There is a saying in Hollywood that "there is no such thing as bad press."
Like many celebrities, Miley Cyrus had one goal when she performed at the VMA, to get the public to talk about her. Since attention translates into more money, the goal is to get as many people talking about her as possible. Every part of her performance was designed to be as outrageous as possible to accomplish just that. She knows that she already has a fan base that she can count on at any time to buy her products. The rest will be drawn to her simply out of curiosity. Out of those, she can count on a significant percentage to purchase her products as well.
As far as her performance, I was greatly surprised to hear people talking about how sexually suggestive it was. If anyone found her performance to be even slightly enticing, I have great concerns for them. It was odd and outrageous but far from seductive. Of course, not being aware of what is on pornographic media nowadays, that may actually be considered in line with the desires of its audience. Gross!
Regardless of what it was, the Christian community unknowingly helped her succeed. The more we talk about it and condemn it in national media, the more attention it gets. People have to ask themselves, "wow, it must be really good if Christians are really upset about it." It seems that for all the Bible reading and studying we do, we have missed the very first lesson about mankind, we want whatever we are told we can't have. That is the foundation of sin. Instead of looking for things to condemn and bring more attention to the wrongs of the world, we should focus on the positives and those things that enrich our lives and cause us to have a greater relationship with God.
Why does it matter? Well, if you have children, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, or children you work with either in church or secular institutions, the subject will come up. Children talk and it is usually about whatever the newest topic is. Our best weapon in dealing with it is to be properly educated on the topics, avoid oversimplifying or outright condemnation of it. The latter approaches will not satisfy a child's curiosity, but instead will lead to more interest by children and cause them to seek out answers from wrong sources. The best approach is honesty and a willingness to have an open and frank discussion about it. Once their questions have been answered, you'll be amazed how quickly they will become bored with it and ready to move on to other things.
If we as Christian adults are unwilling to take on the difficult subjects of the day, the other side is more than willing to take on that role, and do it in a way that will create loyal consumers of their Godless products.
