Seven Lessons to Learn from Lady Gaga

Self-Worship "I believe I will go to Heaven."

Behind the wigs, excessive makeup and extreme costumes is a twenty-five year old woman - a very real person. After the stage theatrics and performances have ended and after the screams of her little monster fans have faded for the night - after the show, Lady Gaga becomes Stefani, the daughter of Joseph and Cynthia Germanotta.

Number eleven on Forbes 2011 list of the World's 100 Most Influential Women, even ahead of Oprah, Lady Gaga continues to climb the same ladder of fame that so many of her predecessors have climbed. Each rung on the ladder promises more but when their feet finally reach the top there are no more rungs for their hands to grasp above. Whether it's a short climb or a long one - the experience is always the same at the top. It seems the shallowness and hopelessness and emptiness of fame and success become so brutally raw and inescapable, it's devastating.

Steffani Germanotta

Lady Gaga grew up in a not-so-poor home (but not filthy rich either) in Upper East Side, New York City. She started playing the piano at four and often practised two hours a day. She attended an upscale convent school but at age 14 started performing at open-mics in Lower East Side. At 17 she won a place at the Tisch School of The Arts (New York University) and studied music but feeling miserable and in search of the 'real thing' she checked out early.

Scaling the Peaks of Fame and Fortune

Within a few short years she has climbed the rungs of the ladder of fame relatively quickly. Gaga has sold 23 million albums and 64 million singles world-wide, catapulting her into the ranks of one of the best selling music artists of all times. She is the first artist to reach one billion video views online. She has 7 million Twitter followers and Forbes projects she will earn $100 million+ this year.

In her lostness she worships her fans. As a teenager she said she was somewhat eccentric, audacious and theatrical, making her a bullying target for some. She painfully recalls at age 14 being shoved and scrunched into a street trash can by three boys while girls watched and laughed. She said she felt worthless and embarrassed.

Not surprisingly then, when she is greeted on stage by the hysterical screams of fans, she derives some sense of self-worth. Someone values her. She says: "I see God in my fans. I worship my fans." While doing a world tour she wrote eight songs dealing with the darker side of fame. She entitled the album The Fame Monster. She calls her fans Little Monsters and they call her Mother Monster. She views herself as the queen of her kingdom.

Mother Monster Cries Often

But the queen isn't always happy. The Mother Monster has her times. Backstage at New York's Madison Square Garden her makeup artists could only stand and watch as Lady Gaga cried before a concert. She said: "I just sometimes feel like a loser still, you know....it's crazy, we're at the Garden but I still sometimes feel like I'm the loser kid at high school...I have to pick myself up. I have to tell myself I'm a superstar every morning...so I can get through this day...people are trying to destroy me...I cannot be destroyed...I will not be destroyed and you will never destroy the kingdom - that is my fans...

Lady Gaga and God

In one interview she shared some of her deeper 'spiritual' thoughts. Lady Gaga said: "I don't believe we know what God looks like, but you have faith in what He, or She, or It looks like. I have no scores to settle with Christ. That's not at all what this is about."

Regarding worship and the impact she is having around the world she said: "It's more self-worship, I think, not of me. I'm teaching people to worship themselves."

On CNN she told Larry King:

"Well I struggle with my feelings, about the church in particular, but I guess, quite honest it's completely separate isn't it. Religion and the church are two completely separate things - but in terms of religion...ahh...I am very religious. I was raised Catholic. I believe in Jesus. I believe in God. I'm very spiritual. I pray very much but at the same time there is no one religion that doesn't hate or speak against or is prejudiced against another racial group or religious group or sexual group and for that I think religion is also bogus. So I suppose you could say I'm quite a religious woman but very confused about religion. I dream and envision a future where we have a more peaceful religion or a more peaceful world or a more peaceful state of mind for the younger generation. That's what I dream for."

Larry King then asked her: "Do you believe you will go somewhere when you pass on?"

Lady Gaga: "Do I believe in Heaven or Hell? I guess I believe I will go to heaven; but I suppose I could go either way, couldn't I?"

Seven Lessons from Lady Gaga

Sadly, Lady Gaga's lyrics and interviews provide ample evidence of a hurting heart and a thirsting soul. She discovered early in life what all should discover - religion and church cannot meet her deep inner needs - the spiritual needs of her soul. Have you discovered this yet?
She says she is confused about religion. Are you? When you discover that religion is the contrivance of humans and has nothing to do with God's way to Himself - religion, then will be seen in its true colors - a fundamentally flawed product of frail human design. God's way to Himself is Jesus Christ - not religion, not church, not prayers, and not good works. The critical 'R' word is not religion; its relationship.
Gaga's references to self worship or the worshipping of fans may be shocking words to readers but should they be? God alone is to occupy first place in the human heart. He only is to be worshipped. Anything or anyone other than God being first in my own life is the subtle but shocking equivalent of what Lada Gaga engages in. The Bible says: "You shall worship the Lord your God and serve Him only." Matthew 4:10
Lady Gaga has some conceptions of God and of Christ and some acknowledgment of Eternal Transcendence. Many have such beliefs; but there is an eternity of difference between merely knowing some things about Christ and personally knowing Christ. In which category are you?
Religion and religious organizations can be guilty of prejudice and discrimination but never God. The Bible repeatedly and consistently places all people of all belief systems, lifestyles and nationalities on the same level spiritually:
- All fall short of God's holy standard and therefore all, without exception, are sinners before God. Romans 3:23
- All sinners are equally loved by God - no matter what. John 3:16, Romans 5:6-8
- All, without exception, are eligible for the same blessing of eternal life as free gift God through Jesus Christ. Romans 6:23
Lady Gaga inferred she believes in Heaven and Hell and expects she will go to Heaven but then admits she could end up in either place. The reality is Gaga's eternal destination will be determined by herself before she passes on. But she will not go to Heaven by default. She must respond to the love of God expressed fully at the Cross when Christ died for sins. Without a personal acceptance of Christ as her Saviour she will never be in Heaven. The same applies to you.
As much as Lady Gaga believes her fans love her, God's love for her is much deeper and surpasses any love she has ever experienced in life. For her or for anyone to refuse such amazing love by rejecting His Son as personal Saviour, is the worst possible and most tragic choice anyone could make in life. What choice are you making?

Friend, if your spiritual life is still up in the air and you, yourself, have no personal relationship with Christ, then it is time to face the facts about the most urgent matter in your life. Until you are right with God through Christ you don't have a chance of Heaven. Turn to Christ.

For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.
(John 3:16)