Editor’s Note: a version of this text was delivered as a sermon at Compline at Sheldon Calvary Camp, the summer camp affiliated with the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh where the author is on the governing board (and is a mom to campers). The scripture text was Matthew 25:34-40.
I recently had the privilege of attending a Taylor Swift concert. And yes, it was a privilege—attending this concert was practically our daughter’s only Christmas present and I was keenly aware of how many others would love to be in my seat. I think sat about as far away from the stage as it was possible to sit, yet it didn’t matter. Normally, I would be described as listening to music that is rather…melancholy (you might even say depressing). I’m not all that familiar with Taylor’s catalog of songs and didn’t know what to expect from her concert. But, the performance and the artistry just knocked my socks off. Now, I am doing my best to catch up to all the Taylor Swift I have missed. Most people are ahead of me on this.
It wasn’t just what I saw on the stage that was remarkable; surrounding me were all kinds of people. People of all genders and everywhere on the spectrum in between genders in all their bejeweled glory, lighting up the room. Fat, thin, blonde-haired, purple-haired, in wheelchairs and on crutches. Same gender and different gender couples, groups and singles. Though it did skew female and was not the most racially diverse crowd. Out of the men present, a hefty number accompanied young children and wore T-shirts reading, ‘Yes, it’s me, I’m the dad.’ It was such a celebration of absolute joy and wonder that I found myself listening very hard to the person bringing everybody together.
So I did some digging on Taylor, and learned that, yes, she is a follower of the Christian faith. She has spoken up for human rights when they are under attack, notably LGBTQ+ and women’s rights. She wishes she had done more of it. And I could probably craft a whole sermon using her song lyrics. In fact the day after the concert, my church read the Gospel passage where Jesus tells the disciples to shake the dust off their feet when they meet people who don’t want to listen. Obviously, the inspiration for the song, ‘Shake it off.’
It’s easy to look at someone who is famous and see what they are doing, and think, well that’s fine for them. They’re famous. It’s easy. But something Taylor said made me think about what it means to take your spiritual life seriously. I don’t even remember the context, but she said something about how whenever anything happened, she wrote a song about it. ‘My orange juice went bad; I’m going to write a song about it.’ ‘I can’t find my favorite T-shirt; I’m going to write a song.’ ‘My heart is broken, the toilet is clogged, song, song, song.’ These were not her actual examples, but I trust you get the point.
And I thought, okay, that is something right there. If everybody listened to their life that closely, imagine what kind of world this would be. If you could be that honest with yourself about how you were feeling and what was going on around you, imagine how you might move through life.
It made me think about how God shows up for us and how God’s closeness to us is always there, whether or not we notice. The whole point of the life of Jesus Christ is that God came to be with us and experience everything about human life. This is not to say that God was faraway before—there is the WHOLE Old Testament and the Psalms and the prophets and so many amazing stories about how people experienced God with them. But I am a Christian, and I find something incredibly important in the way that God chooses us in the person of Jesus Christ. And that, to me, means that God chooses to be part of everything that happens to anyone and everyone. And that means you and me.
It means that God has chosen to know what it is like when you show up to school and you’ve forgotten your homework and then had another argument with your friends and it seems like the day cannot get any worse.
It means that God has chosen to know that fluttery feeling when someone who you are interested in glances in your direction.
It means God even knows what it’s like to be bored or angry or scared or tired, or sometimes maybe just stuck in neutral. God is with you in all of that. God knows it firsthand, with you, for you.
In the 25th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus says to the people gathered around him that every time they do anything to anybody else, they are doing it to him. If you see someone who is lonely and you help them, you’re doing it to Jesus. If you see someone who is hungry and you feed them, you’re giving food to Jesus. This is true for us when we GIVE to those in need, and it’s also true when we ARE those in need. That Jesus is with us.
There’s an invitation here to offer to God both of those things. To hold out one hand, and hold in it a time that Jesus has been with you. To hold out our other hand, and to offer to God pain and suffering and invite God’s healing and comfort. And finally, to offer our whole bodies to joy and wonder, in dance and song, no matter how far away you are from the stage.
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Taylor swift is not a christian and tbh she hates the whole religion she is a women with so much promise but without believing in God it means nothing
Guys look at her tortured poets department and research her she is most definately NOT a christian
Sara,
1 Timothy 2:12….please tell me you think the Word of God is inerrant. As God says in His Word…Revelation 22:18-19.
By your fruit you shall know them.
“I don’t even remember the context, but she said something about how whenever anything happened, she wrote a song about it.”
If she was a follower and if this statement is true, would she not be singing about God and the work he is doing in her life? I would say that there are people out there who do great things but unless there is fruit and in humility they point to Christ, then they are not Christ followers.
We are not to judge the unbelievers, but we are to judge our Christian brothers and sisters because it is our community that holds one another accountable, wants the best for each other and wants to help present one another in our most perfect form to God. For that reason we need to read the bible, meet and encourage one another and spur one another on to love and good deeds. She’s crazy talented but not a Christian role model.
