Ad(ele)oration

I remember exactly where I was the first time I heard Adele’s radio single, “Someone Like You.”

As the notes of the gentle piano ballad breathed through the summer air, I abandoned the soapy water in the kitchen sink, dried my hands on a dish towel, and went straight to Google. I needed to know who moved my soul with the sheer strength of her vocal chords.

After a few clicks, I discovered this voice belonged to British phenomenon Adele Laurie Blue Adkins. Adele’s two albums, 19 and 21 — which released in 2008 and early 2011 — draw their names from the ages she was at the time they were each recorded. To say that she’s taken the world by storm is an understatement. In less than four years, Adele has broken chart records again and again. Her recent win of six Grammy Awards in one night confirms to me that I’m not the only one affected by her growing talent.

I decided to buy 21.

As I listened, my appreciation for her giftedness grew. At the same time though, I developed a sense of wariness when it came to the underlying messages of some of her songs. I became increasingly aware of subtle nuances that didn’t mesh with my worldview as a Christian. Nuances that tarnished otherwise captivating songs.

Take, for example, the song that first drew me to her, “Someone Like You.” Adele starts off this “love song” — which in the summer of 2011 was the first ballad to top the Billboard Hot 100 in three years — with:

Heard that you’re settled down
That you found a girl and you’re married now
I heard that your dreams came true
Guess she gave you things I didn’t give to you

So far, so good. But she goes on to sing:

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited
But I couldn’t stay away
I couldn’t fight it
I had hoped you’d see my face and that you’d be reminded that for me
It isn’t over

It’s supposed to be “romantic,” but I can’t help imagining the scene. This poor guy has just settled down happily into the covenant of marriage; maybe Matthew 19:6 — “Therefore what God has joined together, let man not separate” — was even read at his wedding. And here comes his old flame, hoping to remind him that she still loves him. I have to think to myself, How could this be helpful in any way? What exactly is she trying to accomplish? By attempting to divert his eyes back to herself, isn’t she trying to separate what God has joined together as one? But it’s just a song, I might have thought once. Sure, a song about trying to start something with a married man.

Then there’s “Rolling in the Deep” — 2011’s best-selling song in the United States. Its pulsating beat makes it seem criminal not to tap at least one appendage. Again, my heart can’t resonate with the lyrics. The entire undertone smacks of bitterness, resentment, unforgiveness, and revenge. I’ve struggled with all of these issues at some point, but none are found in my personal list of “Things to Strive Toward” as a Christian. Instead, the Bible tells me to forgive as I have been forgiven (Colossians 3:13), to turn the other cheek (Luke 6:29), to not keep a record of wrongs (1 Corinthians 13:5).

The alarm bell in my mind goes off again in “Turning Tables” when she claims:

Next time I’ll be braver
I’ll be my own savior
When the thunder calls for me
Next time I’ll be braver
I’ll be my own savior
Standing on my own two feet

From this, it’s my guess that she has yet to meet the one, true Savior. I pray that she does, and if and when that glorious day takes place, she may have Someone else to sing “Lovesong” to — a moving proclamation, but not at all biblical. As a Christian, the only One who can ultimately make me feel home again, whole again, free again, clean again, is Jesus Christ.

A sadness has come over me as I’ve listened to the divinely uninspired sentiments articulated in “Take it All,” when she sings that “Nothing is better than this. And this is everything we need.” Could that really be true? Does it really not get any better than this? And is this really all that we need? I sincerely hope not.

I’ve been challenged recently by a chapter in John MacArthur’s book, Right Thinking in a World Gone Wrong: A Biblical Response to Today’s Most Controversial Issues. In the chapter titled, “Glorifying God in the Gray Areas: Christian Liberty and the World of Entertainment,” MacArthur outlines seven basic principles that can guide us as we consider the music we listen to and the movies and television programs we watch. He challenges us to ask the questions:

Will this activity:

• produce spiritual benefit?
• lead to spiritual bondage?
• expose my mind or body to defilement?
• benefit others, or cause them to stumble?
• further the cause of the gospel?
• violate my conscience?
• bring glory to God?

The final question on this list brings to mind 1 Corinthians 10:31, which says, “So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God.” Is this Adele’s motif? On the contrary, in “Take it All,” she sings to a prior love, “Everything I do is for you.”

I still admit adoration for Adele’s phenomenal vocal ability. But while her voice is heavenly, the words she sings are not. Drawing upon MacArthur’s checklist, I have to admit that singing along to her lyrics produces no spiritual benefit to me, nor does it further the cause of the gospel or bring glory to God.

So the question that remains is: Now that I’ve been convicted, what am I going to do about it?

James 1:22 comes to mind: “Do not merely listen to the word and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.” Instead of filling my mind and heart with Adele, my goal should be to practice Philippians 4:8, “…whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.”

Needless to say, my copy of 21 is now collecting dust.