Do you ever see something that makes you wonder if crazy people are taking over the world?
I do. Like the early rounds of the “American Idol” competition on TV, for example.
Watching “American Idol” at the beginning of the season is like watching a NASCAR race —everybody’s waiting for the wrecks to happen. To be sure, some contestants can really sing; but some really, REALLY cannot, and those “cannots” are the ones that make me wonder if civilization can endure with so many deluded people wandering about.
“I’m gonna be the next American Idol,” they declare. I cringe, knowing the wreck is about to happen. These folks commit musical homicide and then seem shocked when the judges say, “No way, dawg. Singin’s not your thing.”
The fact that these contestants are surprised by that is the scary part—the part that has me wondering if many of the people walking amongst us are certifiably whacko.
As the judges separate the musical sheep from the goats in the early rounds, one rejected contestant after another utters some version of, “But my mama and everybody down at the Piggly Wiggly says I’m the best singer they ever heard,” and, “Singing is my WHOLE life. This is what I was born to do.”
That’s when sort-of-funny turns into plain old sad and disturbing.
I like to try to figure people out, so I have theories about why these musically challenged folks audition for “American Idol.”
For one thing, watching the parade of misguided Idol wannabes has pretty much convinced me that much of the self-esteem parenting psychobabble of recent decades is now coming back to bite us.
The Bible says we are not to think too highly of ourselves, but so as to have “sober judgment.” (Romans 12:3). If “mama” has been pumping up so many of these kids to believe they can sing, I think sobriety is definitely an issue here.
Certainly, parents should help children discover and nurture their God-given talents. But pushing or encouraging them down paths they are not equipped or gifted to travel sets them up for failure and ridicule, and it is decidedly not loving or wise. In my opinion, it’s like strapping steaks on their legs and throwing them into a shark tank.
Here’s a reality check that seems to be desperately needed in our day and time: Sometimes we can’t do anything we want to do. Life just isn’t like that. Pressing hard to make a dream happen isn’t a guarantee that it will or should happen.
On the other hand, humbly seeking and following God’s plan for our lives always works (see Proverbs 3:5-6). Where He guides, He provides.
Another thing: If I make anything or anyone in this world “my whole life,” I’m probably headed for major disappointment and emptiness.
I assume “American Idol” is so named because we’re supposed to idolize the winner, which is, by the way, crazy talk. Seriously, how many of you can even remember the names of the last five winners on this show?
But maybe the show is also aptly named because fame and fortune seem to be the idols of so many who audition.
They see all that glitters and assume it is gold. But, it isn’t.
The tragic lives and deaths of so many celebrities like Elvis, Michael Jackson and Whitney Houston should teach us that “the dream” can actually be quite a nightmare.
Fulfillment is about living in close relationship with the God who created us—living so closely, in fact, that we’ll clearly know what He has uniquely called and gifted us to do, and we’ll humbly just do it.
It might not always make for great TV, but it sure makes for a great life.