The Jesus Problem

At dinner we were talking and Dad mentioned that a lot of people were in an uproar over the fact that on American Idol gives back they sang, "Shout to the Lord". I don't watch American Idol because frankly there are a lot better things to be watching. However when something like this comes about I'll pay slightly more attention. If you haven't seen it here it is for you to view.


The very fact they sang "Shout to the Lord" was surprising because the song is overtly Christian even for American Idol. The kicker was when he said they changed "Jesus" to Shepherd. Qu'est-ce que HUH??? This is why everyone was making an uproar (well that and people of different faiths were making noise that they chose a Christian song). So I watched it and it was just as Dad said. What really irritates me is this mentality, "we can sing about God so long as we don't mention the name of Jesus and by changing it to something else people won't really know. Even though this song is sung in practically every church it North America." Not to mention the rest of the song screams CHRISTIAN. I mean I've read some posts that think it's awesome that American Idol was singing a Christian song and yeah it is, but this reminds me of what Pastor Paul talked about back in the fall. People don't have a problem with God, but as soon as Jesus enters the picture people have a problem. Some people have argued that Shepherd is just another name of Jesus. But the problem is we live in an age where Jesus isn't welcomed. The only reason it would be removed is because they didn't want to offend people. I think it's rather disingenuous for the downloadable itunes version they left Jesus in. Personally I would have rathered they either left Jesus in for both versions or left it out for both versions.