Quoting Lady Gaga in a Sermon
Our pastor shared this quotation from Lady Gaga today in his sermon, in the context of Genesis 3:1-7.
As we began the conversation, Gaga spoke carefully in a very odd accent—some combination of Madonna as Madge and a robot, an affect enhanced by the fact that she refused to remove her lightly tinted sunglasses over the course of two hours. “What I’ve discovered,†said robo-Gaga, with a photo-ready tilt of her head, “is that in art, as in music, there’s a lot of truth—and then there’s a lie. The artist is essentially creating his work to make this lie a truth, but he slides it in amongst all the others. The tiny little lie is the moment I live for, my moment. It’s the moment that the audience falls in love.â€
Mateen said he recognizes this strategy: to portray a lie as truth. It is a common strategy of the Devil. Having listened to many of Lady Gaga’s songs myself, I can affirm there are many, many lies interspersed amidst more positive statements and even some real “truths.” Reality is obsfucated and deceptions are presented as desirable and good. In this way, Satan manifests himself as an Angel of light:
These people are false apostles. They are deceitful workers who disguise themselves as apostles of Christ. But I am not surprised! Even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no wonder that his servants also disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. In the end they will get the punishment their wicked deeds deserve. (2 Corinthians 11:13-15 NLT)
I have thought many times about creating some video deconstructions of Gaga’s songs to highlight the lies and deceptions which are artfully interlaced among compelling rhythms and melodies. I’m not sure I want to insert myself so directly into the “culture wars” of our current age, which those videos might force. I do think it’s extremely important for us to each be saavy & aware of the ways messages are crafted and presented all around us. We all need greater levels of media literacy to remain independent thinkers and (hopefully) avoid being manipulated unknowingly by others.
Our pastor’s use of this quote was the part of his sermon today that most caught my attention and got me thinking.