AP Photo/Eric Jamison
As the bombardment of recent news and commentary on American Idol and the Miss USA Pageant kept piling up, I began thinking about why there's so much interest in these events. It came to me that they hold a few things in common, and I decided to write about it. You may be wondering what this list has to do with Evangelicals. Keep reading, and I’ll make it clear in a moment.
1. Controversy
It seems you can’t have an American Idol season or a beauty pageant these days without a great deal of controversy. Embarrassing photos, the contest is fixed, past or current drug/alcohol use, comments made that hurt someone’s feelings, the wrong contestant was chosen according to the public, etc. We could go on and on. One thing about controversy: it draws a big crowd. A big crowd means big ratings. Big ratings mean big money. Ah, so that’s the end game of controversy: money. Go figure.
2. Whacked-out judges .jpg)
AP Photo/Chris Pizzello, file
OK, I get it. Somebody has to decide a winner. Supposedly these people are experts on what they are judging. However, they come off as total kooks at times. How did these judges get their jobs anyway? You can’t tell me that millions of people each week don’t sit in front of their TV screens and think, “I could SO do a better job of judging than that guy/girl!” We wonder if they are watching the same competition that we are. You know what? Viewers keep coming back, because we want to see what the kook judges will do or say this week.
3. They throw like girls
I know, that’s not a fair statement to say about women in beauty pageants. After all, they ARE girls. But have you seen some of these guys? Arnold would definitely call them “ girlie men.” What I really mean is this: they’re not real people to me. All the real people I know, even the girls, have at least this in common: they don’t throw like girls. They’re real people, they’ve played football and softball, they’ve gotten dirty and stinky and worked hard just like you and me. Idols and Miss USA? They stand there, smile and look pretty, sing a song or do a little dance. That’s about it. And if that’s what you basically do in life, you end up throwing like a girl.
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AP Photo/DarrenHauck
Here’s my observation about many Evangelical churches. Perhaps I’m describing yours, perhaps not. Please don't take me wrong, I love church. I attend a couple of times a week, and more. I can't get enough hanging out time with my Evangelical friends. As with most things in this world, church is not as perfect as we would like. In my experience with churches (the people, that is, who are the church according to the Bible), they seem to have some of the same characteristics I described above. Yes, lots of controversy. Pastor issues, moral issues, childish behavior by people who should know better, etc. You know it, you've seen it to. You've heard about it from other people, because they love a good controversy, even one about church. Then there are the judges. You know who I'm referring to. Nothing is right in their eyes. The music is too loud, the attire is not right, the lighting is poor, the grass is not cut right, and on and on. I'm a perfectionist in some ways, too. But most of the time it's about me and what I've done that's not up to God's standards or my own expectations. Finally, some church people plain ol' throw like girls. They're just not tough about the things God wants us to be tough about. Like sin, for example. Unless it's a biggie, we excuse it away pretty easy. Like fighting for what's right in our society. Sure, Evangelicals have been and will in the future be labeled bigots and intolerant. But God is not tolerant of societal wrongs, so we shouldn't be either. We may have get in the trenches and get dirty a little. That meas spending more time and effort outside the walls of the church, serving people in need and rebuilding the things that sin and ignorance have torn down.
That's my list for now. If you have further thoughts, I'd love to hear them. Now where's my remote...just kidding!
If you enjoyed this article, please see these others by Doug:
.5 Reasons to teach your children a Christian worldview
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