My wife and I watch American Idol. There, I said it. We record it, fast forward through all of the commercials weigh in on all of the people we think should be going home or staying.

All in all, it’s fairly trivial. I mean, does the world really need another pop star? In the middle of this show that celebrates our love of reality television and celebrity all in one, however, is Idol Gives Back.

Last year, this show changed my life. Watching Ryan Seacrest and Simon Cowell holding the hands of hurting people in Africa made me ask myself, “why are they there and I’m here?”

Jenn and I couldn’t live that way for too long and so we decided to go. Since last year’s show we: challenged a team of people, they prayed and were led, we raised money, prepared spiritually, coordinated with a team over there, went, had an unbelievable experience, and came back.

As we flew back into the states I remember thinking that my life would be forever changed, and that I would never forget. Well, I have forgotten, and my life, unfortunately has gone pretty much back to the way it was before. That is, until Idol Gives back came on again.

I haven’t seen the show yet (it’s waiting for us on DVR), but seeing Forrest Whittaker and his wife last night and their story along with some of the stories we’ve seen over the last couple of weeks of hurting people in Africa, I have to ask myself again, “Why am I not there?” or at least, “why am I not doing more, praying more, telling more people?”

I’ve heard it said that the church is the hope of the world. If that’s the case, why do only 3% of Christians nation-wide say they would give to help fight AIDS? Why do we buy up things and take vacations from our Disneyland lives to go to an even more Disneyland type of place?

I spent 12 days in Africa that I thought would change my life. It took less than 12 days for me to get back into my normal routine and to stop thinking about it.

Buying stuff and taking trips are not bad things. Having fun and enjoying the blessings God has given us are not bad things. When we can’t see past those things into the lives of people with nothing, however, then we have missed it.

Let’s pray for those who are hurting. As a church, let’s remind each other about the things we have seen. Let’s be a people that care about things beyond our bank account. Let’s be the church.

Believe it or not, there will come a day when American Idol is no longer around to raise money and sing songs that inspire. Who will do it when they’re gone? Who will do it now?