Becky Crenshaw

 Card-carrying American Idol advocate coming to you live this morning from behind her computer screen.

Yes, that’s me. I am one.  I haven’t missed an Idol season yet and don’t plan to either.  Brent and I set the popcorn kettle on the stove every Wednesday night at 8pm, ready to watch the contestants do their best to woo the judge’s panel and all of America.

And they woo me. Every week.

Maybe my passion for performing came from winning the Rockford Elementary 3rd grade Talent Show.  Oh yes. The night I dressed like a flapper, with sponge-rolled hair and sang Blue Moon while my mom played the piano.  Thanks mom.

Not only did I carry home a plasticky trophy that night, but I brought home a great passion for the stage.  And a great appreciation for the performer.  They lay their “everything” on the altar of that platform.  Seeking so desperately the approval and applause of their captive audience.

But on last season’s American Idol, a contestant stole the stage above the rest.  Angie Miller.  A doll face nineteen-year-old from Beverly, Massachusetts.  A beauty with a rich voice and uncanny talent.  She caught my eye during auditions when she sang a self-written piano piece called You Set Me Free. – a song about the freedom available to us through the person of Christ. The judges were wowed.  America was wowed.

Of course she made the show and week after week moved on through with great ease.  Like a bowl of stove top kettlekorn, America was eating up her talent.

But over time, Angie made her way to the chopping block of Idol’s bottom three.  I was stunned. I tagged her the winner of the competition the moment I saw her audition.

What was happening to Angie?

Why was the beauty from Beverly losing her edge?  Maybe because she was getting one.

The culture of bigger-better-brighter was starting to take its toll on her innocence.  We watched her transformation every week …  Lower shirts. Higher skirts. Taller shoes.  Flash and fame would be irresistible, I’d imagine.  But come on, Angie, don’t do it!!

One of the panel judges, Nicki Minaj, said of one of her performances, “Where’s the Angie we all fell in love with?  Somethings changed.  Where’d our Angie go?”

In my experience with talent competitions (ahem, third grade flapper, remember?)  you can’t be anybody else but you or it doesn’t work. You lose.

A singing competition becomes karaoke when we make ourselves someone we are not.  And Angie’s purpose was clear – to me at least.  Angie was an Ambassador for Christ.  Her stage just so happened to be a world-wide platform to showcase God’s glory.

Sound like a lot of pressure?  It is – in your own effort.  But fueled by the power of the Holy Spirit, showcasing Him to a lost world is what we are here to do.

The culture is sly and tricky – You “need” those jeans, those boots, that bag, that car, that job, that income.  You “need” to have that body, be at that weight, or get those highlights to be accepted and move on to the next round.  To woo the crowd, you must look the part.  Isn’t that the lie?

Well here’s the truth.

Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight ahead before you.  Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure.  Do not swerve to the right or to the left.  Proverbs 4:25-27

Keep your eyes directly forward.  Straight ahead.  America makes millions on tipping our cheek to see what is desirable on someone else.  Convincing us that how God has fashioned us isn’t enough…. until you look like “this.”

So let’s talk about fashion, shall we?  You’ve, my dear, have been fashioned in His Image for a very particular purpose.  God’s given you a very specific post in your lifetime.  One of which only YOU can stand.  And our entire lives we will fight to remember that if we aren’t standing at our GOD-ORDAINED post, no one else is.

God doesn’t need you doing anything else.  Or looking any other way.  Your body.  Your frame.  Your talents. Your personality… perfect for your post.

So, back to Angie.

After being in the bottom three, Angie decided to return to her roots.  The following week, girlfriend came out with a white piano and did Angie’s rendition of Kari Jobe’s, “Love Came Down“.  An Imax-sized screen behind her released countless white doves, white fog filled the stage floor and Angie Miller, an Ambassador for Christ, brought the crowd to its feet and every heart to its knee.

Even Nicki Minaj said, “When you do that right there, you do what only Angie can do.”

Well said Nicki.

Beloved, listen to me, or even better, to Solomon.… Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight ahead before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left.   Ponder your post.  The path of your feet.  Don’t buy the lie.  You don’t need higher heels or thinner thighs to be more effective.  God doesn’t need you to look any other way.  Your shape, your hair, your humor, your talents, all perfect for His stage.

And when you do that right there, that Proverbs 4:25 thing, you do only what you can do.

Beat the Body Image Blues today by thanking God for creating you to showcase His Glory!   Leave a comment saying, “Today I do only what (your name) can do!”