“Nice Oil Drama”

They don’t call it American Idol for nothing.

Noah Webster’s 1828 Dictionary defines the word “idol” as follows: (CLICK HERE for the definition… then come back!) This is the same Noah Webster who considered "education useless without the Bible".

As a musician and pastor of worship at my church, I’ve (literally) lost count of how many times I’ve been asked — by my Christ-adhering friends — if I “watched American Idol last night.” Shortly after I decline (I don’t afford cable TV), I usually get passed on in the conversation as they talk amongst each other about the merits or shortcomings of the latest candidate or ex-candidate. “Surely this is only harmless water-cooler talk,” I tell myself…

That’s when I’m reminded of Mr. Webster’s definition of the verb “worship”. Maybe we Americans have watered down our fear and reverence for God so much that we can use our dear country’s name and pagan worship in the same phrase, without giving it a second thought. Oh come on, Ric; it’s only innocent entertainment, right? – and we need to stay “culturally relevant” in order to “reach people for Christ,” right?

Perhaps.

Still, I wonder if the same emphasis and enthusiasm is given to what R.C. Sproul, Jr. calls the “3 G’s: Who God is, what God has done, and what God requires.” Are our own lives and activities in the kingdom of Jesus so uneventful that we have to get our enthusiasm kick-started by television? What if we spent that same energy discussing our own weekly story, what God is “testing” in our own hearts? Or would that require us to divulge the sad reality that we aren’t truly experiencing that kind of vibrancy as children of a trusted Father?

“American Idol” anagrammed is “Nice Oil Drama.” That about sums it up.