(“Gospel Idol” – Where God is mentioned, but people get the praise)
While attempting to find my way to the library, I drove by a sign that said “Gospel Idol Auditions” were being held. I was immediately disgusted. For starters, why would a church want to do things as the world does? Besides never being a fan of “American Idol”, I don’t see how any Christian could think having a “gospel idol” is a good thing. Doesn’t the phrase alone seem to contradict itself?
Gospel – the story of Christ’s life and teachings, esp. as contained in the first four books of the new testament, namely Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.; glad tidings, esp. concerning salvation and the Kingdom of God as announced to the world by Christ.
Idol – an image or other material object representing a deity to which religious worship is addressed; any person or thing regarded with blind admiration, adoration, or devotion
If the purpose of gospel/praise and worship music is to glorify God and lift up the name of Jesus, what business do we have promoting ourselves to a position that, by title alone, demands people to pay attention to us? What right do we have to attempt to take any worship from God?
I went to a gospel idol homepage to look around. Not surprisingly, I saw uploaded videos that had nothing to do with God in any way, shape or form. A couple videos were about celebrities, and another one was about cheese. Cheese!!! As I looked around the internet for information on this ridiculous event, I realized that this is nation-wide (one of the perks & drawbacks of refusing to order cable). Not everyone calls it by this title, but they work the same way. I visited some pages promoting different winners, and all I saw were people talking about how far the winners would go in their careers, how this is “the answer” to the secular show, sexy clothing, excessive jewelry, worldly dancing and album promoting. The message, if there is any true message, is buried under the fanfare surrounding the performer.
Then again….the winner is the idol and should receive all the admiration, right? Apparently, God’s role in these shows is just to lure in another type of crowd by name-dropping. Why bother praising God for Who He is and what He does when you can applaud the person on stage that can get you emotionally charged instead? Say “yyyyeeeesssss!”
Excuse me while I take something to settle my stomach.