I think that saying The Gospel Coalition has gone off the deep end is just about the nicest thing you could say at this point because this... this is unreal.
We were alerted yesterday when Grace to You's Phil Johnson called us out on Twitter, thinking this should've been a Babylon Bee article.
Now, it's very clear that in order to stay relevant The Gospel Coalition hired a 30-something unmarried cat mom to appeal to that audience and... WAIT... I'm being told that a MAN wrote this?
HOO BOY. This is making me rethink everything. I might even have to rethink the whole trans issue because if ever there was a woman trapped in a man's body this is it.
Of course, after a few hours of blowback, TGC deleted the article from their website as if it never happened.
But don't worry, the internet is forever. Here's the archive of the very real, very disturbing piece.
I've been dreading this part... I'm about to dive into the actual content of the article (pray for me) to see how TGC thinks an unmarried, new-boyfriend-every-week, pro-abort, pro-LGBT pop diva can point us to God.
Let's dive in...
Blake, who is a man, admits that he went to one of Taylor Swift's shows in Chicago this summer and, upon reflection, "the spiritual connections were vast." So he came up with 7 (yes, seven) ways T-Swizzle can teach us about our spiritual lives.
CATCHING A GLIMPSE OF TAYLOR SWIFT is compared directly to the joys of knowing the King of all Creation.
Oh, Taylor! If only you would pass by and give us a small glimpse of your glory! This has to be what it's like to be known by God the Father creator of all!
Man, we're one point in and I am already sick.
Here's an excerpt from his second point, about how girls wearing T-Swift style dresses is sort of like us putting on Christ... Guys, I wish I were making this up.
2. We were created to image greatness...
Swifties appreciated Taylor's beauty more because of each other's imitations. The words "I love your dress!" were exclaimed countless times that day. Yet it wasn't just Swifties who noticed the shimmering attire of Taylor's fans. Taylor's dresses became more visible when worn by her followers. Through Swifties, the world saw Swift.
One of the great joys and privileges given to Christians is to "put on . . . Christ" (Rom. 13:14) — to put his sparkling attributes on display to a watching world. We were created to shimmer as jewels on the crown of Christ's head (cf. Zech. 9:16; Mal. 3:16 - 17).
Yes, wearing a "shimmering" dress for the applause of drunk millennials is a lot like putting on Christ. I've never seen such a tortured analogy in my life. And there are SEVEN in this article.
I can't subject y'all to reading the rest of the piece because I love y'all too much. But let me just list them:
3. The object of our greatest affection will be more beautiful than we imagined.
4. We were created for reciprocal enjoyment with the object of our greatest affection.
5. We were created for transcendent belonging and community.
6. Pettiness turns to gratitude in the presence of beauty.
Okay, I want to pause and further explain what he means in number six because, while everything else is a tortured analogy, comparing Taylor Swift DIRECTLY to God is somewhat different.
Every Eras show includes two-decade-long fans, recent followers, and everything in between. Some purchased tickets months in advance; others scooped them up minutes before the show. Yet once inside, no one says, "How come she got in?" That would be pure silliness. Everyone was too enthralled to see Taylor to have such petty thoughts.
Heaven will consist of lifelong Christ followers and death-bed converts. Yet none will feel robbed or embittered. All will overflow with joy and gratitude simply to be in Christ's presence.
Did you catch it? To be in the presence of beauty is to be in the presence of Christ, and he substitutes T-Swift there!!
"We don't care how long people have been fans of Taylor Swift, we're not upset if someone's a new Swifty or old Swifty, we just are all so happy everyone got to come and enjoy heaven... I mean, concert."
Yeah... substituting the glory of immortal God, who alone dwells in unapproachable light, for the teeny-bopper concert featuring an essentially-pagan diva who is fanatically worshipped by women across the world?
(The more I think about this it sounds less and less like heaven and more and more like that other place.)
Blake has a final point before he assures us, that he totally understands the difference between Taylor Swift and God.
See, the joy he felt from going to see Taylor Swift (I still can't believe this) was only a temporary joy. But the joy of the Lord is forever.
The analogy of a Taylor Swift concert to heaven and Taylor Swift to the Lord himself is gross, insulting, and, despite this author's insistence, isn't helping anyone see the truth of the Gospel.
I've seen the social media peeps. I've seen how girls act towards Swift. To call it "worshipful" would be a gross understatement.
The Gospel Coalition, which was formed by Tim Keller to be the leading voice for Reformed, evangelical churches in the 21st century - the outlet for training followers of Jesus Christ to prepare for Ephesians-6 battle against the demonic forces that rule the world - is now a total clown show.
It would be like launching the Navy SEALs training program only to turn it into a safe-space therapy program where people share their pronouns and play tag with squirt guns.
RIP, Gospel Coalition. I'm sure the woke editors over at "Christianity" Today will still read this junk!
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