Our television screens are loaded once again with competitions: have you got the X factor come dancing you're fired?We're told the competition has never been stronger, that this year is better than ever, that only one can win. The desperation in each of the contestants heart-felt stories and testimonies show that 'this is it' for them as they express how they have 'waited my entire life' for this moment. Life is left hanging on a score or an opinion or a wave of a finger fired. The reality is only one can win; the rest, by default, fail.
Whilst fun to watch, I can't help wondering whether these kinds of programmes make us more judgemental as a nation. How quickly I find myself watching and deciding that an act is no good before they've even really started.
All too often I meet people who feel they don't measure up to much, that they wish they were more like someone else they know. We do young people a disservice if we tell them they can be anyone they want to be. The reality is all too clear from these programmes - you can't. What you can be is all that God created you to be and the promise of life in all its fullness if we follow His path for our lives.
Now that's an exciting route to take, where there's no fear of being judged, of not measuring up because each of us is unique and so is God's plan for each of us.
As we disciple young people, we need to be helping them to discover God's blueprint for their life. There's something very special about those moments when a young person discovers a bit more of why God made them they way they are, and they are given a fresh boost of life as a result.
Competition is good, indeed research suggests that boys in particular need it to help stimulate growth, but not when it is at the cost of self esteem.
The reality is that there is the X factor in each of us, if the X factor is something special that sets us apart from everyone else. The challenge is to realise that this special something is no better or worse than the next person's, as it's always unique and personal. It is exactly this X factor that shows us why God made us. We are His gift to the world, at this time, in this place and there is no one like us.
You're hired!
Andy
