Check out the post at blogs4God about Mandisa Hundley and the poor reception her performance on American Idol received last night.

Last night Mandisa sang a Christian themed top 40 song, the Mary Mary hit Shackles (Praise You). I haven’t watched American Idol, but my wife got going on it this season and … I’ve gotten pulled in.

Mandisa is a Christian and a Gospel singer. She has a fantastic voice and a presence as a performer that is just great. I hope she wins.

The interesting thing, from my perspective, is the commentary by Paula Abdul and host Ryan Seacrest. They kept bringing up the term (meant to be a positive) the ‘Church of Mandisa’

Well, what did anyone expect from these Hollywood types? The show is called ‘American Idol’. It’s all about the idolization of a person; their looks, the way they fit the media paradigm. Saying the ‘Church of Mandisa’ is their backhanded attempt at saying hey Mandisa, you’re cool, just like us. If they had said: ‘Mandisa, God gave you a wonderful gift’ the earth would have split open.

Frankly, shows like American Idol, that focus on the cult of personality, build more than churches. They build basilicas to the self.