Halloween is looking less spooky these days, an SNL spoof of “Espresso” is trending on TikTok, and one church in Nashville has leaned fully into digital fasting. But first:
Song of the Week
A lovelorn Wallen croons that he longs to find a love that’s “stronger than whiskey” that won’t leave him “comin’ up empty” in his newest single. Themes of loneliness, frustration, and the emptiness of one-night stands are threaded throughout the lyrics. Less than a week after its release, “Love Somebody” threatens to dethrone Shaboozey’s country/hip-hop hit “A Bar Song (Tipsy)” from its three month reign at #1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. For the full lyrics for “Love Somebody,” click here.
Three Conversations
1. A Little Spooky
What it is: If Google searches are anything to go by, this year’s most popular Halloween costumes will be less creepy, more kitsch.
What teens will be wearing: It looks like Gen Z will be drawing heavy inspiration from the big screen, with characters from Beetlejuice Beetlejuice and Inside Out 2 topping the list of Google searches. Deadpool and Wolverine top the list of duo costumes, with nostalgic pairings like Frog and Toad, Snoopy and Woodstock, and Garfield and Odie also making the list. Lots of teens will be costumed as characters from memes, notably as Australian breakdancer and viral sensation Raygun, and pygmy hippo darling Moo Deng. Groups of Minions from Despicable Me are likely to be on the candy hunt, as well as some teens dressed up as pop idol Sabrina Carpenter and rapper Soulja Boy. Notably missing: serial killers, witches, and Ghostface from Scream.
Continue the conversation: What do you think will be the most popular Halloween costumes this year?
2. So “Espresso”
What it is: A skit on SNL that parodies the lyrics of Sabrina Carpenter’s “Espresso” has been hitting a high note as a TikTok sound.
Why it’s so popular: The premise of the “Bridesmaid Speech” skit is pretty simple: A group of bridesmaids at a wedding (including guest host Ariana Grande) forgo giving a toast to perform their version of “Espresso,” reminiscing about the the bride’s unfaithfulness to her fiancée at her bachelorette party. By the end of the song, the groom is yesterday’s news as her weekend fling, a man named Domingo, appears. The skit’s connection to the catchy hit “Espresso” has been enough to make the skit the most-watched on SNL’s YouTube page, and TikTok is flooded with references to Domingo’s confidence in the moment he shows up to steal the bride.
Continue the conversation: Why do you think people find this skit funny?
3. Digital Detox
What it is: This week, author and social psychologist Jonathan Haidt spotlighted Church of the City pastor Darren Whitehead on the power of spiritual communities to limit the negative effects of social media and phones.
What we can learn: Whitehead argues that the church is uniquely equipped and situated to be able to correct and limit the known side effects of excessive smartphone use, like loneliness, anxiety, and FOMO. His reasoning is simple but poignant: by providing an environment with support, accountability, and purpose, churches can help limit overuse of social media and phones while developing a healthier relationship with our digital devices. When they provide tangible community, churches offer a social alternative to social media. Pastor Whitehead encourages a four week digital fast together as a church community, something his congregation tried at Church of the City.
Let’s translate this one further…
In his book The Anxious Generation, Jonathan Haidt writes that as parents and trusted adults, we’ve become overly suspicious of the physical people around us while not being suspicious enough of the voices online. As the centers of society shift away from in-person shared spaces like churches and into increasingly niche digital spaces, we exchange common ground for complex, confusing, and often poor substitutes for social, emotional, and spiritual development.
Whitehead’s proposed 28-day digital fast is about reversing this trend—but a crucial part of it is about embarking on this effort together within a church context. As one congregant from Church of the City noted, “Doing this together made all the difference. If I had tried to do this alone, I would have caved in a week. But seeing my small group also struggling and yet choosing to continue—it made me want to keep going.”
In our “Everything Smartphone” course we argue that our collective shift toward online community has resulted in parents feeling isolated and unsupported as they look to raise their kids. The church is in the unique position to help connect young people with older men and women, who can step in alongside the parents to help guide them into wisdom and truth—in this case, helping to replace technology with Biblical community. Because ultimately, our goal as Christians is not just to fast, but to feast on something better: deeper communion with God, and each other.
For a full “translation” of everything in this issue, check out our Monday Roundtable podcast. In the meantime, here are three questions to spark conversation with your teens:
Continue the conversation:•
- What makes an adult trustworthy to you?
- What makes the church unique in our day and age?
- If you could pick someone to mentor you, who would you pick?
Parenting together,
The Axis Team
PS: This week we interviewed Derek Mason on “Spiritual Warfare in the Modern World.” Check it out here!