A Christian Analysis on Survivor: David versus Goliath

I don’t yet know how the season that just ended will turn out. But what I do know is that I started this post in question shortly after the season premiere ended. I’m going to mention any possible elements that I feel are Christian like in any way and put them in this blog post. Maybe I’ll find some biblical man or woman to compare each of these people to. Enjoy this post.

Episode one: The reward challenge is a good place to start with the theme of good versus evil. It often seems like the devil can try to stack things against you by sending his strongest versus those he thinks are the weakest. But the good people are able to outsmart them and play by rules that they are able to beat him like that. Power is often sought after by others, which is what we saw here. It can make people cocky or alienate those in the group. We also see how not everyone likes those in charge, but things get done that often don’t get done without them. Pat was pulled from the game, despite being strong in some ways. He can be described as like Samson in a way where he has a tragic end to his story.

Episode two: I don’t know right away what would be a good analysis for this episode. But if I think about it, I can think of how we are supposed to work together and that would be a good thing in the end. We see what happens when someone gets paranoid easily and that can cause issues. Sometimes, all we need is a friend which is why there is a friend who sticks closer than a brother. Jessica can be surprised by her downfall, which is like how some prideful people can be like. The only analysis I can think of in a quick manner is how a woman in the book of Acts lied and God struck her down.

Episode three: Sometimes in life, we need a bit of a humbling experience in order to realize that we are not always in control. Jeremy got this in this episode when he was voted out for stirring up trouble in camp. There are tons of examples of this, but perhaps one that comes to mind is Jacob’s brother who was quick to sell his own birthright.

Episode four: Often times, it can seem like the deck is stacked against the heroes as the villains seem to outnumber the heroes but the heroes are still able to outsmart the others. We see how often one can be tempted to turn on their own. We also see how quickly one must act in order to get advantages that they wouldn’t otherwise get. The downfall of Natalia was kind of like the person who built their house upon the sand and it washed away with the tide. She thought that she had something strong, but she did not in the end. In fact, that can be seen as a theme with the phrase Goliath Strong that came up throughout this season.

Episode five: Life can cause disasters after storms, but if you are prepared for them, you will be able to weather such disasters. Once again, we see the Davids being able to outsmart a Goliath at their own game and take one out. Natalie might have had too much pride in the game. There are biblical people who thought they were in control, but weren’t. A good example is Ahab from 1 Kings 18:16-46. And the best example regarding pride is Proverbs 16:18.

Episode six: The fact that so many people were targets this episode is a good analogy for how the devil works and how he is always targeting anyone and everyone that he can. People can often struggle in the challenges that life brings us. While some are able to work through them, others fall short. It reminds me of a bible verse that says, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” I don’t remember if that is the exact verse or not. I also don’t remember where in the bible it might have been from. One tribe showed us how people should work together when a woman was able to emphasize with another when she was upset. The other tribe showed issues with people not getting along and easily upset with each other. Elizabeth was not heeding the advice of Ephesians 4:26 & 27.

Episode seven: The merge brought all of the tribes together. There were also issues with tons of all of the players that came to life. There are cases where bad people win, if only for a moment, in the case of when Angelina got her way by eliminating her competition of Elizabeth. It could be like how Samson never should have told Delilah about his secret to strength and how he lost it as a result. That is best described in Judges Chapter 16.

Episode eight: Sometimes, one has to outsmart their opponent in order to win. We got to see some of this at tribal council itself. Knowing when to make the right move is also a good part of the game. It is mentioned best in Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 when it is the best time to do everything.

Episode nine: One can get power in the game that one often cannot get by themselves. Such is the type of power that God can give us through faith in him. We saw a vote where the David tribe needed the extra power to get rid of a good threat. There’s a good contemporary Christian song: There is Power that speaks to the type of strength that Christians in general have.

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UoOJwel1CQU

Episode ten: This two hour episode has a lot in it. What all related to Christ? The topic of self sacrifice came up when Angelina gave up her chance at immunity in order to get the tribe more food to last them the rest of the game. The downfall of Carl seemed like a good example of pride. It is something that one should avoid having. The best verse about it is Proverbs 16:18.

Episode eleven: Knowing when to make the right move is a huge part of the game and it factors into the episode of that day. Betrayal was a key theme to this episode and it can be avoided if you know what to do. Jesus famously was betrayed and was able to come back from it. An idol play could be considered coming back from the dead since you are able to avoid death that would have otherwise happened to you. I know it’s not the same thing, but I think the analogy works.

Episode twelve: God was actually mentioned in this episode. Davie brought him up when wondering what to do with the game of chance that he could have played. He thought that God told him not to risk his vote. Nick started to deceive people in this episode, although others weren’t buying his cons. I think that there were a lot of times in the bible that lies were easily debunked.

Episode thirteen: God was once again mentioned in this episode at the time when the jury voted for people to win. If you read the bible, especially the Old Testament, you will see that God uses all sorts of flawed people to do his works. King David was one of them. Nick has some flaws as a winner. He was kind of a villain in some ways and could have worked with people more than he did. But he was still the person who was chosen to win by the other players. Nick seemed fitting to win as the last of the players from the David tribe. He was kind of an underdog towards the end. Also in the episode, Angelina had some issues with finding power on her own, so she asked for help with it. That reminds me of the song Seek Ye First. It probably quotes some part of the bible I’m not as familiar with.

Link to song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9LMQfOp9w8k

Reunion show: I don’t think that there were any good examples of what a type of Christian like thing had happened in the reunion show. They talked about some of what happened after the game with some of the people, but not much, if anything, could be gathered from a Christian perspective about this season. At least the rest of the episodes had good parts to them.

That’s about it for this blog post. I don’t know what all I might write about until the show starts again. If I ever miss a Wednesday, I’ll be sure to explain why later. Remember that I might post on Wednesdays and Sundays during the winter hiatus, although it has been a while since I’ve done that. If you want to know what I’ll be watching until Survivor returns, then be sure to read my Madam Secretary blog. Also, the most recent post of my CSI: Cyber blog has a link to the song Blurred Lines in it. That was a theme that was mentioned throughout the season. For now, this is Adam Decker, signing off.