American Idol “You gotta Serve Somebody”

I was helping a seminary student write a theme paper the other day (the title was really long but I remember the jist) by answering the question she asked as part of the paper.  “From a christian perspective, why is American Idol so popular?”  There were other people who offered their insight into this pop phenomena and most were pretty much the same.

 1. People can connect with the contestants because they do a good job of making you familiar with them during the time they’re on the show.

2. Most people have a desire to be an entertainer themselves.

3. People like to participate in the judging and give their two cents worth (along with others).

 It was interesting to note that no one gave an answer in relation to the question she asked which tends to be the case among most Christians. She asked the question “From a CHRISTIAN perspective, not a YOU perspective or a REST of the world perspective, but Christian, which means in relationship to God.

 As Christians our perspective should always be based on a position as it relates to God as the starting and ending point. My answer to her was this: 

 The reason American Idol is so popular is because it best represents how we are in our fallen condition, especially as it relates to God vs idols. Bob Dylan once penned the words,

 “Oh it may be the devil the devil or it may be the Lord but you got to serve somebody”. 

 Man is fashioned, designed and created to worship, there’s no void or vacuum in this area he will always worship something no matter what. From a christian perspective God has determined that those whom He has created shall worship Him alone, and no one or nothing besides Him (which He spelled out more than once in scripture) unfortunately the bent of man is to turn his gaze away from God and serve himself. And note: this is the ideal environment for idolatry; turning your attention, desire and efforts away from God towards other things. No matter which direction he goes away from God man must have something before him, within his reach or gaze that he can and will worship. Man MUST. 

 This is why God warned men not to whack on rocks or logs in order to fashion things to worship because those things aren’t Him. He knew their hearts were inclined to do just that which really tends to tick God off. 

So here’s what happens in the area of idols that fits with American Idol.

A person has to worship something (Dylan) so they take something which is lesser than them, rock, wood, or what ever, and with their own hands fashion it into something that resembles some other created thing (which is also lesser than them). Once man fashions this piece of wood or rock, he then submits himself to IT.  Man, who is responsible for the idol’s very existence, a thing which wouldn’t exist if it hadn’t been for the creativity of the man in the first place, now submits and hands over his own authority to the very lesser thing which his hands have made. “I made you and now I will do what ever you say”. This really has to upset God because man has actually handing over the authority given to him by God to a stump of wood. “If you’re going to give up your authority any way you might as well give it back to me!”   

American Idol: The contestants on American Idol are just basic folks, like us when they arrive for their auditions. Chris Daughtry worked at a Chevy dealership in their customer service department, David Cook worked as a waiter and Cari Underwood was a farm girl in the midwest. These people were not considered to be important to us or the rest of America, they were people who served us and were part of the background of our lives. Simply put, they were nobodies (figuratively speaking).

Each contestant is at the mercy of the voters, us. All during the competition they are desperate for you and me to help them continue to move forward and not get voted out and have to go home, WE have authority over THEM. but slowly along the way they become formed and fashioned, gaining notoriety, popularity and receiving more and more attention. Finally we arrive at the end and one person is voted (by us) to be the “NEXT American IDOL”. 

So there they are a very famous person who we now admire, and wish we were LIKE.  We wait in line to pay $45 – $75  to get a ticket to their concerts, wait in line to get into that concert and once inside our hearts pound in expectant adulation that they’ll soon appear on the stage so we can lift our voices and hands in adoring praise. We seek their autographs, shirts, CD’s or a precious quick glance towards us who are buried deep in the sea of humanity pouring out before them.

This is our tendency as a people who are fallen and are turned from God, making something from nothing and then serve that which we have made. It fits perfect with what we read about us in scripture except we’re able to disguise it for what it really is because it’s so far removed from what we do as the church.

It’s interesting to note the increase in the number of “professing” christians who are the contestants on American Idol and the impact the church has a voting block towards their success in the competition. Why? We love our idols. I mean come on, when was the last time you saw people getting as excited in church on a Sunday morning as they do at a professional sporting event or a concert, there’s an overwhelming expectation to actually get to see someone they admire, adore, respect and love, someone who at some point, they believe, impacted their life.  

It sucks to arrive 10 – 15 minutes late into the beginning of a concert but it doesn’t suck to arrive late for sunday worship. We love our Idols. 

 So, this is our tendency as a fallen people who have turned our face from God and have sought to satisfy our selves with the submitted worship of that which we have created with our own hands.

We love our idols.

Golden Boy vs Golden Girls

I was born in Portland and have lived in Oregon all my life and have always thought we have one of the coolest capitol buildings in the country, the marble, the clean cut lines and the really neat looking dome it truly is unique. But the greatest thing has always been the pioneer guy on the top, he has this solid, confident, determined look to him like he knows who he is and what he’s going to do, get something done, plow some land, cut down a tree or build a cabin out of logs with his bare hands. Yeah! Being covered in gold doesn’t hurt either.  When I drive through town I can’t help but take a glance towards the building and be impressed with that guy. But these days I’m loosing a little confidence in the leader symbol of this great “pioneer” state; today our guy leaders can be trans-gender, wear women’s dresses, or pack fudge with (barely) eighteen year old interns, which makes me begin to look at the pioneer guy with a little suspicion.  Is that really a cloak he has thrown over his shoulder to protect him from the elements or is it material he plans to use for curtains, a couch throw or perhaps a mid length summer dress? Is his westward gaze fixed towards the unsettled land towards the pacific ocean with thoughts of territorial conquest or is he actually fixing his gaze towards the young tanned farm hand he hired a week ago? You know I’m beginning to doubt this guys motives up there, I never used to but I do now, I’m not sure but I think I see sequins on the handle of that axe.

