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The
Survival Game:
Who Wins?
Mankind’s fundamental philosophy
toward survival is driving the world toward disaster.
Why do so many follow a way that is so destructive? What can—and should—you
do to survive?
by Bill Bradford
Imagine
yourself marooned on an island in the South Pacific or struggling to survive
on meager provisions in the Australian outback. You find yourself with a few
competing colleagues, and all of you must exercise every ounce of ingenuity
and resourcefulness just to survive the harshness of the environment.
Not only do you have to deal with lack of food and shelter for more than six
weeks, but you must survive each other. The rules to which everyone has agreed
stipulate that every few days you will vote someone out of the group. This ousting
continues relentlessly until only one is left. The last one remaining gets the
grand prize of $1 million.
By now you have probably recognized the story line of Survivor, this season's
highest-rated American television show. Millions watch the program every week
to see who will be voted out of the group and who will "survive."
The producers of Survivor have captured the essence of the struggle for survival
from mankind's very beginnings. The show is a remarkable microcosm of human
civilization in which the viewer can watch raw human nature at work to make
sure No. 1 comes out on top.
Initially, and superficially, everyone in the group must cooperate. The participants
work together for the good of the whole group to supply food, erect shelters
and come out on top in competitions. But beyond that they fiercely compete with
each other.
It is no great surprise that the contestants quickly form alliances. They conspire
to vote out of the group whoever they consider to be the weakest link, or the
person who contributes least to the good of the group, or the individual who
simply doesn't fit in.
Later the organizers of the alliances find others turning on them, and they
find themselves voted out. The contestants manipulate, lie and betray in a surreal
cutthroat process of eliminating imagined friend and foe. As the ordeal wears
on, it's every man for himself.
Why is this television show so popular? Millions of people watch it in part
because it parallels real-life situations that we would readily recognize in
many political associations, clubs, corporations or even families. Only the
circumstances are changed, and a time limit is imposed. And let us not forget
the incentive of a large material reward.
Reflecting the real world
Nations play virtually the same game, often with deadly consequences. Before
World War II, Germany formed alliances with Italy and Austria. Hitler saw others
as a threat to his personal ambitions for massive power and Germany's dominance
in the world. The first ones to be voted out, so to speak, were the Jews. Next
was Czechoslovakia, followed by Poland.
The object of the game of world dominance was to determine who would rule. It's
the same millennia-old story.
During World War II the United States and Britain allied themselves with the
Soviet Union. No sooner was the world conflict over than the Soviets became
the enemy and Germany an ally. Similarly, during the war Japan was an enemy
and China an ally. Yet within a short time the situation reversed, with Japan
an ally and China the enemy.
It is a truism that in international politics nations do whatever it takes to
survive. That means protecting national interests by forming alliances with
countries willing to support their agendas. The balance of power must be maintained.
Other nations must not be allowed to get the upper hand. Treaties are made,
favors are dispensed, and rumors are spread-all to manipulate other countries
and promote national self-interests.
From the beginning the peoples of the world have been locked in a life-and-death
struggle with each other for survival. Everybody's underlying philosophy is
simple: If you win, you survive-and the means justifies the end.
Philosophical underpinnings
The dominant factor behind the struggle for power and the human tendency to
dominate is simply the drive to survive.
The world has always operated on the principle of putting personal interests
first. If that means one person has to subvert or subjugate another to achieve
that end, so be it.
Jesus Christ highlighted an altogether different approach when He said, "My
kingdom is not of this world" (John 18:36). His way of life helped, not
hindered, those with whom He dealt. However, archadversary Satan stood in direct
opposition to God's way of love. He was determined to thwart the Creator's plans
by influencing mankind to oppose God's will at every turn.
Satan began by telling Eve a big lie: "You will not surely die" (Genesis 3:4). Already the struggle was about survival. Our first parents accepted the
devil's way of survival: breaking God's law and rejecting God's way of love.
Few understand how the practice of exalting oneself at the expense of others
came to be so fundamental to man's relationship with his fellowman. The philosophy
of concern for other people-a way of life based on giving as opposed to getting-was
represented in the tree of life, which God made available to Adam and Eve in
the Garden of Eden.
They chose instead to eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, resulting
in both good and evil in our human nature. That fact fundamentally influences
the philosophy behind our relationships. We will do good as long as we are convinced
that doing good benefits us. But we generally will not do good when we determine
that others are doing evil toward us or when doing evil appears to have overriding
advantages.
