Two Halftime Shows, One America
Do we have to choose?
For the first time in American history, we had two halftime shows for the Super Bowl. One was the TPUSA (Turning Point USA, founded by the late Charlie Kirk) All-American Halftime Show with Kid Rock, Lee Brice, and others. The other was the regular NFL halftime show with Bad Bunny, a massively popular Latino artist. More than anything, these dueling performances revealed the deepening cultural divide in this country—and forced a question: Do we have to choose?
Why Two Shows?
The context matters. Before the TPUSA show started, I was watching the live stream on America’s Voice when one of the commentators mentioned something interesting: the NFL has been planning to expand into Central and South American markets. Over 87 million people in those regions already watch the NFL. A halftime show featuring Bad Bunny—who’s performed to sold-out stadiums across Latin America—makes perfect business sense.
Meanwhile, TPUSA had less than five months to organize their alternative show. An America-honoring, family-friendly, conservative leaning show. That’s a remarkably short timeline for an event of that scale.
Yes, Bad Bunny has courted controversy in the past—wearing dresses, making anti-ICE statements, and other political gestures that have drawn criticism. But I wanted to see what he actually did this time, in this performance.
What I Saw
I sat down to watch the TPUSA halftime show first. It looked like a CMA concert that might be given to a small group of VIP ticket holders. From a production standpoint, I thought they did a great job given their constraints. The lighting and effects were polished, the transitions between artists were smooth. They got a lot done in a short amount of time. And Kid Rock’s set was especially moving—a group of men introduced him at the beginning and he came out with a party anthem at first. Then there was a gorgeous cello/violin interlude and the same men reintroduced Kid Rock by his real name. He did an acoustic song about finding Christ and gave a brief gospel presentation that was genuinely poignant.
The next day, I watched the regular NFL halftime show. I’ll be honest, it was a little frustrating that most of it was in Spanish, but not a dealbreaker. I grew up with songs like “Macarena,” “Living La Vida Loca” (and “Livin La Vida Mickey”), “Papa Lalo,” and others. I enjoy Latino music! The performance did carry a sensuality that disgusted me. I could have done without the two men grinding on each other.
But it was nothing unusual for the Super Bowl. I didn’t expect a celebration of morality and godliness. Many mainstream secular artists lean this way. I’m not surprised but I’m not excusing it either.
Creatively, though, I thought it was really neat. The stage was made to look like sugar cane fields and a Puerto Rican town. And here’s what struck me: Yes, Bad Bunny paid homage to Puerto Rico and Latin American culture across continents, and the halftime show was mostly in Spanish. But he didn’t do anything anti-American, just not exclusively American.
Puerto Rico IS a U.S. Territory and Puerto Ricans ARE American citizens. When he said “God bless the Americas” and then named ALL the nations in North, South, and Central America, including the United States, I thought that was a beautiful thing. As a Christian, I want God to bless all the nations of the earth, including the United States. At the end, there were flag bearers of all these nations running off the stage. Who was leading them? The guy with the American flag.
I have a family member and a couple of friends with Puerto Rican backgrounds. This felt like a celebration of their heritage, not an attack on mine.
The Battle
Social media became a battleground. Woke agendas vs. Christian Nationalism. People arguing over viewership numbers, political messaging, crowd engagement, entertainment value. Which show honored America and God more. The usual tribal warfare.
It was hard for me to take definitive sides because both shows had genuinely beautiful elements.
What the Gospel Has Always Been About
This is what the Gospel has always been about. Jesus broke bread with Samaritans and tax collectors. Paul preached to Jews in synagogues, Greeks in the marketplace, and Romans in their halls of power. They refused to let cultural or religious boundaries limit the reach of Christ’s message. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:14-16, “For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility... that he might create in himself one new man in place of the two, so making peace.” Or as he declared in Galatians 3:28, “There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.” The early church didn’t choose between cultures—it transcended the false choice altogether by finding unity in Christ.
I came across an email Monday morning that said this in response to both halftime shows: Try to find the beauty in things even when others want to divide.
Not just in big cultural events like the Super Bowl and the Olympics, but in our daily lives too.
A Small Act of Unity
I spoke with a friend recently about the “dueling Super Bowl halftime shows” as I was riding home with him from a Bible study we attended. “I’m tired of all the division,” he said.
That conversation took place in the context of a Black man (me) and a white man sitting in the front seats of a car together. A small act of unity that would have been unthinkable in the Jim Crow era.
The Real Question
So here’s my question: What everyday acts of beauty and unity are we missing while we argue online about which halftime show was more American? How many quiet moments of grace are we scrolling past while we’re busy picking sides?
Because the real battle isn’t between Bad Bunny and Kid Rock. It’s between the people who profit from keeping us divided and the rest of us trying to live unified lives in small, daily ways. Someone benefits every time we’re convinced we have to choose between a gospel presentation and a Puerto Rican celebrating his heritage. Someone wins when we train ourselves to see enemies in every cultural difference.
If we can’t find beauty in both, if every expression of American life has to be a threat to some other expression, we’re teaching ourselves a dangerous habit. We’re learning to see division where connection could exist. And what kind of country does that create? Not the one my friend and I were driving through that night, tired of all the fighting, just two guys trying to follow Jesus and see each other clearly.
What did you think of the halftime shows? Or did you watch the Puppy Bowl on Animal Planet instead! Let me know in the comments!