That’s always the game plan in the industry. Present them as pure and innocent then everything changes afterwards. They go from wearing all white to all red as a symbolic message. Good girl gone bad hence the name of Rihanna’s album.
Taylor swift is not a Christian she is a high ranking witch just like Beyonce. If you believe that I am very sorry for you. Just listen to some of her music lyrics and look at the videos you went to the concert and I’m sure you saw some things and heard some things and If you didn’t you need to repent. Taylor Swift will NOT be played in heaven so why play it on earth. You can listen to Taylor Swift as a gentile of this world that is going to hell if they don’t repent but not as a Christian.
Wow! I would never dream a pastor would support Taylor! Heartbreaking is what this is! Scripture says you will know them by their fruit! These words to her song say it all! I copied it from a review someone did on Taylor!
Almost half the songs on Taylor Swift’s new album contain explicit lyrics (E), make fun of Christians and straight up blaspheme God.
Is this the music you want your kids listening to?
Do you think I’m overreacting?
Read the lyrics below and decide for yourself:
🎤Guilty as Sin
What if I roll the stone away?
They’re gonna crucify me anyway
What if the way you hold me is actually what’s holy?
If long-suffering propriety is what they want from me
They don’t know how you’ve haunted me so stunningly
I choose you and me religiously
Another song:
🎤The smallest man who ever lived
I would’ve died for your sins, instead, I just died inside
Another song:
🎤 But daddy I love him
I just learned these people only raise you
To cage you
Sarahs and Hannahs in their Sunday best
Clutchin’ their pearls, sighing, “What a mess”
I just learned these people try and save you
‘Cause they hate you
Another song:
🎤 God save the most judgmental creeps
Who say they want what’s best for me
Sanctimoniously performing soliloquies I’ll never see
Thinkin’ it can change the beat
Of my heart when he touches me
And counteract the chemistry
And undo the destiny
You ain’t gotta pray for me
Me and my wild boy and all of this wild joy
If all you want is gray for me
Then it’s just white noise, and it’s just my choice
Now this is somebody who actually knows and is woke.
Taylor swift is a witch she literally does witchcraft at her concerts. she has done spells in front of everyone mid concert. She’s far from a Christian just because she was raised in a Christian household and maybe her parents were saved doesn’t mean shes automatically saved she needs to have a personal encounter with Jesus Christ. And as a sister in Christ i must rebuke you, you need to repent for choosing to compromise the truth for a celebrity. The bible says you will know them by their fruits. She needs salvation she stands for things opposite of what the bible tells us.
Sarah Irwin, thank you for your well written and thoughtful article and its message.
I am in hearty agreement with you.
Sally
we are not here to judge Taylor Swift or anyone, we are to lead by example and pray for people who are lost, God tells us to love our enemys, pray for those who persecute you,,, we all fall short of the Glory of God, Pray for Taylor,we do not know her personal relatlonship with Christ,but judging her may turn her away from people who claim to know Jesus as their personal savior, be an example,, you never know who she may cross paths with and lead her to Jesus.
Actually…we are called to contend for the faith and judge rightly. 💡
With your statement, maybe you should read the Bible. You judge who is and who is not a Christian, that’s not your job. She is more Christ-like than most public people.
It makes sad to see so much hate on a fellow Christian just because she chooses to love, not judge. I’m not even Christian, but I was starting to feel so much love from her and you all just hate anyone who is different before just loving your neighbor. Sara, thank you for being a rare Christian who really knows the gospel. I got your back.
A non Christian having the audacity to tell christians who a true Christian is. Anybody who thinks he or she can outlive God by affirming what God hates is no Christian. It is a righteous judgment to say that.
Why don’t you read the Bible and find out what a Christian is? Taylor doesn’t fit the mold buddy…
Ok bud, the inspiration of “Shake it off” has got to be off by a large margin. In her music video, she has dancers twerking and is shaking her butt, herself. Stop trying to defend these people.
I mean, women can’t be New Testament pastors, so…
Anyone who strays from the word of God it’s not someone that we should want our children to listen two or look up to. Nowhere in the Bible does it say that we should be standing up for lgbtq rights. In fact, the Bible states that homosexuality is a sin. And if we truly love people, we should be telling them that instead of lying to them. That is how we live like Christ, by speaking truth. Jesus said that He is the Way the Truth and the Life and no one comes to the father except by Him. We should not be bending the truth to what the world wants it to be.
It makes sad to see Taylor Swift, Justin Bieber, Brittany Spears and who know how many more of these young people who were raised in Christian homes and once their singing talents were discovered were all consumed by the ungodly ways of the world. These types of happenings bring confusion to our children and young people as to what it is to use your gifts to honor God as a Christian without compromising to the lure of the world with the promise of fame, money etc. Lord God save this generation.
Tbh does Taylor even claim to be a Christian anymore? Maybe she used to claim to be one but was “lukewarm” and then became full on secular later on.