Last night I had the privilege of going to hear Rob Bell speak. Bell is a pastor from Michigan and an author of two very good books.
Bell has a unique approach to presenting ideas and thoughts. Last night he spoke about the idea of where religion came from and how it can have an ugly side to it. It really got me thinking about what we make religion about and how we view the gods as angry. We live in this world of constantly trying to please people. We make things gods and our lives begin this viscous cycle of always trying to offer more and more so we can keep people happy. I am so guilty of this in my life. I forget so easy that it is all already taken care of. Jesus came down as one of us, lived as one of us, suffered as one of us, and died for us. He made the sacrifice so that I can stop trying to please the gods. I no longer have to work, but now I can live in the Peace that God has given me.
I was moved by the message. I hope that I can stop putting stuff on the alter, and realize that my offering has already been given for me. I would like to please my God, but not with sacrifices such as animals, but sacrifices of my life. I hope that I can bring hope to others that they too can stop trying to please the gods, but can live in the peace that God offers in His Son!!
Shalom
So I was reading a myspace page of a young lady that I do not know, all I know about her is that she is friends with one of my youth group students. I know that she is a freshman at a local high school and I know that I am sad for her. While reading her profile I came across her favorite tv shows. There is a new "reality" show on mtv called A shot at Love with Tila Tequila. It is ridiculous!!! You have a girl who got big off of myspace, mostly for showing every last inch of skin on her body, and she is bisexual. She is having 16 boys, and 16 girls try to fall in love with her. The show pulls out all the stops. Girls making out, guys fighting, 16 people sharing 1 bed, all games require the participants to wear as lilttle clothing as possible. All of this is on regular basic cable, for any teen to watch.
The real sadness is that girls look up to this Tila girl. Now in all fairness, when Tila talks she seems like a nice person. But seriously, we have 14 year old girls who look up to her, who want to be like her. The message is clear:
SHOW OFF YOUR BODY TO GET ATTENTION, AND IF YOU LOOK GOOD ENOUGH GUYS AND GIRLS WILL NOTICE YOU AND GIVE YOU THE ATTENTION THAT YOU ARE LOOKING FOR. AFTER ALL, YOUR WORTH COMES FROM HOW PRETTY YOU ARE, HOW MANY BOYS WANT TO GET YOU IN THE SACK, AND HOW YOU CAN USE YOUR SEXUALITY TO MANIPULATE SITUATIONS.
This is the message that is being sent, whether or not MTV would agree with that it is. If these are the role models for teenagers today, then we are in big trouble. This makes the job of any adult who cares about our youth today that much harder. We must send them a message that their value does not come from the outward appearance, that they can have my attention without wearing close to nothing, that they are important without having to "put out".
My heart is sad.
