Along with millions of others across the UK, I have been faithfully watching The Traitors on BBC since New Year’s Day. Described as “the ultimate game of deception”, the show’s contestants gather at a Scottish castle where a small number of them are selected to be Traitors. The rest, designated as Faithfuls, then have to try and banish the Traitors before they ‘murder’ everyone else, to win a prize of up to £120,000.

As a Christian, it’s probably not surprising that one of the contestants who has got my attention is Reverand Lisa Coupland. When she introduced herself in Episode 1, she said: “My name is Lisa. I am 62-years-old, and I actually think that any self-respecting murder mystery needs to have a priest in it.” One of the best arguments I think I’ve heard to

At first, she chose to remove her dog collar, claiming she was “off duty”. However, as the series went on she revealed to everyone that she was an ordained priest, after someone questioned her reference to God being her witness.

One of the things she said that stood out to me is when host Claudia Winkleman asked “Can you lie?” she replied: “Yes. I’m a priest, not a saint.”

It reminded me of Romans 3:23: “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.”

No matter how hard we strive to do what is right, to live as Jesus taught us, to none of us are perfect. We all sin, we all fail, we all fall short. That is why we need Jesus, who gave his life to forgive our sins so that we can be reunited with Christ.

Jesus calls us to be like him, but we are never going to live up to God’s perfect standards. As such, we can only receive salvation through Christ.

“I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” – John 14:6

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