Friday, August 30, 2013

Miley Cyrus's message for the Christian

I saw a news report on CNN about Miley Cyrus’s recent performance at the Video Music Awards. Like most other people, I was first shocked and repulsed and then puzzled and saddened. Throughout the days since, I have found myself thinking about the direction our society is traveling and how we have reached this point in our journey. I pondered such questions as these: • What kind of people are we? • What kind of culture have we created (or allowed to develop)? • What kind of adults do we want our children to grow up to be? • Do our children even realize that there was a time when children’s role models were family and friends? (And do adults even realize that they’ve relinquished this privilege to “celebrities”?) • Do our children know that entertainers and other public figures have traditionally been people who were reaping the rewards of hard work and who were mostly admirable people? (And do adults know that this is no longer true?) I came to some very unsettling conclusions – and those conclusions are heart-breaking. • My heart breaks for the little girl who gave us Hannah Montana and became a role model (or at least a virtual friend) to millions of little girls across America. And my heart breaks for that same girl (now a young adult) who doesn’t see herself coming apart at the seams. • My heart breaks for the millions of little girls who have seen their “friend” become a strange adult (?) Do they know that this is not the natural progression into adulthood and that they don’t have to follow suit? • My hearts breaks for the news channels that have left their calling to report the news and have chosen instead to profit from all-day-all-week coverage of a young woman destroying her life. • My heart breaks for the American-Idol culture (the culture our children have grown up in and see as the norm) that promises glitter and gold to children and delivers instead their destruction. • My heart breaks for our entertainment culture that celebrates the breaking of every social taboo and the casting off of every restraint. My heart breaks that they then turn and mock their own disciples. • My heart breaks for our tabloid culture that finds celebrity gossip and embarrassing moments titillating. • My heart breaks for the families of Miley Cyrus, Katy Perry, Lady Gaga, Madonna, and all the other women who have chosen to sexualize themselves to achieve fame and fortune. • My heart breaks for our society who sees women as objects - and often fails to see them as valued children of God - as someone’s sisters and daughters. • My heart breaks for women enslaved by this false view of sexual liberation. • My heart breaks for men who have encouraged (or at least accepted) such blatant sexualization of women. • My heart breaks for all our little five-year-old little girls, twirling around and imagining themselves princesses, enjoying innocent delights, and picturing a magical future. My heart breaks when I think of the world each precious child will enter as she matures. • My heart breaks for the broken, messed-up world we call home. At this point in my contemplation, I remember a long-ago bracelet-wearing fad of WWJD – What Would Jesus Do? Yes, what WOULD Jesus do if he lived on Earth in 2013? We have Biblical record of what he did when he encountered moral disaster during his time on Earth. • Jesus lifted the head of a woman of the night and sent her away into the light. • When Jesus saw a woman in a crowd desperately trying to cover her shame, he was immediately attuned to her faint call for help, he turned his attention to the problem, and he healed her. • By his acceptance and grace, Jesus transformed a woman who had been tossed aside by multiple men. There are no simple answers to the questions raised by this issue, but some things are abundantly clear to me. As a Christian I cannot ignore cries for help coming from the young adults who have grown up with these examples of maturity. I must immediately turn my attention to any child or young adult who seeks guidance or a healing touch. Since their cries for help are not usually as obvious as Miley Cyrus’s were, I must be attuned to any word or look that opens a door for guidance. As a Christian adult it is my duty and privilege. Based on an article from The Gospel Coalition Blog and Trevin Wax Raising Godly Children

2 comments:

Norma said...

Thank you, Joan. A lot to think about.

ruth shaw said...

Great Information well said! Somehing everyone in Amercia shoulousedTPd read! Thank you !