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!!)
I totally agree with all of the above and would have agreed with your FB comments too! I also think you are fab! Hope you continue to enjoy the HTB conference too, several people from Tearfund there!x
ReplyDeleteIt is a sad world when you can't express your own feelings without the risk of offending people!! (personally I agree with both your deleted status')Everyone is entitled to there own feelings!!! or we would all be clones!! (but I guess that is a whole new issue on its own! ;-) )
ReplyDeleteHi Kay.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog post, and I wholeheartedly agree with all the you wrote!
I'm sorry you felt the need to remove your comment on Facebook, and my apologies if my own comment came across as a personal attack. I hope it didn't, but sometimes communicating without facial expressions or tone of voice can be an issue, so I'd rather be safe than sorry :)
Having thought about my comments, I realise that what I was most annoyed about with the Britain's Got Talent winner was that most of the focus was on the dog, rather than the talented young lady who choreographed, rehearsed and trained her dog to do all of those things. Your comments above really made me think - would this girl have got the same recognition if she had entered a dog trials competition, or anything that wasn't hosted my Simon Cowell? It is interesting what we consider talent, and what we don't, because of the format in which it isn't presented to us.
The thing I find most tragic in all of this, is that those who are celebrated as underdogs, will most likely be tomorrow's cannon fodder for the newspapers, as they try and fish for dirt to make "juicy headlines". In that respect, the young musician of the year, while perhaps not so well of financially, is probably in the much more secure and stable position.
Be blessed :)
Stephen
Hey,
ReplyDeleteI really feel you have nothing to apologise about, you weren't acidic or particularly nasty. People took it totally out of context and missed the whole point of what you were saying.
Keep writing Kay! We need to hear voices like yours.
ReplyDeleteI love football, but I whole-heartedly endorse your comments about the kind of people we should want as role models. Ruth and I watched the Young Musician Final on Sunday night but were really disappointed when the following morning, the BBC Breakfast news didn't even refer to the winner of their own competition.
Keep up the good work.