American Idol gives back…

I was reading eric keck’s excellent post about last night’s charity fundraiser sponsored by American Idol. He writes:

doing the stuff… without any explaination… other than the obvious social justice…  (which was implicit and not delved into… but rightly so… a talent search show isn’t necessarily the platform or the motive.)

$30,000,000 for the poor… amazing in ONE night.  i was saddened to watch as i realized that money is a beautiful band-aid

I confess. I am an American Idol fan. I really liked Carrie Underwood, and I thought Taylor Hicks was the right choice last year. And yes, I like Reuben, Fantasia, Clay and Kelly Clarkson.

It just felt odd to hear Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell walking and talking in what I am sure were well-scripted scense through the poverty-stricken conditions in Africa, expressing compassion and really, abhorrence of what they were seeing. And then the videos of poverty-stricken American kids that are going to be helped by the money raised.

Here is what I was thinking: Where is the Church of Jesus Christ? I was wondering what would happen if we spent half as much on marketing, the production of weekend services and facilities and took the surplus money and poured it into attacking the roots of spiritual darkness at the tactical level. Attacking poverty with education and compassion and job training and financial initiatives. Attacking homelessness with clinics and housing and relationship. Attacking hunger and thirst with food and drink. Attacking violence with love. And fatherlessness with the love of the Heavenly Father. Maybe then we wouldn’t celebrate our efforts with a song that proclaims the absence of God and religion and we could imagine just a little bit what the kingdom of God might be like.

Ah well, I am pretty sure that wouldn’t meet my needs. I wonder if the worship leader is going to do my favorite songs this weekend.