Eyes

There has been a lot of news coverage of Miley Cyrus lately concerning her recent activity at the VMA's (which apparently stands for Video Music Awards )"ceremony." I kept hearing things about her and keeping her tongue in her head and different things like that.
Then I watched the video of her show.

I was stunned.

I'll be the first one to admit that I haven't been up on most of pop culture in recent years. There have been many "stunts" over the years i.e. Janet Jackson having a "wardrobe malfunction," Brittany Spears shaving her head etc. What strikes me about Miss Cyrus' ordeal is her young age. She will be 21 years in November according to Wikipedia. I'm barely 3 years older than she is, and yet, I feel a separation and a closeness to her. Obviously, I am not a millionaire nor am I famous. I do not have the social status that she does, but we aren't that different, really.
She sings.
I sing.
She dances.
I dance.
She is a young female in America, as am I.

And but for the grace of God, I would be where she is now.

I wonder where her mother is in all of this. What influence has her mother had in raising her? Who are Miss Cyrus' friends? Who does she confide in?
We all have bad days.
We all have stress.
We all need a friend.

I wonder if she has ever been given a standard or a higher perspective than the one that motivated her to dance provocatively half-nakedly on stage in front of the world. I wonder if the thought that maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea ever crossed her mind. Did anyone care to mention it to her? Surely she didn't get there by herself. Did anyone tell her that she is worth more than a cheap strip show?
She seems like a sweet girl. I hear her voice in the song and I identify with the energy that she projects, but I'm coming from a very different place; when I watched the music video that accompanies the song, I was surprised by the explicit and implicit meanings in what she was saying and doing.

I was taken aback by her. If anyone were to look at her, from a distance, she would seem happy.
My problem with her performance was not that what she did seemed completely inappropriate (by my standard it was), it was a couple of other things that stood out to me.

One: the double standard with which she is judged. Why is it okay for Rhianna, Beyonce, Lady Gaga, Katy Perry etc. to perform like Miley Cyrus did, but they are considered cool, hot and sexy? What is up with that? What did they expect would happen from providing that sort of example from the position in society that they hold?

Two: there was nothing redeemable about what she did. There wasn't really anything you could point to and say, "Well, at least she did this." It was all trash.

Maybe that is the point. She provided the public a direct reflection what they have given her as a standard of behavior. There is nothing in society to tell her not to be that way. If they were to reject her, what would they base that opinion on? Nothing but their own "perspective" which can be disregarded as quickly as a pop up ad on the computer.

All this makes me question what Jesus Christ did for humanity. Did he not come to redeem us from our "sin?" It's hard for me to widen back from the story I've been told continually my whole life. How do I use it as a perspective on current events, even ridiculous ones like the VMA's? I know the right answers according to Scripture, and I could preach a pretty good sermon using any number of references from the Bible to explain why what she did was wrong; somehow that doesn't seem right for me to do. It is helpful for me to have a standard and a viewpoint from which to view my life, but unless she is committed to the standard, does it really apply to her?

So, I've returned to the same questions that have haunted my for the majority of my days; how does the Gospel translate to The World?

I'll give it some more thought, but for now, I keep coming back to what Paul said.

1 Corinthians 9:19-23

New King James Version (NKJV)

19 For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a servant to all, that I might win the more; 20 and to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the law, as under the law,[a] that I might win those who are under the law; 21 to those who are without law, as without law (not being without law toward God,[b]but under law toward Christ[c]), that I might win those who are without law; 22 to the weak I became as[d] weak, that I might win the weak. I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some. 23 Now this I do for the gospel’s sake, that I may be partaker of it with you.

And this song: