The hunger of humanity

Editor’s Note: Grammy-winning, American singer-songwriter, billionaire Taylor Swift released her 12th studio album on October 3. Titled The Life of a Showgirl, Swift’s album quickly achieved record sales with more than 3.5 million copies sold in the U.S. during the first five days of its release. The numbers prove the world’s obsession with Swift and her impact on today’s culture, especially her young followers. Here is what Shane Pruitt – author, pastor, and National Next Gen director for the Southern Baptist Convention’s North American Mission Board – had to say about Swift’s latest album. His words, published with permission, are adapted from a post that he originally made on his social media account. Learn more about Pruitt at shanepruitt.net.

By Shane Pruitt, guest writer

Here are my immediate thoughts on Taylor Swift’s new album, The Life of a Showgirl. I read through all the lyrics of the album’s 12 songs. Eight of them carry an “explicit” warning, meaning they include strong profanity and/or sexual content.

However, The Life of a Showgirl does not carry as many of the dark undertones as Swift’s previous record-breaking album, The Tortured Poets Department, did. (Maybe it’s because she’s found love, so she feels happier.)

Regardless, The Life of a Showgirl does paint a vivid picture of womanhood being shaped by performance, fame, self-definition, sensuality, sexuality, and a call to embrace one’s emotional instability.

Yes, I know it’s not supposed to be a “Christian album,” and yes, I know that music like this is meant to be entertainment. But I also know words have meaning, and what we consume will often shape how we think, feel, and live.

Also, as Christian parents, we have a duty to disciple our kids in what is true, lovely, and holy (Philippians 4:8) and to pay attention to what we’re exposing them to.

Ultimately, Taylor Swift isn’t just selling songs. She’s selling a worldview that touts: Identity is self-created; love is ultimate but often fleeting; self-expression is sacred; critics are enemies; and the stage is the throne.

Here are several thoughts that came to mind while reading the lyrics to the tracks on The Life of a Showgirl.

Identity rooted in self-expression

Swift’s newest album celebrates a self-made, constantly shifting identity that is defined by image, sexuality, applause, and high emotions.

Scripture teaches that true identity isn’t something we perform into existence; rather, it is something we receive from God.

The “showgirl” persona may be empowering for a moment, but it is ultimately exhausting because self-worship always leads to burnout.

Love presented as ultimate

Much of Swift’s album frames love as the highest form of salvation yet simultaneously portrays it as fragile, unfaithful, and wounding. The result is emotional chaos elevated as truth.

Christianity offers a love that is not fickle nor dependent on feelings. Real love comes from Christ alone.

Sexuality without sacredness

Like much of modern pop culture, the album treats sensuality as power and liberation. But in Scripture, sexuality is not a tool for validation or dominance, it’s a sacred covenant expression meant to reflect Christ’s love within a marriage between a man and a woman.

Biblical love doesn’t lead to repression, but reverence.

Glory without God

The “showgirl” life is about lights, adoration, and self-exaltation. The Christian life is about humility, holiness, and pointing glory back to God.

The Life of a Showgirl is an honest portrayal of the modern “self-help” and “self-love” movements. It shows us the hunger of humanity – a hunger that only Jesus satisfies.

Ultimately, we don’t need a generation of “showgirls” or even “showboys.” We a need generation who realizes their ultimate identity is being daughters and sons of the King.