“So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone...” Eph 2:19-20
Another One Bites The Dust
Zeke Flores
It seems that almost every other week, we hear of some young celebrity’s trouble being splashed all over the newspapers and gossip shows. Maybe it’s Britney and her legal and child custody battles with K-Fed. Maybe it’s Paris and her bad driving. Maybe it’s Lindsey and her drug/alcohol trouble. Maybe it’s Miley and her naughty pictures. More and more we see young stars being overcome by the vices of fame and fortune. Is there any young celebrity that is actually a role model for all the teens that look up to them?
For some time, I thought perhaps Hilary Duff could actually be a young star who took her status as role model seriously. You see, while most other young sensations have been getting into trouble for one thing or another, Hilary seemed to never fall into the traps that other teen stars have fallen into. She never was photographed at some trendy bar getting loaded with her Hollywood pals, she never got a ticket for DWI, and she never dressed in any overly immodest way, at least according to the world’s point of view.
Then recently, she starred in a movie called War, Inc. The role is called a “departure” for her as she plays a slinky, sleazy seductress named Yonica Babyyeah who curses like a drunken sailor. But, “Duff’s risky and frisky performances as a foul-mouthed Central Asian pop tart have many observers singing her praises.” (Houston Chronicle, July 11, 2008, pg E1) It seems that many applaud her “departure” as a way to “spread her wings” and “mature” as an actress, never mind the thousands of adoring young people who look up to her and will no doubt emulate her provocative behavior and profane-laden language as they also seek to spread their wings and mature. Miss Duff said, “I have to admit, I was a little nervous. Because Yonica really isn’t like how I am in real life. It’s a real stretch, totally different from anything that anyone’s ever seen me do before. In fact, she’s kind of everything that I stand against. Which was really fun to get to play.” Unfortunately, regardless of what she says she is “for” or “against,” her words will ring hollow as what her fans will see is the persona she’s portraying and will no doubt think it’s cool to be profane and promiscuous. And so, another one bites the dust.
However, the positive way that the public has responded to her digression, even promoting her and encouraging her to branch out even further into more lascivious roles makes me more convinced of the downward spiral our society is hurtling into. When a “goody goody” turns bad, the world celebrates. Throughout man’s history, the world has been seemingly dominated by those “who call evil good, and good evil; who substitute darkness for light and light for darkness; who substitute bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!” (Isa 5:20) It seems that the morally degenerate one is, the more he/she is acclaimed in our society while they simultaneously ridicule anyone with a semblance of moral courage. Immoral and even deviate sexual behavior in nearly every form is lauded as normal while those who promote decency and abstinence til marriage are profiled as narrow-minded and out of touch with modern human “needs.” Those who advocate for ethical standards for our leaders, whether they be elected by vote or simply made popular by our pop culture, are drowned out by the high volume chorus of inappropriate, unethical, and immoral conduct of the very ones they’re trying to promote morality in. And on it goes. For these sinful men and women, Peter’s words certainly ring true: “For speaking out arrogant words of vanity they entice by fleshly desires, by sensuality, those who barely escape from the ones who live in error, promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved.” (2 Pet 2:18_19) But, God reminds through the wise Proverb writer, “He who justifies the wicked and he who condemns the righteous, both of them alike are an abomination to the Lord.” (Prov 17:15)
We sometimes feel like Lot living among the sinful inhabitants of Sodom, but let’s remember the promises of God: “... if He condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah to destruction by reducing them to ashes, having made them an example to those who would live ungodly lives thereafter; and if He rescued righteous Lot, oppressed by the sensual conduct of unprincipled men (for by what he saw and heard that righteous man, while living among them, felt his righteous soul tormented day after day by their lawless deeds), then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from temptation, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment for the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge the flesh in its corrupt desires and despise authority.” (Pet 2:6_10)
Brethren, let us not fall prey to the enticing and ever more accepted ways of sinfulness. Let’s stand strong against the tide of ungodliness and work even harder to instill virtuous values in our children and in one another. Let’s not be another one who bites the dust!
