I really haven’t been keeping up on American Idol but I have watched a few episodes this season.  To be honest this season has been the most interesting I have seen yet from Dolly Parton explicitly mentioning the name of Jesus to the episode below.

 

Trevin Wax writes:

Last night, at the end of the American Idol charity special “Idol Gives Back,” the Top 8 Finalists closed the show by singing “Shout to the Lord.”

What are we to make of this?

Why did they change “my Jesus” to “my Shepherd” at the beginning of the song, especially when other artists had no qualms about singing songs that explicitly mentioned Jesus?

Has “Shout to the Lord” arrived in the collective consciousness of our civil religion, much like “Amazing Grace” and other well-known hymns?

Are there Christians behind the scenes of American Idol who are promoting Christian songs?

What does it say to see Christians singing this song together with a Mormon as one of the contestants?

Let the discussion begin!

Click here to Trevin Wax’s site for comments to add.