The entirety of history after Adam is essentially an account of survivors who
would succeed by making sure others didn't. The underlying drive behind the
rise and fall of empires is one of gaining advantage and emerging as the ultimate
survivor.
Christ understood the fatal flaw
Jesus of Nazareth could predict with stunning clarity the catastrophic results
of such a selfish philosophy once it became an entrenched principle of human
behavior.
"... You will hear of wars and rumors of wars," He said. "...
For nation will rise up against nation, and kingdom against kingdom" (Matthew 24:6-7).
How did He know that wars would characterize civilization in the years to follow,
especially at the time of the end? He understood the natural consequences of
the human tendency to struggle for survival. Christ could see that the desire
to dominate others would lead to nations warring against other nations, as surely
as Cain rose up against Abel.
He understood that alliances would form into kingdoms and that they would rise
against other kingdoms. One would threaten the survival of the other. Inevitably
one would vote the other out. That would mean war. As a member of the Survivor
group said: "If you think another person is out to get you, you beat them
to the draw."
Jesus said the human race would come to the brink of self-destruction but would
survive only because God would step in to prevent human annihilation. "If
that time of troubles were not cut short, no living thing could survive, but
for the sake of God's chosen it will be cut short" (Matthew 24:22, Revised
English Bible, emphasis added throughout).
The "chosen" Christ mentioned will not only survive, they will share
in Christ's rule over the nations when He returns (Revelation 2:26). Who are
these people, and how will they survive?
A new foundation
Jesus of Nazareth came proclaiming the good news of a kingdom that would function
on the higher principle of love for others. He put the world on notice that
a different philosophy, new to the majority of mankind, was in the process of
being established.
The philosophy of love toward others would be embraced by those who understood
that this future world-ruling Kingdom would replace all other kingdoms and empires.
Jesus laid the foundation of a new world.
Jesus' new age is not here yet. Society operates on the old principle of pleasing
and serving the self. But the higher principle of love replaces the old principle
of selfishness in the few who dare follow it. They are the chosen of whom Jesus
spoke!
Christ promised to build His Church (Matthew 16:18), in which godly principles
are to prevail. Jesus didn't want strife and contention within His own body,
nor would He sanction competition between His true Church and the nations. There
would be no alliances with the state to assure the survival of Church members,
nor would there be compromises among Christ's true followers to secure acceptance
from either secular or religious authorities.
Christ's true disciples were to proclaim the true gospel among all nations and
teach them what He had taught (Matthew 24:14; 28:18-20). His followers would
have to live in the world but not subscribe to the underhanded methods this
satanic society uses to rule and survive (John 17:14-16). It was sufficient
that Christ promised that the grave would never be victorious over the Church
(Matthew 16:18). The Church would never disappear. Though a "little flock"
(Luke 12:32), it would always have an earthly presence.
Different attitude to prevail
A passage in Mark 10:35-45 illustrates Christ's point that His followers would
have a different spirit, a transformed attitude.
This incident describes two of His disciples attempting to dominate the group
by requesting the highest positions next to Christ in His Kingdom. They were
prepared to rise in power at the expense of the others. "When the ten heard
it, they began to be greatly displeased with James and John" (verse 41).
If a vote had been taken at that moment, guess who would have been voted out!
Jesus used the incident to teach a crucial lesson. He explained how different
His Kingdom would be compared with the ways of the world. "You know that
those who are considered rulers over the Gentiles lord it over them, and their
great ones exercise authority over them. Yet it shall not be so among you; but
whoever desires to become great among you shall be your servant" (verses 42-43).
Christ instructed His followers on the fundamental attitude of humility that
is always necessary in the service of others. Each was to reflect a humble attitude
of service to the others and to all who would also seek to follow Christ.
How do the elect survive?
How would we behave if we were part of a group whose members were locked in
a struggle to survive? Would we conspire against others? Jesus taught that we
must not do what comes naturally. In Luke 17:33 He tells us, "Whoever seeks
to save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life will preserve it."
Of course, life is precious in God's sight. He is its Creator. Though Christians
die, He will extend their lives beyond the grave through a resurrection to eternal
life in His Kingdom (1Corinthians 15:35-54; 1Thessalonians 4:13-18). Christ
promised faithful first-century Christians suffering persecution at Smyrna:
"Be faithful unto death, and I will give you the crown of life" (Revelation 2:10).
