What I learned from an Idol (American Idol, that is...)

As you may have read here, my wife and I recently braved Birmingham rush hour traffic to enable our kids to meet former American Idol contestant Ace Young. It was no small task. Hwy 280 out of town was three lanes (each direction) bumper to bumper for several miles. It was stressful. We had to be to the Wal-Mart by 5:00 pm or we would miss him. My pulse quickened. I looked for every possible short-cut. My normally mild-mannered disposition bordered on the verge of road rage. When we finally arrived (at 5:00 on the nose), I held out little hope that we'd made it in time. Celebrities have people who move them from place to place. They have schedules to keep, people to see. Sure enough, as my girls entered the store they could see Ace, but he was standing behind one of his "people" who was about 6'3" and close to 350 lbs. He told them clearly "No, we're done here." But size isn't everthing. The bodyguard was subjected to something in their eyes that has melted my fierce resolve far too many times. He softened and let them through. I was ecstatic. It was a great moment and I thoroughly enjoyed watching them meet this "star" they had seen so often through the TV screen. If I had to sum it up in a phrase I'd have to say that a good time was had by all.

As we drove away I started to reflect a bit on the expreience. I'm a pastor, reflecting on the spiritual lessons of life is what I do. Truth be told I never really cared much for Ace Young while he was on American Idol. I'm as much a sucker for celebrity as anyone, but Ace just never turned my crank. If it was up to me I wouldn't have walked around the block to meet him. Don't get me wrong, I liked him instantly as he talked with my children. He was amazingly warm and engaging for someone who had been a Wal-Mart commodity for the past two hours. But the only reason I went to incredible lengths to see him was because my children loved him. They thought he was awesome. I gave myself to the task because of their love for Ace.

As I thought it over I realized that there was a faint echo of something deeper here. God wanted to remind me of something from my "Idol" encounter. Sometimes we do unusual things out of love for someone else. We love people we aren't drawn to because someone that we love, loves them. My passion for seeing Ace had nothing to do with him and everything to do with my love for my kids. The truth that I began to realize was this - our love for people we aren't comfortable loving needs to flow from our love for God and His love for them. If we love God we will, by default, love those He loves. You can probably see where I am going with this. He loves everyone. He loves the jerk at work. He loves the freeloader taking advantage of the system. He loves the person who has wronged you, hurt you, betrayed you. Far too often I have tried to "drum up" love for people who have made my life difficult. But maybe what I need to do is remind myself to grow in love for God. As my love for Him deepens, maybe I'll feel a little more excited about the people He loves. I seem to remember Him saying something about whatever we do for the least of these we have done for Him. Maybe the inverse is true as well - what we do for Him we'll learn to do for the least of these...

If I can love Ace Young because my children love him, then surely love for God (who loved me first and greater than I could ever imagine ) can help me to love the people He loves.