Let it be known that I don't condone Lady Gaga. I've danced to her music and I listen to her first album while at the gym, but I definitely don't think her recent inappropriate outfits and very sexualized music are appropriate for anyone to listen to. I would never let my children listen to any song other than "Just Dance", and I change the channel when her barely-there outfits are plastered all over our television set.
But I watched a recent interview with her on Good Morning America, and I was sort of blown away. Not by her music, because it's highly sexual overtones were definitely over the line for family viewing, but by her interview. I think it was her eyes. I have never seen such sad eyes on someone. For being someone who supports people's opinions that they were "born this way", she sure doesn't seem very happy in her own skin. Recent allegations of a facial restructuring also make me think she is really not that happy with the girl under all the crazy outfits. She is a very pretty lady, from what I could see at the beginning of her career, and it's a little sad that she is trying to push the boundaries so much. The second thing that hit me was the crowd. GMA said it was the "largest crowd" their summer concert series (which has seen the likes of Brad Paisley and Keith Urban) they have ever seen. In history. And a crowd it was...stretching all the way to Times Square allegedly, and sweeping all the way through the streets. And I watched the cameras pan all through the crowd, full of teens and adults and even children dressed in gay pride tee shirts and pro-homosexual gear...people cheering and clinging to what she was offering them. They looked at her like she was a god. Broken, hurting people reaching out for something. Anything.
And I felt suddenly, sickeningly, guilty.
Millions of hurting people are clinging to Lady Gaga because she is filling a void. She, as twisted and volatile as her theology may be, has connected with these hurting teens and adults and people who don't fit in anywhere. People I don't hang out with. People who rarely even cross my mind.
Jesus would have hung out with these people.
He would have offered them, not a flimsy, sexual replacement for Hope, but the real thing.
I don't believe in Lady Gaga, but the fact is, millions of people believe in her message of hope, because the church, myself included, haven't offered them the actual thing. It's convicting and painful and true.
I hope Lady Gaga finds a truth she can truly cling to, one that will fill the void in her eyes and the bigger one in her heart. I truly hope she can find the person she wants to be and make a difference in the lives of the people who follow her. But moreover, I hope I can be part of the change that fills that void in the lives of people around me...with Jesus. WIth real Hope, a true future. Starting with our neighbor. Bob (not his real name), a broken and sad man who lives across the street from us...who is looking for something he hasn't found yet at a church where he says "east meets west in the teaching of Buddha and Jesus", but is genuinely being cared for by the people at that church. I haven't stepped up to care for him. I need to. I need to bring him dinner and my husband and I need to continue to show kindness to him for no reason.
So Lady Gaga, this post is for you. You may not understand what you're looking for, but I hope you find Him soon.
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3 comments:
So true, Grace! I love everything you said in this! The hope and love of Jesus is so powerful and more than enough for us!
Excellent thoughts grace. Thank you for sharing :)
Ha! I figured it out. Hit the wrong link to comment the first time. This is a great post and from a very compassionate and merciful heart. Most big stars are quite unhappy. Their life is very demanding. But you make some very good points here. So, now we know what lost hurting people do and where they turn when they have no place in the world but, this blog led me to this question..where do Christians go when they hurt yet don't fit with church people? It happens more than people realize. It is a very prevalent problem in most churches. I have heard many stories of new Christians who go back to their old life because they don't know where else to go. Others continue to go to church out of obedience and to learn...but they hide in the shadows to avoid indirect rejection (being unaccepted). There are so many lonely people who turn to the church in hopes for acceptance and find that even there, they don't fit anywhere...or don't measure up because of things like social status or wealth or talent...etc. What do they do? Where do they go? That would be a great blog. If Christians don't feel "at home" in the church...how can we ever expect the lost to want to be there?
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