What Is Lyrics & Longing, And Why Do I Do It?

If you’ve been around Mid Story Media, you know I do something a little unusual: I take lyrics from mainstream songs β€” sometimes from artists like Billie Eilish, Juice WRLD, Justin Bieber, The Kid LAROI, and many more β€” and I set them next to Scripture.

Some people love it. Others get nervous. And some have asked me flat out: β€œWhy do you do that? Isn’t it theologically irresponsible?”

β€œWhy put mainstream lyrics in a ministry at all? Isn’t that platforming sin?”

This post is my attempt to answer those questions β€” and to show how Lyrics & Longing is not just a creative idea, but a convictional one.

Here’s where I’ve landed, for now, on what I call:

Lyrics & Longing.

🌐 As defined by Google:

lyric
/ˈlir-ik/
noun

Definition: The words that make up a song β€” often expressing personal emotion, experience, or longing.

β€œthe lyric spoke to his heart”

⚠️ A Word of Caution ⚠️

Many of the songs I reference in Lyrics & Longing deal with explicit themes and language. While I pray this ministry serves youth, young adults, adults, and beyond, not every lyric I quote will be appropriate for every age and all contexts. Some content may be triggering.

My goal is not to platform sin, but to expose longing and point back to Christ as the answer.

πŸŽ₯ Song That Inspired This Post:

@the.midstorymedia

Are you rich and blind? #juicewrld #Depression #christiantiktok #viral #CapCut

Table of Contents

⚑TL;DR

❝

Lyrics & Longing is about taking the ache, questions, and honesty found in music and holding them up next to the truth of Scripture. Not every song glorifies God, but every song reveals longing β€” and every longing points us back to Him.

God created art. Music is His gift, even when culture twists it. Some secular laments echo the psalms more than polished worship ever does.

I’m not excusing sin or endorsing every lyric. Only Scripture carries authority. But when culture puts its ache to music, we can either abandon it or redeem it. I choose redemption β€” showing that the longings our world sings are the longings Christ fulfills.

⚠️ But let me be clear: if what you’re listening to stirs you toward sin, you should turn from it. There are days I can hear a secular song, recognize the longing in it, and let it point me back to Christ. But there are also days when that same song can pull me toward temptation β€” and in those moments, I need to turn it off and guard my heart.

Why I Do Lyrics & Longing

I believe music is one of the clearest ways humans reveal their hearts. The sounds and words that move us often uncover our fears, desires, and hopes more honestly than conversation ever could.

The problem? Culture often leaves those longings unresolved. Songs stop at the ache, without offering the hope. That’s where Scripture comes in.

Lyrics & Longing is my way of saying:

  • Look, this lyric is real β€” it’s human, it’s raw, it’s honest.

  • But here’s the fuller story. Here’s where that ache finds resolution in Christ.

I don’t pretend every lyric is β€œholy.” I don’t baptize brokenness as good. But I also don’t ignore it β€” because the very act of longing is evidence that eternity has been written into the human heart (Ecclesiastes 3:11).

The Scale of Influence - Over 200 Billion Plays

Let me pose it to you this way… these artists are shaping hearts, minds, and longings on a massive scale. As of mid-2025, they’ve racked up over 200 billion streams across all platforms (Songstats). That’s not just numbers β€” that’s real people, mid-story, and many of them lost souls.

At the time of writing, here are the numbers:

So what’s my prayer? That Mid Story Media influences just one-tenth of one percent of those streams.

Yup, you read that right. My hope is that just 0.1% would hear my breakdown of the songs and be turned into moments where someone sees Christ through the longing in the secular lyric.

0.1% would be over 200 million listens. Can we believe God for that? I can. And I do.

The Heart of Lyrics & Longing

Lyrics & Longing is about taking the ache, questions, and honesty found in music and holding them up next to the truth of Scripture.

Not every song glorifies God, but every song reveals longing β€” and every longing points us back to Him. And we also know that:

  • God created art. Music itself is a gift from the Creator, not the world.

  • Some of the rawest laments I’ve heard come not from Christian radio but from secular songs. And sometimes, those laments sound a lot closer to the psalms of David than the polished veneer of some modern worship.

  • That doesn’t mean I excuse sin, platform brokenness, or endorse every lyric. Nor do I claim these artists are prophets or inspired in the same way Scripture is. Only God’s Word carries that authority.

