I'm The Problem, It's Me
A Monster Lurching Toward Your Favorite City
Taylor’s new album, “The Life of a Showgirl,” drops Friday and we have much to discuss before then.
Swifties know the power of a bridge. Yes, we know the words—and yes, we’ll prove it. (That was the very challenge Taylor started the Eras Tour with.) But a bridge isn’t just the high point of a song; it’s also a way of connecting things that might otherwise stay apart. That’s what this devotional is about: building a bridge between people who love Taylor Swift and the love God has for them. I’m not saying her songs are anointed Scripture, but her storytelling and emotional honesty highlight real human longings that only God can fully meet. If he could use a donkey in the Old Testament, he can certainly use a pop song. So as a seminary student and a Swiftie, I’m connecting the heart behind her lyrics with the hope and wholeness found in God’s love.
Anti-Hero
Common Chord:
I have this thing where I get older but just never wiser
Midnights become my afternoons
When my depression works the graveyard shift
All of the people I’ve ghosted stand there in the room
I should not be left to my own devices
They come with prices and vices
I end up in crisis (tale as old as time)
I wake up screaming from dreaming
One day I’ll watch as you’re leaving
‘Cause you got tired of my scheming
(For the last time)
It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me
At tea time, everybody agrees
I’ll stare directly at the sun but never in the mirror
It must be exhausting always rooting for the anti-hero
Holy Harmony:
The Apostle Paul says in Romans,
“So I find this law at work: Although I want to do good, evil is right there with me. For in my inner being I delight in God’s law; but I see another law at work in me, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin at work within me. What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
The Bridge
Say it with me: “It’s me, hi, I’m the problem, it’s me.”
And the problem is you. And me. We Christians often act as if we are the heroes, but we are the problem that created the need for a hero. We are an army of anti-heroes.
But God sent us his hero: His name is Jesus.
I’ll say it, I’m an anti-hero who would really like to be the hero. I mean, I don’t want to die on a cross for the sins of the world like Jesus did, but maybe I could be a second-tier hero? I’d love for people to look at my life and say, “Wow, she’s amazing!” Then they’d come to me begging, “Teach me your ways.” And I would, in all my faux humility, descend heroically to their level and help them fix their lives.
Sounds foolproof, right? Except it’s the sexiest lie from hell. It ends in scorched earth every time (see the hundreds of church leaders who have fallen from grace due to mistaking themselves for Jesus).
As Paul described in the section of Romans above, we feel the desire to do good. We see what’s good and we’re like, “Yeah, let’s do that good thing, don’t do that bad thing.” And as Pavlovian as the claps in the theme song of “Friends,” we do the bad thing. Anti-heroes.
When we remember we are the anti-heroes, and that any good work we do happens because of the true Hero, we flourish and share God’s love with others. As the song above says, “I should not be left to my own devices, they come with vices and prices, and I end up in crisis.” And God says, “Um, yeah, I know, that is why you have Jesus.”
So sing this song with me as a way to glorify God by declaring we are the anti-hero, and he is our hero.
Reverent Refrain
God, You are the hero. Oh, how our hearts want to have the power of being the hero. Protect us from the illusion that we can step into that role, but direct us to being your anti-hero. We overflow with thankfulness that you have welcomed anti-heroes into your family. We love you, God.
Podcast
I recently had the opportunity to join Todd Agnew, chair of the Media Arts & Worship department at Dallas Seminary, and host Kasey Olander for a podcast conversation about tying culture to faith. We dug into what the Taylor Swift phenomenon can teach us about why people are drawn to her—how her lyrics and community building create space for wide-ranging, authentic feelings. As people of faith, we know those needs are ultimately met by God alone, and our calling is to help build the bridge that leads there. You can listen here:
New to Taylor Swift’s songs? Here’s a playlist I made for you to dip your toes into the Swiftie waters.