Why I’m Praying for Teens Who Listen to Nicki Minaj

As kids, many of us eagerly awaited the next hilarious episode of Jed Clampett and his Beverly Hillbillies. Parents never gave a thought that there might be something objectionable on the popular TV sitcom. 

Today moms and dads who care about wholesome entertainment for their children and teens have to be ultra-vigilant with the TV and computers due to disturbing trends in today’s decadent culture.

Recently, USA Today commented, “Booty is the latest trend that music fans are getting behind—and the numbers back it up. In just three weeks, Nicki Minaj’s ‘Anaconda’ video has seen nearly 170 million views on YouTube, snatching the record for most views in a day from Miley Cyrus’ ‘Wrecking Ball.'” (On Monday, the figure exceeded 212 million views.)

The latter featured the former “Hannah Montana” swinging completely nude on a wrecking ball while provocatively licking a hammer (it garnered the award for the best music video of the year). Minaj tells us, “I’m going to push the envelope,” and goes deeper into the cesspool by not only highlighting her derriere in raunchy gyrations but offers a pornographic display that defies sensibilities.

Pastors and parents, it’s time to wake up! Nicki Minaj, Miley Cyrus, Beyoncé, Jennifer Lopez, Lady Gaga and a parade of vixens being put before our youth needs to be exposed once and for all.

This is NOT a harmless trend treated with a wink and a nod and a little chuckle. What’s happening in the music industry is undermining morality while promoting promiscuity. Our assignment is clear: Monitor our children’s entertainment while making young disciples who know how to “extract the precious from the worthless” (Jer. 15:19). 

Here’s the Deal: This is Pornography!

In our day we are literally witnessing the outworking of Psalm 12:8, “The wicked freely strut about when what is vile is honored among men.” And Isaiah 3:9, “They parade their sin like Sodom, they do not hide it.”

Pastors and parents, we must be alert to the schemes of our adversary and identify his current activity. We must also speak up charitably yet boldly for righteousness, or there will be no conviction of sin that hinders God’s presence in our homes and churches. 

These modern-day Jezebels need our prayers to be delivered from their deception and to rescue them from judgment. Let’s also pray for other, more wholesome female artists who can be influenced not to go a more edgy and risque way to remain “cool” as they age.

I think specifically here of Taylor Swift, who has just left our Nashville area for brighter lights in New York City. She’s left country music and found a new friend in the “loose as a goose” Lena Dunham of Girls cable fame. Swift is currently on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine looking over her shoulder with an alluring “come-hither” look, tousled hair in a soaking wet T-shirt. “The Reinvention of Taylor Swift” is the title of the article. Time to intercede. 

Many of these performers purport to be Christians! They literally join hands and pray before their concerts. Under the guise of artists and entertainers, they shamelessly strut their stuff while naively being applauded by people as influential as our own first lady. Mrs. Obama extols Beyoncé as a “true role model for children” and thanks her publicly for “being a role model kids everywhere can look up to.”

Minaj says she is a “Christian” whose “dad went to rehab, started attending church and got saved!” She tweets about Jesus and declares that God is her “hero.” She tweets gratefully that her current hit featuring a barrage of buttocks is “A$$mazing.”

Your children may be her followers because she’s camouflaged herself very cleverly. She endorses Pepsi, Adidas and MAC cosmetics. She’s been an American Idol judge; voice actress for the animated Ice Age kids film; and, dresses in attention-getting, ultra-colorful outfits. The New York Times says Minaj is “the most influential female rapper of all time.”

Parents, beware. Her blockbuster music-video song “Anaconda” peaked at No. 2 on Billboard’s top 100. Her last hit, “Stupid Hoe,” achieved a rarity in that BET banned the video deeming it too raunchy even in these permissive days. When your kids put on their headphones, could they be listening to her catchy music?

I care deeply about young people. We have four children, four grandchildren and one more on the way. I am passionate about informing and challenging pastors and parents to awaken to the cultural realities of our generation as we increasingly awaken to our desperate need for heaven-sent revival before it’s too late. The future of our families and nation hang in the balance.

I have just returned from a 10-day tour of Indiana where evangelist Joe Oden and I challenged 400 pastors and wives in Assemblies of God churches. When confronted with the urgency of the hour and cultural realities like I’m unfolding in this commentary, scores of leaders and young people repented of compromise and sinful practices that undermine a visitation in our day.

Parental Advisory: God Help Us Protect This Next Generation

While in Indiana I walked through the lobby of a Marriott hotel where there were a number of booths set up for some type of children/youth education fair. The very first booth was highlighting the LGBTQ agenda. The gay man seated at the table was giving out literature and told me that their organization provided a “safe place for children 12 and up to be affirmed as self-identifying gays and lesbians.” Young people with same-sex attraction need to be helped in this discovery process, he told me. 

In case you’re wondering, you can be assured that I engaged the man for at least 15 minutes while I elevated my voice in a civil way so four or five other individuals manning booths could hear as I shared truth to dispel the lies and false information he was disseminating. Christians are called to be “salt” and “light,” and that’s exactly what I was.

Over dinner that evening Joe and I engaged our waitress and discovered that she had been living with her fiance for years, they had a 2-year-old son, and, of course, she was a faithful church-going “Christian.” While we were as loving and kind as we could be, giving her a generous tip and calling over her manager while she was present to commend her for her excellent service, we took the opportunity to tell her privately that she was living in sexual immorality and that God could not bless her relationship. We lovingly appealed to her to repent and get right with God.

Our nation is at the tipping point. We are in a meltdown, and barring a transformative revival our nation will not survive. God is giving us a lifeline of opportunity to see things turned around as we humbly pray, speak up for righteousness, and carefully protect the young ones entrusted to our care. 

Are you a candidate?

Larry Tomczak is a best-selling author and cultural commentator with 42 years of trusted ministry experience. His passion is to bring perspective, analysis and insight from a biblical worldview. He loves awakening people to today’s cultural realities and responses needed for a restored, influential church. Please visit LarryTomczak.com and follow him on Facebook or at @larrytomczak on Twitter.