  • What I am saying is this: when culture puts its ache to music, we can either abandon it or redeem it. I’m choosing the latter β€” to show that the longings our culture sings are the longings Scripture answers.

🌍 Why This Matters for Mid Story Media

Mid Story Media exists to meet people β€œin the middle of the story.” And if you want to know where people are β€” what they’re feeling, what they’re carrying β€” look at the music they’re playing on repeat.

Lyrics & Longing gives me a way to:

  • Speak into culture without sounding detached from it.

  • Use what already moves people as a bridge to what saves people.

  • Show pastors, leaders, and the global β€œBig C” Church that cultural engagement doesn’t have to mean compromise β€” it can mean redemption.

And I believe this faithfully mirrors Christ and Paul.

  • Jesus engaged culture directly β€” sitting at tables with tax collectors, walking slowly and intentionally with broken people, speaking truth and love.

  • Paul quoted pagan poets in Athens (Acts 17:28) and wrote that he β€œbecame all things to all people” so that by all possible means some might be saved (1 Cor. 9:22).

That’s what I want to model. Not platforming sin, but pointing longing back to the Savior.

❝

This series is part of my theological backbone for why I run the ministry the way I do. It’s not a gimmick; it’s conviction.

A Word About Wrestling

If you caught my last Doctrine post, you know I’ve started writing out what I believe β€” not just as abstract theology, but as lived convictions. I didn’t expect this to turn into a series, but the more I’ve written, the more I’ve realized how important it is to wrestle with doctrine out loud.

Here’s the truth: our questions don’t disqualify us. Too often there’s shame in asking β€” as if pressing into tension means you’re somehow unfaithful. And sometimes we fear β€œWhat if this question I ask is β€˜too big for God’ or might risk poking a hole in this whole β€˜God theory’. But faith was never meant to be fragile β€” and it doesn’t shy away from big questions.

That’s why I write: to remind you (and myself) that we are mid-story, mid-wrestle, but not missing. Wrestling with faith isn’t proof of unbelief β€” it’s proof you’re still in the race. And around here, we run the race to win β€” with perseverance, with hope, with our eyes fixed on Jesus.

πŸ“– About the Series

Mid-Story Theology – Doctrine & Discipleship Series

This series is my living record of what I believe about key teachings of the Christian faith. Each post tackles one doctrine at a time β€” from predestination to repentance.

The goal is to focus on, delight in, and wrestle with the great topics and paradoxical themes found in Scripture. I aim to draw nearer to the tension, not push it away. It is to remind us that Scripture, Jesus, and God are available to us, even in the β€œmiddle of the story”.

I write these not as a final word, but as a faithful word: convictions shaped by Scripture, prayer, and conversation. I strive to remain open-minded and open-handed to God and His refinement as He continues His work in me.

For churches, pastors, and ministry leaders who want to learn more about me, Mid Story Media, and Promote Ministries, these writings provide a glimpse into my theological convictions and how they shape my preaching, teaching, and ministry approach.

I pray this doctrinal series shows you that theology isn’t always an abstract debate. It’s okay to still be wrestling β€” and at the same time, it can serve as a guide for discipleship, edification, and sanctification. I hope it stirs you to ask questions in prayer and seek answers in God’s Word.

Because every day with Jesus is a good day. ❀️

A Note Regarding Acts 17:28

In Acts 17:28, Paul says: β€œFor in him we live and move and have our being. As some of your own poets have said, β€˜We are his offspring.’”

Meaning of β€œpoets” (ποιητῢν / poiΔ“tōn)

  • Root: From poieō β€” β€œto make, create, compose.”

  • Core idea: Those who compose works of art, whether verse or song.

  • Implication: Paul did not shy away from engaging culture’s own art, but used it as a bridge to reveal the true Creator.

This affirms that even art outside the Church can carry fragments of truth, longings, and echoes of God’s reality. Such art does not glorify Him directly β€” though, when placed alongside Scripture, those longings can serve as a bridge to Christ Himself. And in the revelation of Christ, God is glorified in the heart made new by Him β€” even when He chooses the most unexpected vehicle to get us there.

❝

Because in Christ, no one is missing. We’re all Mid-Story, Not Missing β€” and that’s what Mid Story Media is all about.

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