I don’t often say anything of any note on Facebook - I’m often quite bland! But every so often I put something on that causes some reaction. Usually this is because people either vehemently disagree, or don’t think I should air my views on Facebook.
The subjects of my last two statuses, I thought, were not that bad, but…. apparently they were!
I dared to speak out about the contrast between young musician of the year (Lots of hard work and talent with a small prize of £2000 and very little news coverage) and Britain’s Got Talent (Yes - there's some hard work and talent, but a lot of hype and news coverage, with a ridiculously high half a million pounds prize.)
People who know me well know I hate talent shows on TV, but I also realise many people do like them. I was reminded a while ago by my friend (and mother of one of my God daughters) That there is very little on the TV that you can watch as a family, and this is one of those things you can watch. Sad I know, but that’s the subject of a different blog!
So - I’m NOT getting at those who watch and enjoy it, and I'm NOT getting at the show.
What I hate is the culture that is rising up around it - the get famous quick/get rich quick without the hard work and training culture, where hard work and caring is not celebrated.
I see this culture getting into many of our churches (Not all - I’m not making a sweeping statement here). I am finding many young people who want to be worship leaders (A worthy role - but we don’t need THAT many!) but I’m not finding many who want to be kids leaders. I also see camps for kids with learning difficulties closing because it is almost impossible to find volunteers - and my heart breaks. It is so sad that we find it so hard to find new young leaders to take these roles as seriously being a worship leader.
A speaker at the HTB leadership conference summed it up well today: "We have a generation that won't do hard work in obscurity - we want all the glory - the microphone"
The other comment I made on Facebook was “Thank goodness the football season is over!” Football has been and still is used in amazing ways - the roots of many football clubs are Christian, and I see friends working hard to improve the lives of kids using football (Check these guys out: Africa Soccer Developments).
Again - it is what football has become that I dislike, not the game itself. The football heroes our kids follow are often not the sort of people you would want as a hero. The day after I put my status on facebook, three separate football ‘heroes’ were in trouble for saying or doing something hurtful and unkind. I want our kids to have better heroes than that - people who can model a life full of character.
In short - I want kindness and goodness to be fashionable, not fame and not being rich. I want our kids to be full of God’s Character - not the sort of ‘character’ portrayed in our fame hungry society, where notoriety is an acceptable form of ‘fame’.
Yesterday I heard the story of a 7 year old, whose friend died of cancer last year. On his 7th birthday, he said he didn’t want any presents, but wanted people to give money to the local hospice. He raised £80. Now that’s a hero - this is something that needs celebrating!
Let’s hear it for the unsung heroes, the ones who never get a mention but carry on serving regardless. Not just those in our churches, but those who serve our communities tirelessly. These guys are the REAL celebrities!
So - I'm sorry if you are one of the people I irritated on Facebook - I hope this goes a little way to explain my comments (Which have now been removed!!)
