To Catch a Sinner

The videos embedded above are compilations of some highlights from one of my guilty pleasures, "To Catch a Predator," and its Canadian counterpart.

It's a highly entertaining show because of a few reasons, though it does shed light on a very disturbing, frustrating, and sad underbelly that is shockingly real.

One of the major draws for me is the rawness of it all. The reactions when people are caught, the lies that they try to tell, the despair that gushes out of some of them...it all shows the stripped down nature of these men, who are drowning in their own perversions and lusts, to the point where their consciences are virtually silenced.

But to be honest, the more and more I watch "To Catch a Predator," the more I realize that there is something painfully true and "holy" in these reactions.

Now, please don't read into that too much and think that I am defending these wretched people and trying to hide them behind religion (some of them do that by themselves). I'm just saying that when these people first see Chris Hansen walk out and realize that they are caught, there is a very obvious indication that they are fully aware that they are in the wrong, that they are evil, and that justice is headed their way.

Those are all traits of one who is in the presence of holiness, isn't it?

Whether the predator immediately apologizes, breaks down, yells at the host, or even tries to run away, he is fully aware that his deepest, darkest self is unveiled for all the world to see and he immediately realizes that that self is wholly wicked and punishable. Any reaction they have is founded upon a deep fear and gloom.

In its most basic form, this epiphany is virtually identical to those of various figures in the Bible when they were in God's presence or were in the face of impending wrath. (Deut. 9:18, 1 Kings 18:39, 1 Chron. 9:20, Luke 5:8, Heb. 12:21)

And in a very strange way, I almost envy this moment of enlightenment that these sexually depraved men have on that show.

I know that we are no longer living in Old Testament times, and that Christ's life, death, and resurrection close the gap between us and our Creator, but I still feel as though I do not understand God's holiness and my iniquity enough.

If I did, I would turn into the same blabbering, remorseful, and fearful man that those men became.

So, I guess there is a part of me that really wishes that I would be caught in the Lord's holiness one day, and that I would experience that moment of truth, of total clarity, where I would finally understand what I am compared to what he is. I am convinced that even a passing moment in that state would change me forever.

Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. Therefore, my dear friends, as you have always obeyed—not only in my presence, but now much more in my absence—continue to work out your salvation with fear and trembling, for it is God who works in you to will and to act according to his good purpose.

- Philippians 2:9-13