You Belong With Me: Taylor Swift, God, and an Unusual Email

On Sunday, we received a rather unusual email in the Vintage Fellowship inbox. It’s not unheard of to receive unusual emails from time to time. Most of the time they get dismissed as either spam or someone looking for a handout (which sounds, unintentionally, like a rather derogatory way to describe them).

This email was different. It was long and rambled a bit yet seemed sincere and earnest. I don’t think it was a joke. It was sent to several other churches along with ours. From looking at the names of them,  I can’t detect any kind of pattern, geographically or denominationally.  

I’m not going to post it in its entirety. Nor am I going to tell you who it is from, not that it would matter because it came from a perfect stranger. I’m just going to share with you some of the salient parts. Maybe we can share a chuckle and even engage in some conversation about it.

 

Subject line: All Things Are Possible with Christ

Well, there should be no arguing with that, right? However, I might just argue that some things are actually not possible with Christ, like flapping your arms and starting to fly. This subject line makes me think that what is to follow is going to be one of those in reality impossible things.

 

Dear Brothers and Sisters….

Peace be upon you. If I could have a moment of your time I would like to share with you something God is doing in my life and I would like prayers for. God laid this on my heart to write this letter, and for the best way for me to be honest I am writing you as I would my own blood. Love you all.

Off to a good start. Butter us up with Christian sounding greetings. And blame it on God so that if we think you’re crazy, we can’t pin that on you. Because God laid this on your heart.

He then describes himself as a 26-year-old in California who became a Christian at a David Crowder Band concert six years earlier. He then goes on to tell us about how he got a job at a country radio station, which leads to the show stopper.

 

[The station was] putting a listener appreciation concert in June. I had been such a big music lover my whole life, and being near all that music was fascinating to me, seeing how things worked behind the scenes.

Taylor Swift was a new singer, I had only heard a song or two of hers and people were so excited to see her perform.

I had thought she was pretty girl, I had only seen a music video of her once before. June 2nd arrives, and there are thousands of people at this concert.  I was standing by the radio station booth and about 100ft away walks out Taylor Swift. I never get star struck and never have. And under my breath I just say to myself, “there is my wife.”

“There is my wife.” You are writing us an email to tell us that you are going to marry Taylor Swift. This is an email that you have sent to who-knows-how-many churches. Telling them that you are going to marry Taylor Swift. Because she you saw her from 30 yards away. At a concert. Totally legit.

 

I know what you’re thinking, WHAT? Ha-ha I know…

No, I bet you don’t know what I’m thinking. Here is what I am thinking:

Dude. Have you ever listened to any of Taylor Swift’s songs? Her relationships don’t end well. She writes songs about guys she has dated. Do you really want every preteen girl in America singing along with the radio about how you did Taylor Swift wrong? What guy wants that?

I don’t know about you, but that’s what I’m thinking.

 

I had every opportunity to meet her. I was backstage and I just couldn’t get myself to do it. I was attracted to this girl. I never had issues talking to girls, only the ones I liked.

I have never beaten myself up for not talking or introducing myself to her, because God did something in me on that day.

We hear people say everything happens for a reason. I truly and absolutely believe God does things that make sometimes absolutely no sense at all. But there is joy in the journey of simply believing in what you know God has placed on your heart.

Every now and then I would just say, “I am going to marry Taylor Swift one day,” and people would laugh and say “yea right, you and a million other guys.” And inside I would think to myself, but those 999,999 are wrong, because I am the One.

As time went on, still believing, I finally really just took it to God fully. I just said God, is this really what you’re doing? Am I crazy? Obsessed? After her fame? I would ask myself all these things because I needed to know if I had any selfish or ill motive to what I was believing God to do in my life.

I began to almost feel embarrassed because I truly do believe God has placed this on my heart.

God placed this on his heart. GOD. PLACED. THIS. ON. HIS. HEART. God told him that he is going to marry Taylor Swift. Or at least gave him the desire to be married to Taylor Swift. Seriously?

He then goes on for several more paragraphs about prayer and his struggle with finding rest in his desire to marry Taylor Swift. He quotes Psalm 37:4 and Philippians 4:13, which if author’s intent means anything to biblical interpretation probably have absolutely nothing to do with Taylor Swift.

I also want to say this. If you couldn’t gird up your loins and talk to her when you had the chance, don’t think that praying about it now is going to make any difference. Seems to me like you missed your golden opportunity here, and no amount of intercession by other Christians across the country is going to cause you to cross paths with Taylor Swift again. Sorry, man. I think you blew it.

 

If I have bored you I am sorry…I thank you for taking the time to read this, I tried to keep it minimal.

But I really just wanted to share my story and ask you and the Church for prayer in regards to what God is doing in my life.

OK. First, if this is minimal, I’m not sure how this email could have been maximal. And second, can you image any church adding this to their Wednesday Night Prayer Meeting prayer bulletin? Can you imagine any church firing up the telephone prayer chain for this? I so want to imagine a church doing that because it would be awesome.

The letter ends with a PS.

 

PS Anything you need prayers for?

Yes, in fact, I was really hoping that I could be best friends with Bono. I’m sure that if I met him, Conan O’Brien would want to be my kids’ godfather. I am convinced that Ellen DeGeneres and I would be fast friends if only we – I don’t know – knew each other. Please pray for this. God laid it on my heart.

 

Besides the patented absurdity of this guy one day marrying Taylor Swift, I think this email reveals some of the significant fissures in American Christianity. There is much to us discuss.

What do we think God is doing? Is God some divine matchmaker? Does God really lay stuff like this on our hearts? Is this what our faith is about?

What is prayer and how should we pray? Is an approach to prayer that seems to treat God as a cosmic vending machine ever appropriate?

Why do we so worship fame and celebrity? When does a celebrity crush cross the line into something more creepy like stalking? How often do we hide stalking in spiritually sounding language?

What is the basis of relationship and marriage? Is there such a thing as a soulmate? And can one person participate in it while the other is oblivious?

How can we tell the difference between sincere faith and mental illness? How do I know if this person is a person of great faith needing encouragement or if this is a person in need of some kind of psychological intervention?

I haven’t responded to this email, and I don’t think I plan to. If you were me, would you? And what would you say?

 

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