It’s God We Should Look Up To

This past week there were a number of news items about a Tweet sent out by singer Miley Cyrus.  What she did reminded me of how important it is that AiG is producing the Answers Bible Curriculum, as we will be—among many things in ABC—teaching character development. First of all, who is Miley Cyrus?

According to Wikipedia (yes, we have to be careful about using such a source at times, but for background info., it can be useful), Miley Ray Cyrus, whose given name is Destiny Hope Cyrus, was born in Tennessee, where she attended Heritage Elementary School. She was baptized in a Southern Baptist church. Miley Cyrus first became well known after starring in the Disney Channel show Hannah Montana. Since then, she has gone on to act in films and plays, and she has released a number of musical albums (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miley_Cyrus). In 2009, Forbes magazine ranked her at #29 in the “Celebrity 100.” Her reported income that year, according to Forbes, was $25 million (www.forbes.com/lists/2009/53/celebrity-09_Miley-Cyrus_EB0C.html).

A story from Entertainment Weekly (music-mix.ew.com/2012/03/05/miley-cyrus-twitter-jesus-stars) says, "Though she has been held up as a paragon of Christian values at various points in her career, Cyrus’ actual faith seems like the same sort of all-love hodgepodge that tends to come from 19-year-olds with possibly illicit hobbies (she does quote Buddha at the top of her Twitter page, after all)."

She also supports same-sex marriage and tweeted about it. She wrote an article on the subject in Glamour, particularly concerning her new tattoo that says  "All LOVE is equal": www.glamour.com/entertainment/2012/02/why-miley-cyrus-got-her-gay-marriage-tattoo-glamour-march-2012

She states, "When I shared a picture of my tattoo on my Twitter page and said, "All LOVE is equal," a lot of people mocked me—they said, "What happened to you? You used to be a Christian girl!" And I said, "Well, if you were a true Christian, you would have your facts straight. Christianity is about love." The debate resulted in a lot of threats and hate mail to people who agreed and disagreed with me. At one point I had to say, "Dude, everyone lay off." Can't people have friendly debates about sensitive topics without it turning into unnecessary threats?"

Well this past week, Miley Cyrus posted a tweet about physicist Lawrence Krauss including a quote from him where he states, ". . . So forget Jesus. Stars died so you could live."  Here is a screen shot of the tweet:

Now the statement by Krauss is blasphemous.  But who is Lawrence Krauss?

First of all, he is an atheist who mocks God!  It's hard to believe Miley Cyrus would use the word “beautiful” to describe this anti-God atheist and his blasphemous quote—but that is what she did!

Krauss is a theoretical physicist at Arizona State University.  He paid a brief visit to our Creation Museum in 2007 and has been a very vocal critic of it, even appearing in the national media to speak against us. Krauss argues in  his new book, A Universe from Nothing, that modern science can indeed answer the question of why there is something rather than nothing. Krauss’s goal is to explain that the universe did not need a Creator because it already had the potential for creation.  He states in his book:

In the interests of full disclosure right at the outset I must admit that I am not sympathetic to the conviction that creation requires a creator, which is at the basis of all the world’s religions. (p. xi)

Defining away the question by arguing that the buck stops with God may seem to obviate the issue of infinite regression, but here I invoke my mantra: The universe is the way it is, whether we like it or not. The existence or nonexistence of a creator is independent of our desires. A world without God or purpose may seem harsh or pointless, but that alone doesn’t require God to actually exist. (p. xii).  Lawrence M. Krauss, A Universe from Nothing: Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing, (NewYork, New York: Free Press, 2012).

Over the years, many young people have looked up to Miley Cyrus—giving her heroine status.  She has been held up by some as a great example of a Christian.  However, it is very obvious she has not been acting as a Christian should in regard to her tweet, and other behavioral issues and statements she has made in recent times.  But I wanted to use this example to make a very important point.  We should not be encouraging our children to make other human beings their heroes or heroines.  Now certainly, we want our children to look up to great men and women of God—but they all have feet of clay too!  Even David in the Bible, as great a man of God as he was, committed terrible sins!

AiG's new Answers Bible Curriculum (you can pre-order—will be available this coming June) teaches through the entire Bible in a three-year, totally integrated program, from pre-school to adult.  As part of this program, character studies will be taught—however, with a big difference to how many programs teach such a subject.

Many Sunday school programs teach mere moral lessons or character development. For example, when talking about how David slew Goliath, kids might be encouraged to be brave like David when facing their own “giants.” When hearing about the good Samaritan, they might be told to show kindness to others. And that is where the application part of the lesson ends.

Answers Bible Curriculum, however, takes a different approach. Rather than focusing on character development and moral lessons, we focus on who God is and what He has done—God is the hero of the plot. So in the account of David and Goliath, children learn that David trusted in God, who is faithful to His promises and who honors those who honor Him. God’s attributes are put on display, and He is exalted. The application is not to emulate a person from the Bible, but rather to learn about who God is and what He has done, and then understand how that knowledge should affect one’s thoughts, conduct, and walk with God. The knowledge of God’s justice and holiness produces repentance; the knowledge of His grace and mercy leads us to praise Him for our salvation; the knowledge of His sovereignty causes us to trust in Him no matter what happens.

Miley Cyrus may have a let a lot of people down—but God NEVER let's anyone down.

We need to pray for Miley Cyrus!

Thanks for stopping by and thanks for praying,

Ken