Until this year, I’d never even seen a whole episode of “American Idol,” but I met Clark Beckham at a Fox-sponsored party for the Top 12 in early March, and was so impressed with him that I’ve been following him and the show ever since.
Here’s a picture from that night:
By all appearances, Beckham is a good guy and a strong, articulate Christian — click here, here and here for earlier stories in which he talks very eloquently about his faith — whom I really wish was on our side of the Tiber!
Here are a few excerpts:
I’ve had voices in my life that have said, “You’re not good enough,” or, “Because of the places you’ve been, and who you were in the past, you’re not good enough, you’re not pure, you’re not clean.” Honestly, the main voice was my own voice, telling myself that. What we’ve got to realize is, it doesn’t matter what people say, it matters what God says about us. Our identity isn’t what culture and humanity says, it’s based on what the Creator of the Universe, the same God that breathed life into our very bodies and put us into existence, it matters what He says with that same breath. That goes on with people who want to be famous, if that’s in His will for you to be what we call famous.
How I see that, though, is not a platform for me, but a platform for Him, and a platform to shine His light on this world, that’s going through a lot of crap right now.
And …
When you feel the most centered, and feel the closest to God, is when you’re doing His will, and I’m doing that on this show. A lot of people have this idea, here I am, a Christian, being in the hostile environment of Los Angeles, and it’s really not that way.
Everywhere you go, you’re going to have battles. You’re going to have things where you have to stay focused, but, really, I feel as close to God as I ever have. You’ve just got to keep focused. I remember, a line, in everything that you do, to see Christ and the Kingdom. That’s our goal, to stay focused and to remember.
And …
Everything’s about God. There’s no, “Singing in church is for God but singing anywhere else is not for God.” Paul said, “Whether you eat or you drink, do it for the glory of God.” Do everything for the glory of God.
In a two-hour (and six minutes) airing tonight, Wednesday, May 13 — which, by the way, is the 98th anniversary of the appearance of Our Lady at Fatima — at 8 p.m. ET/PT, Beckham goes up against Catholic-school alumnus Nick Fradiani (whose parents are Mass-going Catholics, although I couldn’t find anyplace where Fradiani has discussed his personal faith) for all the marbles.
For many seasons, contestants have performed a “coronation song,” which is released as the first single if the contestant wins. For Beckham, it’s an original piece called “Champion,” which he performed on Tuesday night. It’s not explicitly a Christian song, but the faith shines through in the lyrics.
As it turns out, this, the 15th edition of “Idol,” is the penultimate one, as Fox plans to send the venerable show off with a celebratory 16th season next year. For fans, that makes this finale even more poignant, as there’ll only be one more after this.
So, good luck to both Beckham and Fradiani, and however it turns out, I’ll try to get a comment from Beckham. Keep the Faith!
Images: Courtesy Fox; Kate O’Hare
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In