Miley Cyrus; A Product of a Culture Without Boundaries.

If you have social media of any kind, I am almost certain you have heard about Miley Cyrus and her disturbing performance at the VMA’s. I’m deeply saddened by what she has morphed into over the years. The past few days, I’ve been thinking, “How does innocent little Hannah Montana turn into one of the most scandalous and sickening performers of this day and age?” I think God has an answer to the question for us, and I think we can learn a lot from it.

Before I proceed, I would like to remind us that Jesus said in John 8:7, “Let any one of you who is without sin be the first throw a stone at her.” None of us can throw a stone at Miley Cyrus, because we have all fallen short of the glory of God. We are all sinners. Jesus did not respond to our sin with hateful words, so let us not respond to Miley’s sin with hateful tweets and blog posts. We must approach her in love and mercy, the way Jesus does, but we should also learn a great deal, as we ponder the key contributors to creating the performer we see in Miley today.

We live in a culture in which everything goes; anything is acceptable. What God has defined as black and white, the world is now painting grey. It’s constantly pushing the limits. Miley Cyrus is not what is wrong with the world, we all have a sin problem.  Miley is merely a product of a culture without boundaries. 

Do you realize that, at one point, Miley claimed to be a Christian? She was once a role model for young girls all over the country. She went from saying she was a follower of Christ to doing a performance that would cause any strong Christian to change the channel. One might ask, “How does that kind of transformation even happen?” Well, it happens by letting culture tell us where the boundaries are, instead of the Word of God. Before you think about how terrible of a person Miley is, I want you to take a look at your own life. How often are we going by “what’s cool”, instead of what God says? Look at the movies you watch, the songs on your playlist, or the other activities that fill your time. Most of the things the world defines as acceptable, God defines as sin. I don’t think Miley is the only one turning to culture to show her where the boundaries are. We can all struggle with that, because we all have the inward desire to be accepted by others. We want to be cool and the sad reality is that many of us are willing to compromise our own beliefs, in order to reach that status. We are letting other sinful people, who really don’t have our best interest at heart, tell us how to live, instead of listening to a God who loves us so much that He sent His Son to endure the punishment we all deserve. 

I’m really heartbroken for Miley Cyrus. Culture is constantly encouraging her to push the limits, yet when she does it, they mock her for it. The media laughs and scorns her for doing the things they pushed her to do in the first place. She feels like she has to take off most of her clothes to be loved. She does not even realize that there is a God out there that loves her, despite her sin. Hollywood is acting like they love her now, but in a few years, they will abandon her and she will be on one of those “Where Are They Now?” shows. Miley hasn’t even realized that there is a God out there who will never leave or forsake her, no matter what she does. Are some of you in that same position? Maybe not at the same degree as Miley, but are you striving for the approval of the crowd. It’s exhausting trying to get the status of “cool” in a culture that is constantly changing. You don’t have to live that way. There is a God standing with His arms wide open to you. Fame, fortune, and popularity are all just an illusion. The American dream turns out to be a nightmare. But then, there is God, who will never leave you high and dry. He doesn’t just say that He loves you and then leaves you, like the crowd that many want the approval of so desperately. No, God didn’t just say that He loves you, He showed that He loves you, by giving His life, so that He could offer you the gift of salvation. 

So, here’s the question, are we gonna let culture tell us what to do, or are we going to stand by the Word of the never-changing, always faithful, perfectly loving God? Because, if we do not stand up and say, “enough is enough” at some point, things are only going to get worse. We may be appalled at first, like we are now with Miley, but if we do not draw the line somewhere, the world will continue to push the limits. 

I pray for Miley Cyrus, that she would know that she is not too far gone; God can still save her. I pray that God would have mercy on us, who call ourselves Christians, yet listen to what’s popular, instead of what God says. I also pray for you. I pray that you would turn to the Word of God for your boundaries, that, like insects to a light, you would let the love of Christ shine so brightly in you that others see it and want some of it, too. 

Know that there is still hope, friends. God is on the throne. He is not surprised by how far our world has fallen. God is still God, no matter what Miley Cyrus does on a stage. The fact that our God is still greater than the darkness around us should give us strength to shine even brighter for Him as we walk in it.


If you have any questions, comments or prayer requests, I hope you will email me at christy@tonynolan.org . Thank you so much for reading.