Wake Up, Look Up

Hello, everyone. Thanks for listening to Wake Up, Look Up, a podcast where we connect events happening in real time to the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm Zach Weihrauch and in today's episode, we're asking the question, what can we learn from Taylor Swift? This is prompted by an article in the Atlantic recently that was looking at what is it that makes Taylor Swift so popular? And of course, uh, you are probably aware of who she is whether you listen to her music or not. And that's a sign of just her global influence, the phenomenon that is, uh, Taylor Swift. And the article did a great job of putting its finger on her popularity because it could be tempting to say, well, she makes good music, but of course that's subjective. What one person likes in music is not what another person likes. And there are other musicians out there that are popular, but few that have the cultural influence that Taylor Swift has. Uh, the article cites Harvard poet Stephanie Burt, who argues that Swift's popularity is owing to something, uh, she calls feminine genius. And what she means by that is that Taylor Swift uniquely understands and kind of typifies and empathizes with the female experience, particularly teenagers and young adults. She understands their emotions, she understands their fears, their hopes, their dreams. And she puts that into her music. So certainly Taylor Swift makes pop music a big part of pop music is it needs to be catchy, it needs to be memorable, it needs to be fun, it needs to sound good. But behind that really is this idea. Taylor Swift's music resonates because she sees people and she understands people. In fact, her confessional approach to her lyrics are a huge reason. But why her fans, so called Swifties, cite their love for her music. They feel understood. And in that way, I think Taylor Swift is a great launching off point for what I think God wants in churches and what I think God wants in the preaching of the gospel and how I think as a pastor and as the church, we have a lot to learn from Taylor Swift. Here's what I mean. A, uh, big part of the heart of God in the Bible is that he sees people. He sees them uniquely. He understands their story, he values them. You can see this in a lot of different ways. One example of this is in Genesis 16, when Hagar, uh, the used and kind of abused maidservant of Sarah, says about God, you are the God who sees me. You see this in the ministry of Jesus time and time again. Whether it's Zacchaeus, the rich young ruler, Nicodemus, the woman at the well, Jesus not only deals with individuals, his approach to those individuals changes. He lets the uniqueness of their personality and their story influence the way he engages them. And that's not just true of God, that's something that is true of what the Bible teaches us about gospel ministry. The Apostle Paul in Romans 12:15 calls us to rejoice with those who rejoice, to weep with those who weep, which of course you can't do unless you understand someone's story, unless you understand their why, what's going on in their lives, why they're rejoicing, why they're weeping. The Bible isn't calling us to a thin kind of empathy that sees the tear in your eye and squeezes out one in mind. The Bible is calling us to the kind of intentional relational engagement that means acknowledging the power of a person's particular story. What really makes them afraid, what really gets them excited, what they're hoping for, their future. That is the goal of understanding them and then, of course, bringing the gospel to bear on their life. 1 Peter 3:15 says this, that you must be ready to give an answer to each person with gentleness and respect. Look, we wanna reach people with the good news of Jesus, but part of being ready with gentleness and respect is understanding where a person already is. I mentioned this about Jesus, but when you look at how he talks about his own message, his life, his death and resurrection, it changes based on the person. With Nicodemus, he's confrontational, shaking at the root of his religion with the woman at the well. He's relational, speaking the value that she no longer believes that she has. Jesus understood people and his message was true and central all the time, but it wasn't one size fits all. It was customized because of how he understood particular people. After all, isn't the essence of the gospel in John 1:14 that the word became flesh and dwelt among us? He entered our stories, he incarnated in our lives. For too long the church has stood at a distance from people's lives and stories and preached at them instead of holding out the gospel to them. Taylor Swift is showing us that when you communicate to people that you see them, that you understand them, that you are curious about them, they are interested in what you have to say. And while for her that's really not much but catchy pop lyrics, for us it's the eternal truth of the love and mercy that is available in Jesus. Listen, if someone is on your heart to get the gospel, to maybe start by becoming curious, by understanding them, by empathizing with them so that when you do share Jesus, it's to them, not at them. Hey, thanks for watching this episode of Wake Up, Look Up. If you enjoyed it, please help us get the word out by sharing it with someone you think might benefit from it. And while you're here, make sure to subscribe to our YouTube channel to get further content or even download the CCC app, where you'll find even more resources to help you grow in your faith and relationship with Jesus Christ.

Have an article you’d like Zach to discuss? Email us at wakeup@ccchapel.com!