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En Garde
by Ennis Smith 3 John 1:11 (NIV) - "Dear friend, do not imitate what is evil but what is good. Anyone who does what is good is from God. Anyone who does what is evil has not seen God." Evil deeds are so blatant in today's society, it is hard for the unbeliever to recognize wrong. Miley Cyrus's recent MTV Music Awards Show performance, while receiving much criticism backlash, managed to gain the young pop star an enormous amount of publicity. Shock television never goes out of style, as far as the world's standards are concerned. With mainstream media promoting morally wrong actions, young Christians may find it difficult to discern right from wrong. Personally, I feel bad for the millions of young girls who grew to love the "Hannah Montana" show. Miss Cyrus probably didn't realize at the time that these faithful fans just might be watching her performance. In the time it took her to publicly shed the last of her wholesome image, she either (A) disappointed many of her long-time fans, (B) showed millions of young girls, "This is what the world wants you to act like", or (C) accomplished both. The apostle John made it quite clear to Christians. "Do not imitate what is evil but what is good," he said. It's not enough to simply read the Bible cover to cover. One has to act on what the living word says. One has to steer clear of what the word deems wrong; veer toward what the word says is truth. Trust me friends, a young girl standing on stage (in front of millions of live guests and television viewers), less than half naked, gyrating and humping a man old enough to be her father does NOT know the God who created the universe. Sadly enough, her performance was no different than any music video played on television today. Youngsters of all ages are constantly bombarded with sex on television. It's no wonder the lines between right and wrong are blurred by the world's standards. Why does a murder get more press time than a young man from the inner city graduating college? Why does a political sex scandal receive more Youtube hits than an ex-felon working at a homeless shelter, paying it foward? Why does the grand opening of an exotic dance club get more publicity than the grand opening of a new church? Why do more young girls dress less than more modest? Why do young men Google Justin Bieber spitting on fans, instead of Googling the movie "Courageous"? God spoke through the prophets over thousands of years and told us this is the way things would progress. He warned us to stick close to His word. He told us to be on guard at all times. He said, "Do not love the world or the things of the world". We have to do better. My daughter was a Hannah Montana fan for years. I knew the MTV Awards show was coming on and had no desire to watch it. I didn't tell her Miley Cyrus was going to be on. She might have wanted to watch. I thank God for giving her something else to do that night. I think her heart might have broken. We have to teach our children to imitate good instead of evil. We have to teach them the meaning of the word "Integrity". We simply have to teach our kids! We're so busy doing other things. We're allowing the world to teach them for us. We have to be on guard or, as the french say, En Garde! Ennis Smith lives in Lincoln Park, Michigan with his wife and five children. Mr. Smith joined Faithwriters to improve his writing skills. He recently had a short story entitled 'How Come Rocks Can't Talk' published for the Webzine "WHEREVER IT PLEASES". www.facebook.com/ennis.smith.52 Article Source: http://www.faithwriters.com |