Let's be honest. We all have our opinions about the Miley Cyrus VMA performance.
I do, too. Although I didn't come to it immediately.
I didn't watch the VMAs on Sunday night. I know, pretty shocking, considering the best boy band in the world reunited for about 30 seconds. But man, oh man, did I hear about it. Whether it was through twitter or facebook or my mom, I heard about it. Yesterday I decided to watch it so I would know what everyone was talking about (this method is not always advised — I read Fifty Shades of Grey, thinking it was a "romance novel," because I wanted to know what everyone was talking about. Just… no).
My initial reaction was shock and anger. I'm sure yours was something similar. Then it was indifference. But the thing is, the holy spirit won't allow me either of those. I can't be angry about it and I can't feel indifferent about it.
Why not?
Something is wrong with the world. Even the most optimistic of people can admit that. As a Bible-believing Christian, I believe that it is because sin entered the world when our first parents, Adam and Eve, chose to disobey God's commands. God created us to be worshippers, and in that, our visions, our hopes, and our aspirations are invested in something. We gravitate towards that. Whether it's a career, a relationship, children, a goal, etc. we pour our time and energy and money into something that we believe will ultimately bring us joy and satisfaction.
I have worshipped something other than Jesus.
And I have been given grace for that.
I don't know Miley Cyrus. I don't know what her heart longs for. I don't know what her dreams and aspirations are. I don't know if she actually enjoys twerking or if she just does it for show. What I do know is that if she's anything like me, her heart longs for something more. And if we're honest with ourselves, doesn't this speak of all of us?
Evaluate your heart with me.
What do I truly, truly long for:
Marriage. Even to the point where it became an idol in my life and I had to step away from a relationship. Somewhere in my soul I believed the lie that marriage would fulfill me. I'm working through it with Jesus. It is not easy, and it is not pretty. Wrapped up in that desire is a deeper desire to be affirmed and loved fiercely and deeply.
Remedy: Jesus is the only way that desire will be fulfilled. He loved me so deeply that he lived a perfect life, became my sin, died a gruesome death, and resurrected from the dead so that I could be covered in his righteousness.
Security. I live at home with my parents and quit my job. Meaning they are my source of income at present. I fantasize about the day when I will have a "big girl job" and will be independent of my parents. It's funny how I alternate between this idol and the idol of marriage. I think, oh, I don't need a family or a husband if I can just have an amazing career and be completely fulfilled in that way.
Remedy: You're really going to be shocked by this, but the answer is Jesus. For those of you who attended Sunday school, you're probably 2 for 2 right about now. We are not promised job security, financial security, any kind of security. And if Jesus is present in our times of success, won't he also be present in our failures and heartaches and misery? Even more so. He identifies with those times. He draws near to the broken hearted. His love is consistent. He is our security.
It's really all a matter of substitution; me making myself my own god and Jesus making himself sin so that I can be forgiven. Here's a quote that explains what I mean, from John Stott's The Cross of Christ:
The concept of substitution may be said to lie at the heart of both sin and salvation. For the essence of sin is man substituting himself for God, while the essence of salvation is God substituting himself for man. Man asserts himself against God and puts himself where only God deserves to be; God sacrifices himself for man and puts himself where only man deserves to be. Man claims prerogatives that belong to God alone; God accepts penalties that belong to man alone.
I can type about this all day long, but when it comes to application, I have a much harder time. I am less apt to believe the promises of God and more apt to believe that attention and dating and an occupation can give me exactly what I want, exactly what will make me feel complete. Unfortunately, that is a lie. Of the things I can obtain: money, a boyfriend, a husband, a career… all of them will disappoint me at some point. I cannot invest all of my time and energy and resources into them, because it will destroy me when one of them is taken from me.
I don't know what Miley Cyrus wants or longs for, but I'd imagine that her heart is searching for answers. Maybe, temporarily, she feels awesome in her newfound image. Maybe she feels empowered by the amount of publicity she has gotten. But I do know that it will eventually let her down. Because I have been in that position.
So, I don't know where you stand on the performance on Sunday, but I urge you to give Miley some grace. Because if you're a believer, you have been forgiven for everything you've ever done or thought or imagined or said. And to Jesus, you and I are absolutely worth condemnation and crucifixion. To Jesus, Miley Cyrus is absolutely worth it, too. She is not beyond redemption because none of us are. In our hearts, we are just as capable of smacking butts and grinding on people in front of a crowd of thousands, especially if we believed it was what would give us joy.
Pray for her. Pray that someone would share the gospel with her in a way that it would take hold of her heart and change how she views the world and how she views herself. Most importantly, don't be so quick to judge her. She is not out of God's reach. Neither am I. Neither are you.
Grace and peace,
Sarah
P.s. In closing, I will share this song that really helped change my perspective. My teammates shared it with me. It is incredible. Here are some lyrics: "Christ died for this terrible heart, that's why I want to be where the wild things are."