Know When To Hold’em

Will Build To Suit

Mystery Solved

It’s a Dog’s Life

Just a few weeks ago I had to take our dog to the vet and have him put to sleep he was getting pretty old, wasn’t able to see real well and had lost a majority of his teeth. He had been a good dog over the years, we brought him home as a puppy when our kids were, … well,… kids. His name was Roger (the people we bought him from had named him that and it stuck). He did the usual puppy stuff like peeing on my pant leg while I was wearing them, making a “mess” in all the wrong places, throwing up at the wrong time on the most valuable things and tearing up what ever was within reach. He really was a good dog, he loved to go on walks, check out the “big dogs” fetch things (but never bring them back) being chased and riding in my truck. He was the kid’s dog while they still lived at home, getting dressed in doll clothes, being slid across the kitchen floor and snuck under their covers when it was time for bed (he knew that wasn’t allowed). 

As the kids grew up and moved away from home he became my dog, I fed him, took him out at night and “cleaned up” after him. We had a knack for wandering off at the most inconvenient times and I would swear each time that I was “not” going to go look “that dog”, but I soon found myself searching with my flashlight several blocks away in the dark at two in the morning only to find him walking along a busy highway (stupid dog). 

He once got sprayed by a skunk and guess who had to wash him in tomato juice? 

We used to live in the country and I had a bucket behind the barn where I would sit and watch the sun go down and ask God a lot of questions and Roger was always there with me during those spiritual episodes (really don’t think he was paying much attention though. Roger, not God). I would get mad at that dog, pet him, scratch him, talk to him, laugh at him and simply sit playing the guitar with him lying at my feet. He was a good dog.

So Roger got older and I knew I was facing a tough decision, when was the right time to take him to the vet and have him put to sleep? I threatened to do it a couple of times when he made me mad at him but my wife would look at me and say, “dear you’re not going to take him in and you know it, you just talk tough”. She was right. But his health slowly started to get worse, he walked a little slower bumped into things, would wander off and not find his way back. He was “okay” but I knew each day was a little harder on him and tomorrow wasn’t going to get any better. So the day came, I called the vet on a saturday morning and they had an opening in 45 minutes, I really didn’t want to schedule it a week out because I just couldn’t do that, 45 minutes … do it…. just get it done.  

I found him in the house asleep in his bed, picked him up and put him in my truck (which perked him right up because he LOVED to ride in my truck). We drove to the vet and I took him to the front counter. They wanted to know if I wanted to be there when they injected him. 

“Do you mean, do I want to watch you kill my dog? No!”

Do you want to take him home? “No” 

“I just want to pay, give you my dog and leave”. Geez!

So that’s what I did. I paid, petted by dog, scratched him on the head a few times, handed him to the girl on the other side of the counter and left.

It was a strange drive home with plenty of time to think and process what had just happened. I’ve always seen and processed things from God’s perspective and this was no different. It was hard for me to decide that this would be the day my dog would die, one minute he’s sleeping in his bed next to the fire place in the family room and I make the decision that in forty five minutes he’s going to be put to sleep. Not an easy thing, making a decision like that …. who do I think I am? God? How do I decide, … now, … because I say so. I get to determine the “when”. Being the one to decide didn’t settle well. I began to see from God’s perspective, if it’s hard for me to decide when my dog should die, how much harder for God in His sovereignty to determine when each of us, whom He has created in His own image, should die. Sorry I don’t want that choice. But God does it every second of every day with those whom He knew before He laid the foundation of the world, He knew us as He formed us in our mothers womb, fearfully and wonderfully made, we are. How does God do it? What goes through His mind? If He knows those who have not accepted Him are destined for hell, how does He handle the decision, “In ten minutes you’re done”? He’s numbered our days and has established our steps yet somehow in His eternal sovereignty He’s not writhing in uncertainty or guilt. 

A baby, a teenager, mother, soldier, husband, friend or grandfather, each life span is acceptable to God, each sufficient, each satisfies, each enough. 

So, I drive home in my truck without my dog trying to ponder my way through the dark mysterious cloud that shrouds the fearful sovereignty that is God’s and God’s alone hoping to somehow catch a glimpse of the Glory upon which it rests.

CHANGE

Don’t Blame India

So, I remember during the month of July the reason that gas was so expensive ($4.37 a gallon) was due to “increased demand world wide”. Then the experts made the comment, ‘don’t expect to ever see gas prices to ever drop back down to $3.50 a gallon. Okay, that makes sense but why am I driving into the gas station just under three months later and I’m paying less than three dollars a gallon? ($2.79 to be exact) What part of the world suddenly quit driving? Why did they quit driving? Did millions of people in India get flat tires across the country and there aren’t enough to replace the flat one’s? Did China run out of money after spending all of their extra money on the Olympics building that bird nest mini storage place? I’m not the expert other people are but I think I know why.

GREATEST HITS

“Probing” Into the Netherlands

 I have to ask my self if the Netherlands

has or ever will win an olympic gold medal?

Or …

Why is it they have never risen up to be a world power?

I guess you’d have to ask their

Crown Prince Willem-Alexander or at least his wife Princess Maxima

seated next to him here

who’s thinking to herself,

“unst graein schtuoop noigen” or

“I can’t believe he’s doing that again!”

Dunno.