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| Loving my bedroom! |
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| Just a few of the boxes I still need to unpack... |
The first
night that I slept at my new house was the day Taylor Swift released her new
album. I listened to her new songs that
night as I brought in boxes, hung clothes in the closet, and made my bed for
the first time.
There was a
time when I couldn’t stand Taylor Swift songs.
I was in college, and the girl in the dorm next to me would play the song
“Love Story” every afternoon before my 2:10 class, and I cringed at it. I rolled my eyes and told my roommate, “Her
songs are for middle school girls!” At
that time, I was 21 and just not feeling her lyrics.
But Taylor
Swift is actually only 2 years younger than me.
I suppose as she matured (and as I experienced my first real heartbreak),
I began to relate to her lyrics more. I
remember one day I was driving home after work, and her song “Back to December”
came on…and I didn’t change the station.
Then when
she released “Mean,” I couldn’t deny that I loved that song…and that I was
starting to love Taylor. And when my
sister and niece went to the Taylor Swift concert last year, I was wildly
jealous.
When I was
in high school, I was riding in the car with a guy to dinner. A Rascal Flatts song came on the radio, and I
told my friend that I thought the guy in the song was kind of pathetic because
he wasn’t living for any other purpose than to try to get back with his
ex-girlfriend.
My friend
said to me, “Geez, give the guy a break.”
I laughed
at him because he didn’t know that I always
examine lyrics. Dude, it’s what I do.
Somewhere
in the midst of the lyrics in “Back to December” and “Mean,” I decided that
Taylor Swift was an amazing writer. I
sang along to more of her songs in my car.
You can say what you want about her lyrics—that they’re immature or
foolish or desperate—but I took creative writing courses in college, and
perhaps that makes me appreciate the way this girl writes.
As I
listened to her lyrics, I couldn’t relate to her experiences of dating guy
after guy after guy. But I could relate
to some of what she wrote about heartbreak and hopes and longings. I still sing along and think, This is where I would be if it weren’t for Jesus. As a young woman, I know that God has given
me confidence, God has given me wisdom, God has given me security, God has
given me hope and peace and joy for now and for the future. These gifts are not a part of my nature, they are not only principles that I have been taught, but they are evidence
of the power of the Holy Spirit in me.
If it
weren’t for the Lord, I know I would not be able to let go of bitterness and
cynicism towards guys who have hurt me.
If it weren’t for the Lord, I would probably feel crazy desperate to
have someone love me. If it weren’t for
the Lord, I would say yes to unhealthy thrills and no to self-control and then
crash and burn, not realizing how to stop the cycle for next time.
So this
first week in my new house, I’ve been listening to Taylor’s most recent lyrics,
analyzing her perspective. Taylor Swift
is an iconic millennial. She is 24 and
has 46 million twitter followers (which is the fifth top twitter account in the
world).[1] Most people agree that she is sweet and likeable. Despite how people mock the way she sings about
dating relationships, she has shown probably more discretion and graciousness
as a young girl dealing with worldwide fame and enormous wealth than any
teenage star that Hollywood has seen in decades. Taylor is a millennial with a
voice, and I want to hear what she has to say.
It’s cool
to be a millennial. I am 26 years old (I
turn 27 tomorrow!), so I get to fall into this category. If you were born after 1980, you are a
millennial too. Millennials are said to
be confident, connected, self-expressive, and open to change.[2]
They are also said to be “happy, free, confused, and lonely at the same time”
(more Taylor Swift lyrics). Millennials
strongly value authenticity and compassion.
They are on course to be the most educated generation yet, but they also
have a reputation for being self-indulgent and entitled.
But what
concerns me about my fellow millennials is that they have seemed to swallow a
belief system—that our culture force-fed them—called Moralistic Therapeutic
Deism.[3] MTD is an extremely watered-down view of
Christianity (if you can even call it that). I think of it as a heavy cloud
that is blurring their vision of truth, fogging up their decision-making,
leaving them with no shelter when life’s thunder and lightning knock them to
the ground.
Moralistic Therapeutic Deism is what the
millennials have gleaned from the Postmodern culture of relativity that we grew
up in; it’s what millennials have concluded from the emphasis on individualism
and the lack of tools that our culture gave us to set clear values and
convictions.
