There’s a bewildering trend overtaking certain corners of Evangelicalism, and it’s impossible to ignore the glaring departure from orthodoxy when publications like The Gospel Coalition keep putting secular pop culture on a pedestal. After an inconceivable attempt to extract spiritual value from Hollywood’s latest blockbuster, Barbie, TGC has now turned its sights on secular pop icon, Taylor Swift—a plummet into a canyon of worldly preoccupations. Such contortions to align the church with the modern secular zeitgeist are foolish at best, but undoubtedly destructive. If we weren’t already convinced of TGC’s wayward trajectory, this latest piece it published—and then deleted—should erase all doubt.

The Gospel Coalition recently published an article and then deleted it (still available at archive.org) that warrants nothing but mockery and scorn, if only to expose its bewildering attempts to continue to spiritualize secular pop culture. The piece, titled 7 Things Christians Can Learn from Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, aims to reveal how pro-LGBTQ, anti-Christian secular pop icon, Taylor Swift’s music tour is apparently fertile ground for Christian edification.

First, the article claims, “We were created to be seen and known. Part of what makes Taylor’s music so powerful is that it leaves many saying, ‘She gets me.'” Here, TGC tries to draw parallels between the feelings Taylor Swift’s fans—repeatedly referred to as “Swifties”—experience and the deep, intimate knowing that is only possible with God. Such an analogy is not only completely ridiculous but also trivializes the relationship God seeks to have with us.

Further down, the article continues: “Witnessing tens of thousands of Swifties flooding Chicago’s streets and shops hours before the show was surreal.” It goes on to liken these “Swifties” to Christians, saying, “One of the great joys and privileges given to Christians is to ‘put on … Christ’ (Rom. 13:14)—to put his sparkling attributes on display to a watching world.” Now, setting aside the questionable choice of vocabulary, one can’t help but find it alarming that a pop star’s fan base is compared to believers who are called to represent Christ in the world.

Perhaps most bewildering is the article’s assertion that “The object of our greatest affection will be more beautiful than we imagined.” The piece uses the description of Taylor Swift appearing from “beneath a giant canvas of pink petals” to segue into a meditation about the day Christ is revealed to his followers. This juxtaposition, comparing the revealing of Christ to his followers to a stupid pop star is not only startling in its audacity, but completely demonic—suggesting that the unveiling of a pop icon could in any way compare to the eternal glory that will be revealed in Christ.

Another notable aspect of the TGC article is its repetitive use of the term “Swifties” to describe Taylor Swift’s fan base, as though drawing a tacit comparison between enthusiastic fans of a pop star and committed followers of Jesus Christ. Such language minimizes the call for Christians to “be separate” and also blurs the lines between secular fandom and faithfulness to God’s Word.

The overarching message of this article is troubling. It suggests that there are deep, meaningful spiritual truths to be gleaned from a secular music tour, and by implication, that such worldly events are deserving of a Christian’s focused attention and contemplation.

Such thinking raises the question: what are we to make of an article that tries so hard to blend the secular with the sacred? I want to say that I can’t believe a Christian organization wouldn’t publish such foolish scurf, but TGC has shown, time and time again, that its priority is appeal to the world, not faithfulness to God’s word.