Listening (to Taylor Swift)

Taylor Swift, if you don’t know, is a billionaire singer/songwriter. She has a boyfriend who plays football or something. She also released a new album last week, and it’s already smashing records.

Since her album hit, there’s a viral post on social media warning Christians about her songs that I’ve seen on Facebook a few times. It sounds the alarm that many of these new songs “make fun of Christians and straight up blaspheme God.” Here are some of the lyrics that are specifically mentioned, from a song called “But Daddy I Love Him”:

I just learned these people only raise you

To cage you

Sarahs an 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

“Is this the music you want your kids listening to?” the post asks.

This kind of reaction to Taylor’s album seems pretty ironic to me, for two reasons. One, because I imagine this sort of post is exactly the kind of behavior that led her to write those lyrics in the first place. A young woman says she feels hated by pearl-clutching Christians, and a Christian with a large public platform immediately responds by accusing her of making fun of believers and of blasphemy. Case in point?

But it's also ironic, to me, when Christians will talk so much about someone while discouraging other believers from listening to that person. That’s the exact opposite of the posture James challenges us to take: “Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry.” (1:19)

(We usually do this backwards in America today, don’t we? We’re slow to listen, quick to speak, and very quick to get angry.)

But why would I want to listen to this woman bashing Christians?

Well, because Proverbs says that “An understanding heart seeks knowledge” (15:14), and “the ears of the wise seek it out.” (18:15) Taylor Swift is sharing about her experiences with Christians in our society. Our ears ought to be seeking out that kind of knowledge. Only a fool takes no pleasure in understanding (Prov 18:2)—a wise Christian should be glad for the chance to understand this young American’s perception of the Church.

Especially since, as one reviewer puts it, in this album Taylor has “captured the mood of a generation”—a generation churches have been so keen on reaching: Millennials. This album, Teresa Mull writes, sounds

a whole lot like the generation that has a higher rate of anxiety and depression than any other, a generation that’s extremely lonely and avoiding the traditions of marriage, family and church.

Sure, you could write off this music in the name of “guarding your heart” (Prov 4:23) from profanity or irreverence. (And, parents, certainly don’t let your children consume content that you believe is negatively affecting their hearts or minds.) But I think the American church would do well to hear out people like Taylor Swift. When someone wants to open up to you about their experiences and disappointments with Christianity, your job is not to criticize. It’s to be slow to speak and quick to listen. Check your annoyance and defensiveness at the door, and bring your curiosity and empathy instead. You just might hear something that the church needs to know.