If you’ve
never heard of MTD before, I’ll break it down for you…
Moralistic=It’s important to be good,
nice, and fair to others (but never tell others what they are doing is wrong).
Therapeutic=Happiness and comfort is
the central goal in life; I should do whatever feels right in this moment and
not worry about the consequences.
Deism=God exists, but He is “up there”
and is not actively involved in our lives here on earth.
·
Millennials are left thinking that they do not
need a Savior because sin is so relative.
·
Christian ethics are reduced to simply being
nice.
·
Sexual morality is relative, which leads to
broken relationships, emotional turmoil, STDs, abortions, and children being
born out of wedlock (which brings so many challenges to the family and
particularly to the children as they grow up).
·
When tragedies come, millennials are confused
because…Where is this God who is supposed to make me so happy?
MTD is a blurry mess.
Millennials have not been taught to value truth; in fact, so much of our
pop culture and college lectures and self-help books have blasted us that the
only truth we can find is whatever makes us happy. But I want to tell my friends and my
generation that truth is not something to despise or to be a heavy burden that
steals our joy. No—truth can set you
free. Yes—truth has set me free.
I love that
I’m a millennial. I love that this is my
time and this is my place. I love the
opportunity, the window I get to shine a light through.
 |
As I
listened to Taylor Swift’s new album this past week, part of me is impressed
with her artistry, and part of me is sad at how self-indulgent the lyrics sound.
Part of me is singing and dancing along to the songs that I like (“Bad Blood,”
“Out of the Woods,” and “Clean” are all so great!), and part of me wants so badly
to tell her about Jesus. (I don’t know
what Taylor believes, but I have never heard her mention anything about Jesus.)
Taylor’s
lyrics are still conservative and charmingly innocent compared to most of
today’s popular artists. But as in most of today’s music, you can see traces of
Moralistic Therapeutic Deism all throughout her lyrics.
I think
what hit me is that in some of her songs in this album, she doesn’t seem to
value marriage or any long-term commitment. (This could be an unfair analysis,
but it’s what stood out to me.) The
reason I often ridiculed Taylor years ago was because she wanted her life to
revolve around the guys she loved, and she desperately wanted it to last
forever. But now in her lyrics, she seems to treat the guys she
dates flippantly, like she doesn’t care that she “can see the end before it
begins,”[6]
like she is mostly concerned with having fun, like even sex is
recreational. Or maybe that's just a coping mechanism of trying not to get your hopes up--I don't know.
In her note
to her fans in her album cover, Taylor writes that she used to be a girl who
thought she could “never find happiness in a world where she is not in love,”
but now she has changed. That’s
great. She has grown older and has
learned that she can be happy with who she is no matter if she dating someone
or not. Good for you, Taylor.
But I hope
she can also learn the danger in self-indulgence and moral relativity; most
importantly, I hope she can learn that the truth in Jesus can set her free.
I don’t
know. I probably just need you to tell
me, “Geez, give the girl a break.” But
don’t worry—examining lyrics is what I do. Maybe the reason I'm examining Taylor's lyrics closely is because I think she is intelligent, lovely, and generous, and I appreciate her voice in this world. I guess I know that Taylor’s voice not only represents—but also
influences—so many other girls and young women in our nation (and throughout
the world).
Look, if I
ever had the chance to meet Taylor, I would squeal and give her a huge hug and
thank her for giving us girl anthems to sing to, for giving us so many lines of
lyrics that are amazingly genius, for giving us her honest expressions of
growing up as a millennial girl in America.
But
listening to her new album this week has challenged me as a millennial to
stand, to speak, to share the truth that millennials think they don’t want to
hear. But I can see that their stomachs
are aching because are hungry for real love that only God can give them; their
throats are burning, and they are dying of thirst because self-indulgence
without truth can never satisfy. My
generation needs the good news of the gospel.
I love that
I’m a millennial. I love that this is my
time and this is my place. I love the
opportunity, the window I get to shine a light through.
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| My laundry room window :) |
[2] http://www.pewsocialtrends.org/2010/02/24/millennials-confident-connected-open-to-change/
[3] Dean,
Kenda. (2010). “Moralistic Therapeutic
Deism?” http://kendadean.com/moralistic-therapeutic-deism/.
[4] Dean,
Kenda. (2010). “Moralistic Therapeutic
Deism?” http://kendadean.com/moralistic-therapeutic-deism/.
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