, be as equally transparent with your remorse.

I have no idea what happened on the show later; I turned the TV off when Spencer took Torri's backpack across the river and hid it because he was mad at her because, as Heidi said, she "vandalized my hair product." I'd like to think there were apologies all around. But I'm sure that at some point during three weeks in the jungle Stephen Baldwin will attempt to share the gospel with at least one other celebrity. Let's hope he can reach out to Spencer and take him under his wing.

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