A Viral Video of Christians Singing Madonna's "Like a Prayer" Proves Sinful Thoughts Can Be Fun

The year is 1989, and while most of the world is ready to say goodbye to a decade that brought us teen angst by way of John Hughes, the AIDS epidemic, and Ronald Reagan, some folks were still holding on. There are very few people who defined the 1980s more than Madonna, an entertainer who gave women permission to turn bras into fashion. She also ushered in a new kind of sexiness that came with being comfortable in one's own skin.

True to her name, Madonna had no problem using religious iconography to spread her good word. This is something she would return to many times throughout her career. Her most infamous and controversial song was all about religion ... in a way. In March 1989, she released "Like a Prayer" along with a music video that brought people to their knees. Fast forward 35 years later, when we find a group of Christians going viral for singing that song in church. Heaven, help us.

First of all we want to be very clear, this video is thrilling. Everyone should have the opportunity to sing with joyful and reckless abandonment in the location of their choosing. This one just happens to be in a church.

Secondly, songs are meant to be open to interpretation. It's obvious why a young group of devoted Christians would gravitate toward a piece that includes lyrics like, "In the midnight hour, I can feel your power. Just like a prayer, you know I'll take you there."

Anyone can pray at any time, but there are also midnight masses for Catholics. It all makes sense.

The video has been shared on TikTok by the DailyVines account and shows an enormous crowd singing along to a song that sat on the Billboard's Hot 100 chart for three weeks. The joke being made is these are Christian folks who don't really understand what the song is about. However, there may be more to the story.

First and foremost, the vibe doesn't feel religious. Many people in the audience are wearing goofy reindeer headbands or festive holiday sweaters, which isn't typically what you'd expect at a church service. (Obviously, there are exceptions.)

The biggest giveaway that this might not be a religious experience is the fact that this is taking place at the Isarphilharmonie, a modern concert hall in Munich, Germany. We know this because we see the word "Isarphilharmonie" in enormous letters painted on the wall of the venue.

A quick look at the Isarphilharmonie events calendar tells us that this is the kind of place that might hold some sort of Madonna sing-a-long. In fact, we might head to Munich in order to experience the Love, Actually "concert to film" show. It's clear they book some really cool shows. That being said, we should still do a brief dive into what "Like a Prayer" is really about.

Madonna was raised Catholic and has incorporated themes from religion into much of her work. In April 1990, she chatted with MTV's Kurt Loder about "Like a Prayer," in a segment titled Breakfast with Madonna. Why did we stop doing those sorts of fun bits? When asked by Kurt if she still considered herself a Catholic, Madonna said she was more like a "fallen Catholic."

The conversation turned to the music video for "Like a Prayer," which features Madonna witnessing the murder of a woman. After police arrest an innocent Black man and charge him with the crime, Madonna goes to a church looking for answers. While there, she sees a wax figure of a Black man on a cross who resembles the man wrongfully accused of murder. Several times throughout the video, Madonna dances in front of a burning cross, then kisses the wax figure after he comes to life.

Madonna says the video is a fable about "standing up for somebody and telling the truth." In another interview with Molly Meldrum, Madonna said the song is about loving someone so much that you have to give part of yourself that that person. She references parents and children, but she could have been talking about the love some people feel for their God.

Although Madonna has never said the song is about sex, the lyrics have certainly been interpreted that way. We aren't prudes and we totally get how "down on my knees" and "wanna take you there" clearly sound like references to fellatio. That being said, she is pretty firmly on the side of God on this one. In that respect, she and religion have something in common.