If you have not seen any of the reality shows that are being consumed by TV viewers, then you’ve probably been in a comma or stranded on some remote island in the Pacific.  America is a glutton for the gross-out gourmet buffets found on Fear Factor.  Millions of viewers are setting their DVD recorders to archive adults eating everything from earth worms to 1½ inch Rhodesian roaches.  Of course the winner gets $50,000, but all the losers get are a free meal and a chance to appear on national TV eating things most of us wouldn’t touch with gloves on.

One of the best loved themes are the makeover shows.  We love ‘em, don’t we?  It doesn’t matter if it’s a house, a wardrobe, a motor vehicle or a person.  We love watching Jessie as he turns an average Ford Mustang into a 110MPH lawnmower or a standard SUV into a garbage eating monster.  Most of all, we are entertained by the frumpy house wife with buck-teeth who is turned into a fashion model in just one hour. 

	LaPaula is a surgical unit charge nurse.  She has been married for thirteen years and has three children, ages 16, 10 and 4.  She resides in Monroe, Georgia.  LaPaula received a brow lift, upper and lower eyelid lift, chin-jowel implant, fat pads were removed from her cheeks, liposuction of hip rolls, inner thighs and under chin, her gum and lip were repositioned to decrease gummy smile, breast augmentation with perilift, tummy tuck, LASIK eye surgery, orthodontic retainer, 8 daVinci porcelain veneers, and Zoom whitening. For more info:http://abc.go.com/primetime/extrememakeover/gallery.html
	Anthony is a Telecommunications Project Manager.  He has been married for 5 years and has 4 children, ages 13, 9, 4 ½ and 4 ½.  He resides in Everet, Washington.  Anthony received Septo/rhinoplasty, lower eyelid lift, fat pads removed from cheeks, chin implant, liposuction of neck, abdomen and hip rolls with creation of "abdominal cuts", V-Beam, LASIK eye surgery, 6 daVinci porcelain veneers, and Zoom whitening. For more info: http://abc.go.com/primetime/extrememakeover/gallery.html
	Manu is a high ranking career soldier who wants to feel and look more feminine. A family woman who's served her country with honor, Manu is proud of all her accomplishments but was ready to put on a pair of heels and be admired as a sophisticated woman. An extreme makeover transformed this tough soldier from captain to captivating! Manu received a rhinoplasty, buccal fat pad removal, liposuction of inner thighs, back and submental area (under chin), breast lift with enlargement, tummy tuck, LASIK eye surgery, Foto facial, laser hair removal, microdermabrasion, acne surgery and Zoom whitening. For more info: http://abc.go.com/primetime/extrememakeover/gallery.html

I’m no sociologist and I’m definitely not a psychologist, but I’m suspicious that our obsession with makeover shows says something about the people populating the living rooms of America.  It implies that a great majority of us are dissatisfied with…

• the house we live in,
• the car we drive, and
• the way we look. 

We want our life to change.

Makeover shows offer a glimmer of hope to us.  Maybe, just maybe, with the help of a wardrobe expert, a plastic surgeon and a cosmetic dentist, I can look cover-boy cool.

I wonder if these extreme makeovers last. 

• I wonder if the couple who had their pig-sty of a house reorganized by a team of experts has continued to live a pristine and orderly existence. 
• Some gay guys got their hands on some schmuck and changed his wardrobe and hair style, but I wonder what he looked like six weeks after their renovation?  Combing someone’s hair doesn’t change their heart and heart change is the only change that really lasts!

I’ve experienced three X-treme Office Makeovers and within three weeks I managed to have everything back the way it was before those gold organizers redid.

Could it be that the kind of genuine change we’re longing for takes more than an hour to accomplish?  Liposuction, rhinoplasty, buccal fat pad removal and a tummy tuck won’t give us the life we want.  The abundant life we’re after can’t be purchased with money.  Oh it will cost us, but the bill can’t be paid with silver and gold.  Oh yeah, you need to know this also: you can’t do it by yourself.  We still need Jesus.

As Christians, change, real change, comes when we commit to living the Christ life.  It is not the result of start and stop attempts at practicing WWJD.  Instead of trying to figure out what Jesus would do, we actually do what Jesus actually did.  Change comes as we do what we see in Jesus, all the time. 

• Would Jesus cheat on His income tax?  NO! 
• Would Jesus buy Internet porn?  NO!
• Would Jesus lie? NO!
• Would Jesus speak the truth in love?  YES!
• Would Jesus defend those oppressed by bullies?  YES!

The kind of change we long for isn’t automatic, quick or easy!  This may come as a shock, but there is no such thing as a one-hour-drive-through-saint-o-matic-makeover.  There is no such thing as a spiritual spa where you can go and soak away your impatience or unbelief or anger or addiction to porn in an hour.  NO!

Sure, I believe in miracles, but most life changes begin with decisions and continue with disciplined commitment. 

Paul called Spirit empowered believers to take responsible action. In Ephesians 4:22, he wrote:

“…lay aside the old self [your former way of living], which leads to pollution and decay because it is controlled by deceptive desires. Start by changing your attitude, then continue by putting on the new self [the radical new way of life that has been fashioned by God, a life renewed from the inside and working itself into your conduct as God accurately reproduces His character in you]” (Eph. 4:22,23,24).

Colossians 3:2 – “Set you mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth.”

Does this mean we have to do all the work?  No!  Paul’s prayer in 1Thessalonians 5:23 declares, “…may the God of peace Himself sanctify you entirely…”.  God is at work in us and with us, seeking to change us into the image of His dear Son. (See Romans 8:29.)

Have you noticed the process that makeover show participants go through?

1. They admit their house or their body needs a makeover.  Now there’s a novel idea that requires some humility.
2. They give complete control over to the makeup or renovation team.
3. They go through a messy transformation.  Everything gets torn up.
4. They experience surgery, pain, stitches, exercise, diet and more.
5. They are hidden away for two or three months.
6. Everyone is awed by the changes and some people don’t like the new person.

Participants in makeover shows go through a lot of trouble to get a six-pack, a shinny smile and a smoother complexion and that for superficial changes that won’t last.  God wants to give us a makeover that will continuously improve and last forever.  He wants to do more than whiten your teeth and make your nose perfect.  He wants to change you from the inside out.  He wants to make you everything He created you to be.  Here’s what you need to do so He can begin your X-treme Makeover.

1. Admit you need a makeover.
2. Ask God to do whatever it takes to make you the person He wants you to be.
3. Give the Holy Spirit complete control.
4. Expect surgery, pain, stitches, removal, a diet change, exercise and more.
5. Expect to be hidden away for a season.
6. Don’t be surprised when others are surprised by the new you, or with those who do not like the new you.

I can assure you of this, whatever changes He makes in you now will become X-treme in the life to come.

“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not been revealed as yet what we shall be.  We know that, when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him just as He is” (1Jn. 3:2).

Until then, “…every one who has this hope fixed on Him purifies himself, just as He is pure” (1Jn. 3:4).

• Start today!
• Confess your need for an extreme makeover.
• Give Him a place to work!
• Yield control to HIM!
• Endure the surgery and get ready for the awesome results.  In His capable hands you and I will be transformed into the image of Christ! 

Sources:

http://www.the-next-wave.org/stories/storyReader$282