I'm beginning to see calls to petition for a return of school prayer. I think that's the wrong direction for us to go. Here's why.
I was a Lady Gaga fan from the very beginning. This is my favorite song:
I've worked with kids like these in the parish -- as have many of my readers. "The bad kids." These kids are social and moral "monsters". But Gaga deconstructs the label "bad kid" in the song. These kids are moral monsters not because they are intrinsically evil but because "they don't know right from wrong". What's more, while on the outside these kids are an objective pain in the ass (that's my professional clinical diagnosis), inside their "heart is pure". Their deviance is due to more to insecurity ("don't be insecure") than depravity.
In short, in this song Gaga is trying to get on the inside of these "monsters", to speak to their brokenness, sadness, loneliness and alienation. To society these are "bad kids". But Gaga sings to them "You're still good to me".
And that sounds a lot like Jesus to me.
Gaga calls out to the little monsters. And Jesus eats with with tax collectors, sinners and prostitutes.
All this is driven home with the story of Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year-old boy from Williamsville, NY, who took his life in 2011 after years of school yard bullying because of Jamey's struggles with his sexuality.
Jamey was a "monster" at school. A social outcast. A freak. A scapegoat.
But Jamey did find a place of community and welcome. And it wasn't at church. Jamey found a home with Lady Gaga and her little monsters as he recounted on his video for the It Gets Better Campaign.
After Jamey's death, Lady Gaga devoted a song to him, a sort of memorial service for his "fellow monsters".
Some questioned her motives. But I think she was being pure, and I find the song and video quite moving.
So is Lady Gaga a Christian role model? Do I agree with everything she does? Do I always find her motives pure? Those, I think, are the wrong questions. For the purpose of this post, I want to focus on something else.
Like all of us, Lady Gaga is a mixed bag. But her passionate engagement with the "little monsters" of society, her attempt to welcome them and show them warmth, understanding, and respect -- those, I think, are things the Christian community should model from her.
In fact, I think Lady Gaga is shaming the Church here. Because, here's the deal: If kids like Jamey aren't being welcomed by churches or by their schools, where are they supposed to go?
This is what I think. I think every Christ-following Church should start talking to their youth groups, saying unambiguously: We want you to be a wall of protection for kids like Jamey. Seek out and protect -- emotionally and socially -- every weird, weak, nerdy, lonely, queer kid at your school. We don't care if they are a goth, or a druggy or a queer. Doesn't matter. Protect these kids. Churches should train their youth groups to be angels of protection, teaching them to find these kids and say, "Hey, I love you. Jesus loves you. So no one's going to bully you. Not on my watch. Come sit with me at lunch." That's what I think. I think every Christ-following Church should start Guardian Angel programs like this, teaching their kids to stick up for kids like Jamey. Not with violence. But with welcome and solidarity. Because it's hard to bully a group. So let's welcome these kids into a halo of protection and friendship.
That's what I think we Christians should be doing to change our schools.
Our focus is all off here. We talk about bringing God back into our schools. We lament the absence of prayer from our classrooms. But those are the wrong battles. Because God is already in our schools, standing by kids like Jamey.
So the question isn't, why won't the School Board allow God in our schools? No, the question is -- Why aren't we joining God on the playground and sticking up for kids like Jamey?
We're a stiff-necked, disobedient, rebellious generation.
When Jamey Rodemeyer heard his peers, in person and online, say "Why don't you kill yourself you queer?" (a fair summary of the stuff he was dealing with) I can't help but assume that he thought that the Church supported and endorsed those sentiments. Because even if Christians weren't directly involved in the bullying we certainly were complicit, if only in our collective silence and apathy. "Let the gays protect gay kids", our collective silence declares, "and we'll take care of our own".
That breaks my heart.
Who is going to protect these little monsters? Who's going to speak for them? Who's going to welcome them? Who's going to weep for them?
I know Lady Gaga will. I've seen her do it.
