What I learned from Taylor Swift

I knew something was up weeks earlier. Making my typical hotel arrangements for the monthly trip to Nashville seemed complicated. Every hotel was sold out. Even my trusty 15-miles-outside-the-city economy hotel wanted $500 for a night’s stay.

It only took a quick search to discover I was headed into a weekend that featured three consecutive nights of Taylor Swift concerts. I came to find out that nearly 210,000 people planned to attend, and the Swifties swept over the city with enthusiasm. No wonder Ticketmaster had crashed.

On the flight in, I had a most interesting conversation with a fellow traveler. Unlike all the mom and middle schooler pairs on the plane, she was middle-aged and alone. I asked if she was coming for the concert, and she responded enthusiastically that she was indeed. In fact, she had been to two identical concerts in Atlanta the previous weekend and was planning to attend twice more in Nashville.

While I privately thought she could have bought a small car for what she was spending on these events, I instead asked simply: “Tell me why this is so important to you.” Without hesitation, she talked about the music, the quality of the production and her long-time admiration of the artist.

Then she said, “But it’s really because this is such a meaningful experience. It’s more than the music, it’s the community, the camaraderie, the fun that complete strangers have together. Nothing brings me this much joy.”

“I wish people talked about their church that way.”

My first thought was: “I wish people talked about their church that way.”

As I watched those around me over the weekend, it was clear she had identified something significant. There was a spirit of joyful exuberance across the city. On the last night of the three concerts, attendees endured a three-hour weather delay and stayed until well after 1:00 a.m. for a “you had to be there” kind of memory as Taylor performed in the driving rainstorm.

In ensuing weeks, the 52-stop tour has continued its remarkable trek across America, playing to capacity crowds and millions of fans.

What can we learn from this phenomenon?

1. Clearly, Taylor Swift is a generational talent who has created a brand and subculture with amazing loyalty. Her concerts are technical masterpieces that wow jaded audiences while keeping her human and approachable.
2. In a season of polarization and conflict in our nation and beyond, she brings a unifying voice and experience to people who too often find their lives defined by differences rather than common bonds. Her concerts are vast sing-along festivals that pull people together across a myriad of boundaries.
3. People are willing to pay vast amounts of money for an event that delivers a high-quality and engaging experience.
4. Live events are not dead. Staying at home and watching on a screen is no substitute for being there.
5. Swift’s narrative approach to song writing connects with multiple ages and conveys a level of understanding and insight that is meaningful and engaging to millions of fans.

Could it be that the American religious experience could learn a thing or two from Taylor Swift and her followers? I’m not suggesting we engage in fandom, deification or entertainer idolatry. Rather, can we glean insights from these events that might help us see some of our failings and foibles?

Here’s a humble try:

• At a time when people yearn for and desperately need something positive to unify around, too many religious leaders and churches instead engage in creating divisions and using inflammatory and exclusionary language. Conforming to political agendas rather than being transformed by the person and ministry of Jesus, we are missing the opportunity to “lift him up” and draw all manner of people to him. As in his day, too many religious leaders disdain those who are different and on the margins of society, while that is where Jesus finds his most receptive audience.
• As part of my work, I watch many, many worship services each week. Far too often I see tired, bored and jaded congregations, clergy and musicians who are simply going through the motions. While not needing pyrotechnics in the service, I do wonder if we have rubbed smooth the sharp edges of the good news and grown deaf to its powerful message. I’m convinced Jesus never has been more relevant to our culture, and yet our worship events often fail to convey that conviction.
• Something happens in community that cannot happen for us alone. The prevailing loneliness of our day is our opportunity to engage people in meaningful connections and relationships. This is an opportunity we can’t afford to miss, even if it means rethinking everything we do in small groups.
• The joy, laughter and enthusiasm that comes from Taylor Swift’s concert venues stands in marked contrast to the dour, judgmental lecturing that too often marks our approach to the world. We need to rediscover the joy of living and the levity and winsomeness of Jesus in the pages of the Gospels.
• Humility and genuineness are at the heart of how Jesus reached people suspicious of the established religions and rituals of his day. How refreshing would it be to see that spirit embodied in our leaders and religious events?

I expect to be more an observer than a participant in the Taylor Swift experience. However, I’m grateful for these reminders that our world desperately hungers for the good news we underestimate.

 

Bill Wilson is the founding director and senior advisor at Center for Healthy Churches. He currently chairs the board of the ABP Foundation, which supports Baptist News Global.