Obviously, we live on a broken and sinful earth. There are a lot of things the world has wrong, but something in particular has been on my mind today.
In a brief summary of what went down on stage, a bikini-clad Miley danced and twerked throughout the entire song, using a foam finger to perform obscene sexual gestures as she grinded against a married man.
I've seen a whole lot of things explode since this performance. I've watched the Christian community fling judgments like hailstones at Miley. I've watched my own friends use words like "slut" and "whore." I've heard some people blow off her actions, including Miley, who calls the phase she's going through "puberty."
But here are my thoughts.
We live in a world where a girl is condemned for her actions, while the fact that an older, married man was an active participant is barely mentioned. We live in a world where in order to portray oneself as an adult, a season of sexual liberation is expected and encouraged. We live in a world where the fact that Miley Cyrus fondled herself with a foam finger on live TV is more shocking than the fact that millions of people watched live and did nothing but point fingers and judge.
No one at the award show stepped in. Most people didn't change the channel; rather, they flipped open their phones to cast judgment while they gazed on every single step that went down on TV and then looked it up on YouTube later. "Miley Cyrus" was sculpted by publicists and agents and managers and dance choreographers and costume designers, and how many people stepped in to explain that what she was about to do was nothing more than crude and profane foolishness? Rather, they encouraged her, created her, heralded her decisions as brilliance, and then when judgment rained down, they took a step back to let it all fall on the lost little girl they left under the spotlight alone.
I'm not saying that Miley's actions were okay. No, they repulsed me and broke my heart at the same time. The lack of true reactions from anyone at the VMAs, including those behind the scenes, has left me confused and aching.
What I see is a girl who has completely forgotten what it means to be loved, a girl that is entirely unaware that she was created in the image of a beautiful and almighty God, and a girl who has so much more value than desperately rebellious sexuality.
Before I end this, I want to say that before you name-call Miley, remember that she's someone's little girl. Remember that she is completely lost, whether or not she even realizes she is. Remember that she is being encouraged by adults who basically control her entire life. Remember that a married man allowed everything to happen around him while wearing an amused smirk, and few people have called him out on his actions. Remember that Miley is broken.
We live in a broken world. So I cry out to the Lord. His grace and unfailing love is so much bigger than all of these crumbling earthly things. His redemption is so sweet.
A couple of perspectives on this topic that I've admired is this blog post and Christian singer Jamie-Grace's tweets from an artist's perspective.
Two years ago: Lizard in the Bathroom!
I like this post very much. You reached deep into my heart with this.
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