I also know Jesus does it.
What about we Christians?
I was a Lady Gaga fan from the very beginning. This is my favorite song:
I've worked with kids like these in the parish -- as have many of my readers. "The bad kids." These kids are social and moral "monsters". But Gaga deconstructs the label "bad kid" in the song. These kids are moral monsters not because they are intrinsically evil but because "they don't know right from wrong". What's more, while on the outside these kids are an objective pain in the ass (that's my professional clinical diagnosis), inside their "heart is pure". Their deviance is due to more to insecurity ("don't be insecure") than depravity.
In short, in this song Gaga is trying to get on the inside of these "monsters", to speak to their brokenness, sadness, loneliness and alienation. To society these are "bad kids". But Gaga sings to them "You're still good to me".
And that sounds a lot like Jesus to me.
Gaga calls out to the little monsters. And Jesus eats with with tax collectors, sinners and prostitutes.
All this is driven home with the story of Jamey Rodemeyer, a 14-year-old boy from Williamsville, NY, who took his life in 2011 after years of school yard bullying because of Jamey's struggles with his sexuality.
Jamey was a "monster" at school. A social outcast. A freak. A scapegoat.
But Jamey did find a place of community and welcome. And it wasn't at church. Jamey found a home with Lady Gaga and her little monsters as he recounted on his video for the It Gets Better Campaign.
After Jamey's death, Lady Gaga devoted a song to him, a sort of memorial service for his "fellow monsters".
Some questioned her motives. But I think she was being pure, and I find the song and video quite moving.
So is Lady Gaga a Christian role model? Do I agree with everything she does? Do I always find her motives pure? Those, I think, are the wrong questions. For the purpose of this post, I want to focus on something else.
Like all of us, Lady Gaga is a mixed bag. But her passionate engagement with the "little monsters" of society, her attempt to welcome them and show them warmth, understanding, and respect -- those, I think, are things the Christian community should model from her.
In fact, I think Lady Gaga is shaming the Church here. Because, here's the deal: If kids like Jamey aren't being welcomed by churches or by their schools, where are they supposed to go?
This is what I think. I think every Christ-following Church should start talking to their youth groups, saying unambiguously: We want you to be a wall of protection for kids like Jamey. Seek out and protect -- emotionally and socially -- every weird, weak, nerdy, lonely, queer kid at your school. We don't care if they are a goth, or a druggy or a queer. Doesn't matter. Protect these kids. Churches should train their youth groups to be angels of protection, teaching them to find these kids and say, "Hey, I love you. Jesus loves you. So no one's going to bully you. Not on my watch. Come sit with me at lunch." That's what I think. I think every Christ-following Church should start Guardian Angel programs like this, teaching their kids to stick up for kids like Jamey. Not with violence. But with welcome and solidarity. Because it's hard to bully a group. So let's welcome these kids into a halo of protection and friendship.
That's what I think we Christians should be doing to change our schools.
Our focus is all off here. We talk about bringing God back into our schools. We lament the absence of prayer from our classrooms. But those are the wrong battles. Because God is already in our schools, standing by kids like Jamey.
So the question isn't, why won't the School Board allow God in our schools? No, the question is -- Why aren't we joining God on the playground and sticking up for kids like Jamey?
We're a stiff-necked, disobedient, rebellious generation.
When Jamey Rodemeyer heard his peers, in person and online, say "Why don't you kill yourself you queer?" (a fair summary of the stuff he was dealing with) I can't help but assume that he thought that the Church supported and endorsed those sentiments. Because even if Christians weren't directly involved in the bullying we certainly were complicit, if only in our collective silence and apathy. "Let the gays protect gay kids", our collective silence declares, "and we'll take care of our own".
That breaks my heart.
Who is going to protect these little monsters? Who's going to speak for them? Who's going to welcome them? Who's going to weep for them?
I know Lady Gaga will. I've seen her do it.
I also know Jesus does it.
What about we Christians?