At the 2011 Grammys, Lady Gage performed her new hit single "Born This Way". Christian Scharen, in one of the essays in Sacred Music & Sacred Theology, discusses this performance and two others in the context of what he calls sacramental theology. This idea of calling Gaga's performance a reflection of Christian theology can come across as startling and perhaps to some crass. But I think there's a lot of merit in discussing the "festive" in relation to musical performances. Gaga does this, absolutely, but so does one of my favorite bands of all time, U2. Scharen refers to how Rodney Clapp calls Gaga a "Kierkegaard in fishnet stockings" and says that the message of the song is how to accept yourself if you're a misfit, if you're someone who has only found their identity by shirking social expectations. Certainly, when Gaga implores the listener to love yourself because you were made perfectly, she is invoking a Christian God to come down on the side of acceptance and inclusion. Much of Gaga's career has been made from identifying herself as a champion of the outsider, and in "Born This Way" she stakes this position even deeper. Our class had a really interesting discussion regarding the theology of acceptance as opposed to the norms of traditional Christian power structures. My own denomination has struggled to see our LGBTQ+ brothers and sisters as just as worthy of God's love and purpose as anyone else. It's nice to see someone like Gaga, who has such a wide audience, say that God loves for who you are. In some sense, I see the idea of the Christian "festive" and sacrametnal theology invoked when U2 performs. Throughout their career, the band has had an uncanny knack for creating a space that feels as deeply sacred as it does secular. U2 have never boxed themselves inside the world of Christian music, but many of their songs have undeniable Christian themes and messages. Scharen himself mentions how he's seen U2 perform and how witnessing them sing "40" is a confirmation that "rock concerts ought to be sites for serious thinking about religion today." I can't help but agree. U2 is more explicitly pleading to God than Gaga does, but both see their performances as possibilities, opportunities for exploring spirituality, asking questions, and reckoning with injustice. The lyrics of "40" are extracted from Psalm 40 as well as Psalm 6. U2 incorporate direct Biblical references into their music and still regularly carry their audiences to heightened moments of transcendence, as if they're being taken to church right then and there. Scharen asks the question, "ought Christians claim a baptismal practice like Lady Gaga, shaped by a baptismal 'no' to the death-dealing world's order of things and a 'yes' to new identity as beloved, as opened to the fullness of all God intends?" Personally, yes, absolutely. Gaga may not be a pastor, but when she sings "Born This Way" she calls all of us who claim God to a way of seeing people that is truly loving and Christ-like. And U2, when they take their audiences to church, show us how "secular" spaces are viable avenues for spiritual expression and longing.
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April 2018
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