Lady Gaga Born This Way: Review
Celebrating being unique is good. Celebrating sin is not.
Lady Gaga rocked up to the 2011 Grammy awards inside a giant egg. She then proceeded to perform her latest song, Born This Way, while dressed as an egg yolk. This should come as no surprise. Lady Gaga has crafted her entire celebrity around being provocative and attention grabbing. She needs your attention and she’s going to get it by telling you exactly what you want to hear.
What’s the song about?
Born This Way is a celebration of the uniqueness of self. But it is also a glorification of sin. Because this song is a lie. It presents a world where sin does not exist and there’s not a single thing about you that needs to change. Every thought you have, every thing you do is not only acceptable, but applaudable. Do not conform but be yourself. You are perfect in every single way. That’s the gospel of Lady Gaga.
But it’s not the gospel of Jesus Christ.
God doesn’t make mistakes, but we do
In Born This Way, Lady Gaga affirms some things that are true. “Cause God makes no mistakes.” That’s true. God doesn’t make mistakes. He has had a plan for creation since before day one. His purposes are being worked out as we speak. But that does not mean that God created sin and endorses it. Sin is alien to this world. It does not belong here. Sin frustrates God’s plans. There are thoughts and actions of ours that are born of sin and actively work against God and his purposes. God makes no mistakes. But we do.
Born This Way does not treat sin seriously. In the world of Lady Gaga, you should celebrate who you are, no matter what. “Just love yourself and you’re set.” But the Bible tells us that we have walked away from our creator. Instead of celebrating, we should be acknowledging our sin. Recognising that we are living lives that have rejected God. Yes, there are parts of your personality that you should embrace. There is nothing wrong with being unique. The Bible is not telling you to join the cookie-cutter mold and be just the same as everyone else. But it is wrong to go too far in the opposite direction. It is wrong to take your sin and say “God made me this way, so deal with it.”
Jesus came for a reason
Sin is a big deal. If it wasn’t, then Jesus wouldn’t have gone to the cross. “I have come into the world as a light, so that no one who believes in me should stay in darkness.” (John 12:46) Jesus came into this world and surrendered himself to the death because sin needed to be dealt with. Our sin is something that we should be working to be rid of. Instead, Lady Gaga thinks we should just do whatever we want. Just be yourself. Don’t try and become more like the person God wants you to be.
You’re already perfect? This is a dangerous lie.
Born to be a child of God
This is the message we want to hear, not the message that we need to hear. We don’t want to change. We don’t want to be confronted with our sin. We don’t want to admit that there’s a God who wants us to return to him and reject sin. The gospel of Jesus is a difficult message. It will involve making changes to your life, changes that you might not be willing to make. But if you recognise Jesus as your lord, then you will recognise that you were not born this way. You were born for something greater. You were born to be a child of God.
Stay in the loop