American "Worship" Idol

Warning: If you haven't watched the Thursday results show to American Idol and want to be surprised by the opening song, then do not read this.

Ok, so with that out of the way, apparently there has been a moderate sized controversy brewing over the grande finale to Wednesday's "Idol Gives Back." Due to the fact that my DVR cut out before the end of the show, I was completely unaware of even the possibility for controversy. With all the splendor and musical mediocrity that is a mid-90's Integrity worship tune, the top 8 closed out the show with a rendition of "Shout to the Lord."

For most of the world the controversy lies in the fact that they cut Jesus from the first line of the first verse. For those who weren't offended by the first performance, the idol's came back with a second performance to open Thursday's show, this time including the name of Jesus.

So the controversy begins. The lyric change was a bad idea on Idol's part and perhaps the backtracking was even worse, but that is the type of thing that is to be expected from a national television show. I'm not really shocked and their decision doesn't affect my faith and I doubt it affects the faith of many other Christ-followers. It probably was not the deciding factor on someone's decision to follow Christ either. So while it was disappointing, it is not the controversy that I wish to explore.

We could examine the irony that is self-proclaimed idols singing a worship song towards God, but perhaps they weren't singing towards God. Maybe then we should explore that controversy. Does a "secular" musician singing a "Christian" song affect its "Christianess"? Does a Christian singing a "secular" song make it "Christian"? It is a worthwhile discussion, but it is not the thought that plagues me tonight. Instead, I intend to aim for a seemly more shallow discourse.

Here I go: How horrible was that arrangement? It was everything that is anything that is cheesy about "Christian" music. In all fairness, I have to disclose that "Shout to the Lord" is not one of my current favorite worship tunes. It is a beautiful song. The words and melody are wonderful. I have sang it many, many times; however, I have grown tired of it. In my opinion it has been over sung. In addition to being over sung, it has become dated.

Please understand that I am not the guy who thinks that all music older that 10 minutes is old. I love hymns and I enjoy pulling out old standards and giving them new life. I just wish they had done the same with this song. On a show that criticizes singers for poor or dated arrangements, they pulled off the perfect mid-90's inspirational ballad. And it seems like they got away with it. This leaves me afraid for several reasons.

Night after night, American Idol rocks the stage with some fresh new musical takes on a variety of musical styles, but when it comes to the worship song they go mediocre. Is this the best that Christianity has to offer? My fear is that a majority of Christians thought that this was a great version of the song while the non-church attending masses were thinking "I am glad American Idol doesn't sound like this every week." If the majority of the songs in season 7 sounded akin to this version of "Shout to the Lord"; I highly doubt there would be a season 8.

Which makes me think that perhaps this is why for many people there isn't a Sunday after Easter?

I truly believe that worship through music should be a form of evangelism. The best band in any town should not be the one that plays at a bar. It should be the one that plays at our Sunday morning worship gatherings. I cannot think of a better way to engage a society that is driven by pop music than to present the gospel via that same medium.

Please understand, I am not saying good worship music is about style. Neither am I trying to detract from the main focus of worship music which is the worship of God. Rather, I wish to make a point that as a secondary purpose worship music is about connecting those who are disconnected. Whether it is country, rock, pop, hip-hop, r&b or one of the other dozens of styles out there, I believe that if we present musical worship in a way that is creative and that people can enjoy, God will use it to connect people to Him.

It is common for great bands who do not reinvent themselves in order to keep up with current musical tastes to fall out of favor and fade into non-existence. Unfortunately, I believe the same can happen with the church. I am not speaking of changing our message. For just as rock music will always sing about common human themes such as love, pain, beauty, and the quest for truth; our message will always be that God's love is unconditional, He can heal the pain, He makes all things beautiful, and He is the Truth.