Have you ever had an American Idol moment before?

This past Sunday at Church I was sharing about an American Idol moment that I had when I was in the 6th Grade. The reason I was sharing this moment is because it perfectly illustrates the reality of some people who profess to be Christians, but have no relationship with God.

I used this illustration to express the importance that "practicing the truth" is for Christians, if we are to have "fellowship" (or a relationship) with God. I was pointing out the fact that the Bible tells us in 1 John 1:6, "If we say that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth." This verse is telling us that if we are not "practicing the truth", ("walking in the light as He is in the Light" 1 John 1:7), that we are actually lying to ourselves about the reality of our relationship with God, and are completely deceived. And this is not a place that God ever wants us to be when it comes to having a relationship with Him. He wants us to know that our relationship with Him is real, and He wants us to experience the enormous blessings that come from having a close relationship with Him.

For the person who professes to be a Christian, but does not partake in a relationship with God, and instead walks in darkness, reminds me of some of the American Idol contestants that try out for the show. Have you ever seen American Idol before? Some of the people who try out for American Idol have the absolute worst voices I have ever heard. And that is saying a lot, due to the fact that my voice is really bad. Some of them come on to the show as a joke, possibly to try to get onto Television, or maybe to win a bet. But the scary thing about some of these contestants is the fact that there are some people who come onto the show believing that they have a great voice, and actually have a chance at becoming the next American Idol.

It is so uncomfortable to watch these people. Not just because of how bad their voices are, but because of how badly you can see that they want it when they perform. And it is so sad when you see the judges grimacing because of the awful notes, and Randy usually ends up laughing. And when that takes place you can see the tears begin welling up in some of their eyes because they realize that their dreams are about to be shattered into a million pieces. Seeing the judges tell them that they are living in a fantasy world and are deceived about their ability to sing leaves most of these people heartbroken, distraught, and even angry. Some of them leave the studio weeping in tears, some of them leave shell-shocked, and some of them leave in an absolute fury. The ones who leave angry end up cursing and swearing as they are leaving. They knock things over, and push the cameramen who follow them out of the way. They condemn the judges, belittle their opinions, and tell America that they are going to make it big without American Idol. It is really a very sad sight to see how deceived certain people are when it comes to their singing voice.


I know for me, that my American Idol days were stopped long ago. It was 1980, and I was in the 6^th grade. Me and a group of my friends, were leaving our class to go down to the playground for recess. And as we were walking down to the playground, we were all singing a song together. And as we were singing this song together there was this one guy, named Kevin Prescott, who looked over at me and in front of all of our friends, said, “Jason, your voice sounds horrible! Quit singing!”

Oh, how that one little statement has effected the past 30 years of my life. There has not been a time in my life since that moment that I ever opened up my mouth to sing in front of others where I haven’t thought of Kevin Prescott. Even here at church I try my best to be in tune and not sing too loudly because of that event that took place back in 1980. It’s been 30 years, and I still remember the words of Kevin Prescott as if he said them yesterday! In fact, I even remember getting saved as an adult, and being afraid to sing worship songs out loud, because I didn't want to have another Kevin Prescott experience. I remember thinking, “What if God is like Kevin Prescott when it comes to my voice?”

But let me ask you. How many of those American Idol contestants do you think wish that they had a Kevin Prescott in their life, before going on television in front of over 40 million people to be told that they have a horrible voice, and they need to do the world a favor and quit singing. I will take the Kevin Prescott’s of life who speak the truth to me, any day over that type of humble pie! Amen? And yet, this is quite similar to the Christian Faith. The Bible tells us that anyone who claims to be a child of God, and a follower of Jesus Christ, but does not “practice the truth” or ever experience fellowship with God is deceiving themselves as well. And this is not where God wants you to be.

When looking at this passage of Scripture from 1 John 1:6-7, we see that God doesn’t want you to ever be deceived about your relationship with Him, and the prescription that He has given to us so that we will never be deceived about our relationship with Him, is by walking in the light with Jesus (1 John 1:7).

You see, just as I would choose to have Kevin Prescott tell me about my lousy voice any day, over being deceived about it in front of 40 million people on national television, and having to face the truth that way. So too, should each one of us seek to know God and make sure that we are not deceived about our relationship with Him at this point of our life, rather than waiting until we are standing before God and all of creation to realize that we were eternally wrong.


May we keep up the good fight of faith and continue living for eternity!