ADVENT DAY 15 (I Have Access to the Throne of God in Prayer): What Altar?

We have been invited to come before the Lord in prayer, to humble our hearts before Him and call upon His name. In Ephesians 3, we find these words from the apostle Paul:
8 To me, who am less than the least of all the saints, this grace was given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ,
9 and to make all see what is the fellowship of the mystery, which from the beginning of the ages has been hidden in God who created all things through Jesus Christ;
10 to the intent that now the manifold wisdom of God might be made known by the church to the principalities and powers in the heavenly places,
11 according to the eternal purpose which He accomplished in Christ Jesus our Lord,
12 in whom we have boldness and access with confidence through faith in Him.

We have been granted access to come before our Savior in prayer.  What had blocked humanity from approaching a holy God has been removed because Christ, the Messiah came so that we could approach Him, talk with Him, present our requests, offer worship and praise, and enjoy communion with Him. We can possess the attitude that He is exalted above all - above everything that would vie for our worship, that we would be tempted to exalt above Christ, and demonstrate our desire to know Him and walk with Him.

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It's Day 15 of our 25-day spiritual "Advent-ure" in the Faith Radio Advent Guide, with this year's theme, "Because of Jesus...," reflecting on what the Lord has done for us through coming to earth and bearing our sins on the cross, then rising from the dead. Today's theme reminds us: I have access to the throne of God in prayer. Our theme Scripture is found in Hebrews 4:
15 For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, but was in all points tempted as we are, yet without sin.
16 Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

It is truly amazing and instructive to see how people idolize celebrity, even to the extent of worship. Consider this description of a concert experience from a writer from a major magazine: "I am in a stadium with nearly 70,000 other people having a religious experience." He writes that, "The crowd is rapturous," and that the concert artist was "beatific as she gazes out at us, all high on the same drug. Her fans are singularly passionate, not just in the venue but also online, as they analyze clues, hints, and secret messages in everything from her choreography to her costumes—some deliberately planted, others not. 

That is what a writer for TIME Magazine stated in his lyrical profile of the magazine's "2023 Person of the Year."  By now you know that we're talking about pop music superstar, Taylor Swift. Certainly, Swift has had a profound cultural influence, but to what end? 

We get a bit of a clue to that from a Western Journal article, which reported that:

...commentator Jon Root posted a 12-second clip from the music video for Swift’s song “You Need to Calm Down,” which depicted two men kissing in what appeared to be a marriage ceremony, followed seconds later by a close-up of five stereotypical “hillbillies” — one wore a cowboy hat, another wore a tank top with an American flag — angrily looking on in protest.

The clip was accompanied by this comment, "Here’s a quick reminder of what Taylor Swift thinks about Christians..."

In critiquing the TIME article, written by a man named Sam Lanzky, Western Journal says:

“She’s modeling radical self-acceptance on the world’s largest stage, giving the audience a space to revisit their own joy or pain, once dismissed or forgotten,” Lansky wrote.

To an untutored listener but careful reader, this sounds a good deal like worship of self.

And the bulk of Lansky’s article focused on precisely that — her story, her feelings, her.

To the Christian — or, frankly, to anyone who has contemplated the nature of the universe — an obvious question arises: Really? Is that all? She tells her story, models “radical self-acceptance,” and this amounts to a “religious experience?”

The Christian Post reported back in 2019:

Taylor Swift won Video of the Year for her hit song “You Need to Calm Down” at MTV's Video Music Awards and during the acceptance speech advocated for the Equality Act, a bill some say is a threat to religious liberty.

Swift hit the VMA stage on Aug. 26 with a group of LGBT friends. She began by saying that her video, which slams anti-LGBT Christian "hate" protesters, was voted the winner by fans. She then talked about the Equality Act bill for the duration of her speech asking the president of the United States to respond to her Change.org petition supporting the bill.

The Equality Act would make sexual orientation and gender identity protected categories in federal anti-discrimination law.

Following the overturning of Roe v. Wade, Swift tweeted out, "I’m absolutely terrified that this is where we are - that after so many decades of people fighting for women’s rights to their own bodies, today’s decision has stripped us of that."

In addition to Swift's problematic support of abortion and homosexuality, her lyrical choices have become increasingly "suggestive," as Adam Holz of Plugged In puts it: 

...Taylor’ early “era” hits have a more innocent, earnest and wide-eyed feeling to them, a general attitude that contributed a great deal to her popularity growth over her first several albums. The song “Love Story” from 2008’s album Fearless comes to mind as an example here, a happier retelling of the Romeo and Juliet romance.

But Taylor’s last several albums have become increasingly suggestive, though not particularly explicit.

Holz analyzes the challenge for Christian parents, writing that "Many likely have taken a look at the lyrical problems...which encompass sexual content, LGBT advocacy, profanity and spiritual worldview concerns, and said simply, 'Nope.' ...There are significant issues here." But he also notes:

Other families may have fans who got onboard with Taylor’s earlier, relatively innocent love songs. And despite the problems noted above, Swift’s controversies haven’t completely tarnished her public perception as a nice girl next door, never mind the tabloids.

Holz adds, "And relative to so many other far more problematic entertainers out there, Taylor’s shortcomings may not seem like automatic disqualifications for some families."

The comments were part of a review of the Swift movie that consisted of content from her "Eras Tour," which covered the various "eras," or sections of the magnanimous career. Adam offered some questions that parents and their kids could consider "together:"

• What do you think makes Taylor Swift’s music so appealing?
• What songs or messages do you connect with personally?
• What do you think Taylor has to say about romance and identity in her songs?
• Taylor Swift is one of the most powerful, influential and richest women in the world. Yet many of her songs are, at some level, responding to how others view her. What do you think about that?
• How much should we let others’ opinions of us impact our own sense of identity, of who we are? It’s obvious that that’s a question Taylor has wrestled with a lot.
• How does Taylor’s conception of love and intimacy compare to what Scripture has to say about genuine love, as well as the purpose and place of sexual expression our relationships?

So, there you have it - at least a part of it, as pop music culture has experienced the dominance of an icon whose concerts have been termed a "religious experience."  Well, you have to consider the object of your worship - in all things.  Whether it be a celebrity, a sports star, or even a pastor or Christian influences.  Perhaps the object is an inanimate object, like something you possess.  So, at what altar are you worshipping? And, do we worship something - or someone - to a greater degree than we love God.  

Western Journal noted in its concluding words, referring to the "radical self-acceptance" I mentioned earlier:

No wonder Swift has embraced “pride.” No wonder she denigrates the Christian view of marriage. If she took that view seriously, then she would have to consider its source, and that would lead her to something infinitely greater than herself.

In that sense, she commands our pity.

But we must not allow that pity to become a source of mistaken pride in ourselves. Swift has, in the words of Paul, “conformed to this world” (Romans 12:2). For all the times we have done likewise, we need God’s forgiveness.

In the meantime, God commands us to love Swift — and the millions of confused people who think as she does — the same way we love ourselves.

So, while Taylor Swift has become an idol to many, we have to beware of desires that we might possess, desires that are not of God, that would cause us to spend more time with and allegiance to than to fellowship with Him.  When we truly come before the throne of God, in a spirit of  humility, with confessed sins and forgiving hearts, we can offer ourselves as the living sacrifices spoken of in Romans chapter 12.  Our prayer life should be motivated by our desires to exalt Christ above all else.