And So It Begins

Well, tonight marks the night that a huge part of America looks forward to each spring - the American Idol season has begun. For those that have never seen American Idol, you just won't understand what I'm talking about. For those of you who are hooked (and I confess that I have been led astray by my eldest daughter, Marisa), you will know exactly what this is all about. This season started in Minneapolis, Minnesota. 10,000 - that's right TEN THOUSAND people gathered for the first round of auditions. Of that 10,000 only 17 made it through to Hollywood. That is o.017%!! Less that 2 one hundredths of one percent made it through to the second round of this All-American competition. The remarkable thing is that the other 99.9% actually think they will make it! The other 99.9% actually think they are really good! The other 99.9% have no clue that they are REALLY bad - no I mean it -- REALLY BAD! Here's the point I want to make - the whole world - every human on the planet is that group that thinks they are really good when in fact they (WE) are really bad when it comes to our standing with God. Humans want to believe that they can somehow be good enough for God -- humans want to believe that their religious practices are making them acceptable to God. Humans look at their efforts and say, "God I am trying so hard to make You pass me on to the next level - You just have to somehow reward my efforts. After all, I'm not really that bad!" And yet, our efforts really stink. Our singing is off key. Our dancing is without rhythm. Our attempts to be special are weak and broken. On our best day, we humans are nothing more than a heaving heap of broken dreams and promises. The Buddhists fail. The Hindus fail. The Jews fail. The Muslims fail. The Christians fail. The atheists fail. The humanists fail. The new agers fail. The spiritists fail. We all fail to be what we think we are being. In the words of Simon (the notorious bad guy judge), "That was absolutely atrocious!" But the good news is this - Jesus "rescued us from the domain of darkness, and transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins." (Colossians 1:13-14) And "When you were dead in your transgressions and the uncircumcision of your flesh, He made you alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our transgressions, having canceled out the certificate of debt consisting of decrees against us, which was hostile to us; and He has taken it out of the way, having nailed it to the cross." (Colossians 2:13-14) Even though no one can measure up to the standard set by God - even though we try to convince ourselves that we are really better than we are - when we give everything over to Jesus and trust the work He did for us on the cross - suddenly we are carried into a whole new realm of existence - suddenly we do measure up - but it has nothing to do with us or what we can do - and it has everything to do with Jesus and what He has already done. I'll keep watching American Idol. And every time I watch, I'll be reminded that even my best efforts look like the people who are really REALLY awful compared to God's perfect standard. That's when I will be even more thankful for the free gift God has given me through the cross of Christ.