The thing about Oprah is....

There are several things I love about this clip: 

1.  It’s from 30 Rock, my favorite show.

2.  It has Oprah in it.

3.  Saltwater taffy is mentioned...twice

4.  Did I mention it has Oprah?

5.  Bowel movements are also mentioned (you might recall my preference for a good poop joke)

6.  Tina Fey is a genius who manages to expose my own deep desire to idolize people before my creator...namely, Oprah (at least in this clip).

 

I love Oprah.  I think she is a smart lady.  She has what must be the greatest job in the world, and she gets paid a lot to do it.  She gives to charity, she builds schools in Africa, she takes her employees on Mediterranean cruises.  If you don’t like Oprah, you probably just don’t watch her show enough.  It’s on at 4 pm on KSDK, just in case you’re curious.  My favorites are the ones with Dr. Oz.  He has taught me a lot about my bowels.

 

However, from the perspective of a christian, here’s the thing about Oprah: She’s an idol.  Perhaps the original ‘american idol’.  She has millions of followers.  People wait for years to get tickets to her show.  They blindly follow her advise on topics ranging from finances, health, spirituality and entertainment.  People look to Oprah to tell them what to use, say, feel, do, and even think.  I personally will admit to being a member of The Oprah Book Club.  It’s not like I need to be, I read quite a lot on my own.  But Oprah invited me to join, so I thought 'why not'?  Turns out though, most of those books are really depressing.  Good, but depressing.

Idolatry is no joke for God.  He doesn’t like it one bit.  He warns against it all over the place in the Bible.  People pay some crazy penalties for worshiping false idols (sorry Israel, you brought that on yourself).  There is the whole first and second commandments thing.  And then later on, in Romans 1:25, Paul lays it out like this: “They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator—who is forever praised. Amen.”  Oh snap!

 

I’m glad that God is jealous.  My heart is so prone to idolize things/people that don’t want or deserve my worship.  That’s what is so tricky about examining our ‘culture’, at least for me.  I have to keep my guard up.  I enjoy a good story so much that I often lose myself in it.  I listen to music and feel like the songwriter is ‘singing my life with their words.’  And sometimes, I admire people (artists) to the point where I would gladly trade my life situation for their own.  The real trick for me is to step back and give glory to the Creator, not the creation.  It’s not easy.  I’m still figuring that out.  I'm sure I'll get it soon though, right?

 

That’s what I love the most about this 30 Rock clip.  Tina Fey exposes my own personal struggle with Oprah worship in a clever and hilarious way.  The good news is that I can confidently say that while I do adore Miss Winfrey, I have done my best not to dip her in gold and pray to her image.  Not anymore, at least.

-Anne Simon