This great principle of God-that by losing our lives we can save them-takes
on greater significance in that dangerous period just before Christ's second
coming.
Most people, not discerning the signs of the times, will not understand the
remarkable significance of the events that will mark the end of this age. The
apostle Paul speaks of the same period Jesus referred to, the day of the Lord,
as coming "as a thief in the night" (1Thessalonians 5:2). He wrote
that "when they say, 'Peace and safety!' then sudden destruction comes
upon them, as labor pains upon a pregnant woman.
And they shall not escape" (verse 3).
Will anyone escape? If anyone does, it won't be because he knows exactly when
the world upheavals will come, enabling him to make physical preparations ahead
of time. Escape is something Christ Himself determines.
Historically, in the case of Noah during the antediluvian world and in the example
of Lot just before God destroyed Sodom, neither knew exactly how the destruction
would occur that God had predicted. God told Noah how to prepare, but Lot had
no time either to prepare or secure any belongings for himself.
Jesus warned of the urgency of the need to escape impending destruction in terminology
applicable to those living in His day: "In that day, he who is on the housetop,
and his goods are in the house, let him not come down to take them away. And
likewise the one who is in the field, let him not turn back" (Luke 17:31).
The application for us is that any attempt to preserve our lives by securing
life-sustaining goods will not be the answer to our survival during the terrible
time at the end of the age of man.
The formula for survival
Jesus indicates in Luke 17:34-37 that it is in His province to decide who will
be saved from this world's destruction and how. Read Luke 21:34-36 to learn
the kind of attitude and behavior Christ will look on with favor as this time
of unprecedented trouble draws near.
God's Word gives us further understanding through one of Christ's apostles:
"Finally, all of you be of one mind, having compassion for one another;
love as brothers, be tenderhearted, be courteous; not returning evil for evil
or reviling for reviling, but on the contrary blessing, knowing that you were
called to this, that you may inherit a blessing" (1Peter 3:8-9).
Peter continues with his point in verses 10-12: "For 'He who would love
life and see good days, let him refrain his tongue from evil, and his lips from
speaking deceit. Let him turn away from evil and do good; let him seek peace
and pursue it. For the eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and His ears are
open to their prayers; but the face of the LORD is against those who do evil.'"
In other words, says Peter, no alliances, no manipulating, no lying, no struggling
for preservation at the expense of others is allowed. It is total reliance on
God vs. reliance on self that enables His chosen to survive. They must be prepared
to give their lives rather than violate the principles of the Kingdom of God
that Christ taught. Indeed, some of them will be martyred, just as many of the
apostles and other early Christians were murdered, because of their beliefs
(Revelation 6:11).
|
Recommended Reading For more information
on this developing world-ruling government, please request the free
publications The Book of Revelation Unveiled, Are We Living
in the Time of the End? and You Can Understand Bible Prophecy. |
However, God's Word assures us that God's chosen will prevail in the end. "Now
salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of His Christ
have come, for the accuser of our brethren, who accused them before our God
day and night, has been cast down. And they overcame him by the blood of the
Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to
the death" (Revelation 12:10-11).
As Jesus said earlier: "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes
in Me, though he may die, he shall live" (John 11:25).
Here are people who, when accused, appeal to the blood of the Lamb for their
justification and place their future in the hands of their Teacher, the One
who said He would always be with them, even to the end of the age (Matthew 28:20).
Surviving the end
An extraordinary prophecy tells us that others of God's people (symbolized by
a woman in Revelation 12:13-17) will be given protection from the presence of
the devil and nourished so they can survive during the crucial period just before
Jesus returns.
This prophecy reminds us of one of the promises of Christ to His Church: "Because
you have kept My command to persevere, I also will keep you from the hour of
trial which shall come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the
earth" (Revelation 3:10).
The "hour of trial" refers to the very end of our present age (Matthew 24:3). God's people understand that, because they faithfully follow the teachings
of Christ, they can be protected from the overpowering control of the devil
and those he influences. The account of their divine protection is graphically
pictured in Revelation 12:14-16.
Some will survive Satan's final attempts to bring the world under his direct
control through the all-pervasive government symbolized by the "beast"
described in the book of Revelation. Will you be among them? Will you be a spiritual
survivor?
You can be, and you can understand the meaning of the horrific events that will
mark the end of this age prophesied in the Bible many centuries ago. GN
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2001-2022 United Church of God, an International Association
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