So, it’s New Year’s Eve, and I’m watching Lady Gaga on the Dick Clark special. I’m not so old fogeyish to not be aware of who Lady Gaga is, but I found myself wondering still… Who the heck is Lady Gaga?

I always perceived her as working off the Madonna game plan.  Her music vibes seemed similar as did her sensibility to be attention grabbing. But there was something more going on there.

Ken Chitwood posts for the Houston Chronicle and suggests that Gaga “ministers to Millennials in the margin and pronounces the final ruling on judgmental thinking.” He suggests that the message of Born This Way is one where judgmental opinions are a thing of the past and instead inclusion and equality rule the world.

The challenge of Gaga is that she is willing to test judgment.  She pushes the edge of acceptable to confront you and see if you will judge. Chitwood suggest that “For Gaga and her followers sin can be in (just listen to her song “Judas”), as long as it doesn’t hurt anyone else, but judgment is out and inclusion is what it is all about.”

And, I’m likely being old fogeyish, to suggest that this is all just negative attention seeking acting out… No matter how “bad” I am, will you still love, accept, not judge, and include me? The Millennial generation is more embracing of diversity and less judgmental of unconventional lifestyles and because of this they love Lady Gaga’s lyrics of universal love and acceptance.  This is our message, how can we best communicate that our Church is not just a museum for saints but also a safe place of healing for sinners?