My Thoughts on Miley

If you didn't see the Video Music Awards on MTV this weekend, you really didn't miss much (other than a glorious NSYNC reunion... but that's for another place and time). But you probably haven't missed hearing about Miley Cyrus' vulgar "performance". There have been loads of opinions offered on her wild, televised, highly-publicized VMA antics, so I figured I'd add my voice to the mix.

• I've read that Miley's performance exhibited gender inequality. Many people are arguing the unfairness of young women feeling the need to put themselves on display sexually in order to gain attention. It has been said that because all the attention of the aftermath of the performance has been focused on Miley rather than her just-as-raunchy male counterpart Robin Thicke, it proves that women have not yet gained the equality they desire.

• I've read that Miley's performance exhibited racism. It has been pointed out that Miley is trying to portray "black culture", but by having all black back-up dancers, she was actually treating them as props and hearkening back to slave culture where black women were often treated as sexual objects.

• Many people are saying that Miley's performance is a result of bad parenting. It's been said that if her parents had properly loved her, disciplined her, and "raised her right", perhaps she would not be going down the tragic road she is headed down.

• I've heard people using Miley's performance as a critique of the American entertainment industry. Many people are outraged that the morning after the VMAs, many of the headlines belonged to Miley rather than other more important things in the world. 

• I've even heard that the main issue that Miley's performance unveils is our lack of morality. Many people, particularly Christians, are up in arms about how our culture is deteriorating and how we need to be teaching our children and families to "do the right thing" and "be good people". 

Even if some of those things have a ring of truth to them, I don't think any of them are the real issue. 

My hypothesis?

We are so disgusted/fascinated by Miley because we are just like her.

"Whoa whoa whoa..." you say. "I would never behave the way she does."
Maybe not. We may not be on a stage in front of millions of people, but we have all sinned. We have all denied Jesus & the gospel at some point. We have all sought our own power. We all have hearts that are desperately sick and wicked.
It is so easy to demonize Miley and her actions. I found myself doing it as I watched her writhing across stage. And believe me, I absolutely do not condone her actions. 
But this is bigger than Miley. Really, she is a visible representation of the idols, sins, and issues in our own lives. This is a problem of the heart that has haunted humanity since the first two people scandalously took the forbidden fruit to increase their own glory.

As my friend Stephen put it in a recent post...
"The worst thing of all and the most tragic is that I have thought and done more unimaginably wicked things in secret than Miley has ever done in public. I am a sinner in desperate desperate need of a savior. My only hope is built on nothing less than Jesus blood and righteousness, because apart from the hope of Christ, there is no hope for me."

What an absolutely beautiful summary. 
Yes, Miley's life is becoming increasingly tragic. But it's not enough for us to hide behind her flaws. It's not enough for us to have an opinion on a public figure yet not deal with our own sins. It's not enough for us to compare our sins to hers and congratulate ourselves on how moral or "Christian" we are (which is just a flat-out lie, by the way.) 
The truth is that we need Jesus just as much as Miley. Only He is enough.

The solution isn't about achieving gender or racial equality. It's not about becoming more moral or perfecting our parenting skills. It's not about completely disregarding the entertainment industry. 

It's about recognizing the weight of our own sin, repenting that we would dare sin against a holy God, and letting him transform us into the likeness of His son Jesus Christ. 

Lord, let us be a generation that recognizes how holy You are and how holy we are not. Let us see the weight of our sin and the magnitude of your forgiveness. Let us not be content with morality but instead desire to know You. Let us live daily in Your grace and display it to those around us. Let us forsake our own gain and pursue your glory.