If you live in USA it is hard to ignore the fact that American Idol is back in full swing for its new season (and stop grumbling about silly television or our worship of popular culture – you know you watch it). As the season gets going viewers are subjected to the horrifically enthralling auditions. Amongst the handful of contestants that can actually sing there are those who are merely there to grasp their 15 seconds of fame (and yes I am still disturbed by the guy in the Princess Leia slave-girl costume). Then there are those who contrary to reality truly believe they have some ability to sing. Their confidence is high, their friends and family have praised their voices, and then they are shocked and generally incredulous when the judges reject them. While I assume the purpose of highlighting such contestants is to mock them, I am left feeling awkward.
While I understand that the driving force behind American Idol is fame, I have to question where the line of “excellence” can be drawn. If a person can’t sing then being famous and having a career based on one’s singing ability isn’t an option. But what about worship? In churches today worship is generally associated with music. If a person can’t sing can they participate in worship? What about lead worship? Does excellence and skill matter in those areas or do enjoyment and giving glory to God trump the ability requirement?
I know in many ways this is a silly question (of course if people want to sing to God they should be able to), but as I watched yet more worship leaders and choir members get mocked on American Idol the question came to mind. I know I’ve personally sat through some very painful “special music” moments and have sat silently through worship because the leader was so bad it was impossible to sing along. There is the part of me that wants to be generous and accept the messiness of it all. I want to say that having a good heart and a willingness to try is more than enough. But then I find myself squirming to some off-key song, or faltering sermon, or sappy poem, or amateur art, or stumbling dance done in the name of worship and I don’t know what to think. Do I lie and pretend it’s good? Do I tell the truth and defeat the entire purpose of the act? And this isn’t some snobbish condescension about someone not being classically trained or having sufficient(??) theological training, just that I’m so uncomfortable that I often go hide in the bathroom to escape. (and before I go further let me say that I know I’ve forced others to suffer through my junk, so this is about me too).
Maybe I’m just self-centered and judgmental and I should just shut-up and deal with it. I’m sure the typical poor singer given the mic on a Sunday morning doesn’t harbor delusions of grandeur, so I should just be more generous in appreciating sincere effort. This isn’t about me, it’s about God, so I just need to get over my distraction. Or perhaps I can lay all the blame at the church’s obsession with performance driven worship. (Come on, if it’s a performance at least it can be good…) In our misunderstanding of what it means to worship we’ve laid expectations on it that were never meant to be there. I honestly don’t know. Is this just me being weird or is this a question others have as well?