Character Confession: The Captivating Miley Cyrus
Is there anything new to blog about when it comes to Miley Cyrus?
Probably not.
But I’m going to try.
I wanted to wait a few days so I could let my thoughts marinate and perhaps by the time I put them down, they’d make sense. I also figured by giving it some time, I’d have some good posts from others to pass on.
And I do.
But first, let me share the biggest revelations that came to me regarding Miley’s adult performance during the VMA’s. I didn’t watch it live, and I didn’t watch the entire clip. Didn’t need to.
She’s the visual I have regarding the book I often use when I mentor, Captivating, by John and Stasi Eldredge, about what happens when girls don’t get their core question answered.
The core question little girls ask is this: Do you think I’m lovely?
They start asking this question before they even know it’s a desire to be fulfilled by their Heavenly Father through Christ.
My favorite example of this question in motion is our daughter at her pre school graduation. She has a twirly skirt on and she’s giving that skirt all she’s got to see the twirl in action. My Facebook page has this if you look for it. Girls twirl their skirts because they want to be noticed. They want someone to let them know they are lovely. Captivating. Worth something.
Dads are the best humans to answer this question in a healthy way, but the gap can only truly be closed by the One who created them. When dads are absent or answer that question through put downs, absence, physical or a worse kind of abuse, the girls will get that question answered.
In all kinds of wrong ways.
And that’s one of the revelations I had regarding Miley. She’s exhibit A of what it looks like when that core questioned isn’t answered. Her definition of lovely is now warped and it is a hamster wheel she’ll keep perpetuating to get that question answered. And only Christ can get her off that wheel. It won’t surprise me if she ups the ante because so much attention came from her VMA display. But it will be a winless quest. Sure, she’ll get media time, blog posts devoted to her, and more money, but in the scheme of life and truly living victoriously, there’s nothing victorious here.
Now for the second revelation.
I wanted to be snarky when I first saw the pictures come through my Facebook feed. When her picture was placed against Jim Carrey when he was on In Living Color, I wanted to hit share and laugh until I snorted.
But I couldn’t.
Because as soon as I felt the temptation, a still voice rose to the surface.
She’s my prodigal.
Whether her claims to Christian faith were genuine when she first moved to California to pursue a career, I don’t know. Over the years I’ve read people who felt the Cyrus family walked it out when they lived in Tennesee. When Billy Ray had the interview after his first public separation with his wife, he talked about how Miley saw the evil in Hollywood and was determined to be His light. He later retracted it, but he felt the Disney machine and her handlers took over. He was a friend instead of a parent. And that light went out.
Even if that’s all a fabrication, she’s still a beloved daughter to her Heavenly Father. He loves her with a depth I can’t even capture with words. He desperately yearns for her to pursue a personal relationship with Him. But He’s not a bully. He’s made it a choice for all of us to take. Even Miley. For her to choose Him is a no-brainer on His part. Even after what we saw at the VMA’s. Even if all the drugs and other choices are all true. He’d accept her without hesitation.
Just like He accepted me.
Compassion, tinged with grief, filled the snark I wanted to share. Although there were a lot of visuals to burn on the brain, the one I can’t shake is her parents facing the throne. Miley explaining how she used the gifts she was created with to further His Kingdom. If that were to happen anytime soon, I can’t imagine the despair.
But it doesn’t have to be that way.
For all the Christian families fed up with Miley just being Miley, why not pray for her and her family? That if they knew Christ personally at one point, that they would return and be consistently mentored by families solid in Him. If the whole Jesus card was just a trite thing to say for a young starlet, that it would come back and become a fulfilled prophecy.
I often think about the most wayward celebrities and what the world would look like if that person was on fire for Christ. Sold out, all in, using their gifts and talents to show people who He is and how to know Him. Not in an obnoxious way a lot of new believers are without mentoring, but just confident who they are and their worth in HIm.
That would be captivating.
Other Miley related posts I enjoyed:
A Lesson for Dads (this received so much traffic that as of writing it has been shut down. Hopefully by the time you read it, it will be back up.)
Dear Son: Don’t Let Robin Thicke Be a Lesson to You
