Seven years ago, Miley Cyrus became the role model for a generation of young girls through her portrayal of Hannah Montana. Imagine for a minute - very realistically by the way - that thousands and thousands of those young fans were five, six, and seven years old when that show debuted in 2006. If they've been following their role model since then, they've been treated to all kinds of lessons about who to be, what to believe, and how to live in the world. Those lessons include episodes of Hannah Montana, some creepy Vanity Fair photos taken when Cyrus was only 15, a rather rapid descent into music video vixenhood, the highly publicized duet with Robin Thicke at the recent Video Music Awards, and yesterday's release of the video for "Wrecking Ball."
This morning, this just-released music video lament about love lost is MTV's "most recent," "most viewed," and "most commented." It's got traction. It's also got Miley Cyrus straddling a wrecking ball in the buff, along with scenes of the role model fondling and licking a sledge-hammer that, in reality, clearly represents something else. I'm guessing that those viewers who are looking at this "most recent" include those five, six, and seven-year-olds who are now finding their way through adolescence and into the rest of their lives at the impressionable ages of twelve, thirteen, and fourteen. . . . and they are learning a lot.
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As I pondered the spectrum of responses I was reminded of the need to strike a healthy God-honoring balance between law and grace. On the one hand, we need to remember that Miley Cyrus is not beyond redemption. Thankfully - for me, first and foremost - the grace of God is amazingly deep, wide, and generous. For that reason, we must humbly pray for Miley Cyrus. On the other hand, we don't want to have to be reminded by folks like Bonhoeffer that there is a crisis of "cheap grace." We are called to exercise deep discernment, humbly pointing out brokenness wherever we see it, while promoting the shalom that reflects life in the will, way, and Kingdom of God.
I thank God that the Gospel is big. I thank God that we can talk about this stuff with our kids.
4 comments:
A few years back, Bebo Norman recorded a song called Britney that was an apology for how the world had set her up for failure. I think the same applies here. Great post Walt, thanks for the reminder.
Walt, as a parent of teens, I greatly appreciate the thoughtful and intentional way you blog. It is helping me in my own processing of our culture and it is helping me as I communicate with my teens. Thank you! I also appreciate our Father's big and deep grace! I am a daily product of it!
There is always such a desire in songs like this for love, belonging, acceptance and hope! I pray that we can be to our students and children people who show and live out how that comes from Christ. We all must know that we are his and what his sacrifice for us means!
I grieve with you. As a college pastor I've noticed how much more difficult it has become for Christians to live faithfully with regard to sexual purity, et al. I usually have a knee jerk reaction against doomsday stuff, but I've seen the last 15 years bring with it a steady infiltration of "worldly" thought patterns among young adults. again I grieve. But it is such a joy to, as you put it, be reminded of how big the gospel is and how great the love of Christ is.
Lastly, I read a post recently that felt like it could ride tandem with yours. It's another about Miley, but doesn't fit the typical posts I'd already read. I won't try and summarize it... if you're interested here's the link: http://www.theunitive.com/we-created-miley/
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