When I saw the clip of Miley at the VMA’s, I think I had the same reaction that most of America did: my jaw dropped, and my body began preparing to regurgitate the chicken wrap I ate for lunch. But you know what else is just as sickening? This letter. Letter {here}. I have seen it posted and shared several times now, and I just don’t get it. Christians, are we really shocked by this behavior? We live in a fallen world, we are slaves to sin. This is only but one example of the sin that runs rampant in society today and practically consumes the media.

I feel compelled to say that I don’t believe the right response towards daughters is to threaten to “duct tape their mouths shut” or “knock them on their butts,” as the author of this fallacy-filled letter vows to do to her own daughter were she to emulate Miley. Nor is it to make broad claims on the way she was raised. Friends, if you only knew the sin in my life and the struggles of my heart, you’d be just as disgusted as you are with Miley. My sin just isn’t so blatant, so public. But here’s the key difference: I know that I am valuable and beautiful because I’ve been made in the image of God. I’ve been freed from my bondage to sin by the blood of Christ. If anything, please teach your daughters that. Teach them how to appropriately respond to all kinds of sin. Teach them to be grieved by it, and to long for the day when Christ rids this world of it. But in the meantime, teach them to pray for those who don’t have an accurate understanding of their value and worth, and look for affirmation elsewhere. And lastly, pray that the Lord would give your daughters a bigger platform and a louder microphone than Miley Cyrus.

 

 

This is only a brief summary of my feelings on the topic. Though I could say so much more, I pray that the words I’ve written are enough to compel people to rethink the issue in light of the gospel of grace!