The VMA’s: What’s a Youth Leader To Do?
Every year, for the last 32 years, MTV has broadcast the Video Music Awards into millions of living rooms. Each time it seems they try and top the prior airing with a show that’s even more outrageous than the last (good luck with that next year, guys).
Also every year, many youth leaders express horror and outrage at the latest pop star antics and scantily clad performances. It’s as much a part of the season as back-to-school and football season countdowns. We wonder when the world got so dark and strange. But, in all honesty, the world has been like this since Adam and Eve had to leave the Garden. I think it takes something like the VMA’s to shock us out of our comfort zone and truly confront the reality that not only is this world not our home, but it’s actually a pretty hostile environment that rewards things that are the complete opposite of what we believe.
Yes, last night’s show glorified everything it possibly could about drug culture, sexuality and freedom to do whatever makes you feel good. But honestly, this should not be news. These are the things our students face head-on every single day. Is it possible that we’ve become numb or willfully unaware of this sometimes? Is it possible that after we visit a student at school for lunch, we go back to our office at the church and continue planning our lessons for Sunday and we forget just how dark their everyday environment is? Many posts you’ll read today will hold up the VMA’s as an annual wakeup call to the depravity of youth culture. But as youth leaders, we should already know that “people love the darkness rather than the light because their works are evil” (John 3:19). Instead of a big, shocking, annual wake-up call, this should be one of dozens of heart-tugging reminders for us to pray without ceasing for our students to be light in an ever-darkening world. Let’s not be so insulated in church culture that we forget the daily battle our students are fighting … a battle to keep from getting sucked into darkness and depravity. Instead, let’s engage with them often, asking how we can best serve and equip them to stand strong.
Also, on an encouraging note, the single most Shazammed and tweeted about performance last night came from a young artist named Tori Kelly. In the midst of all of the salaciousness, a young lady performed – fully clothed – playing an instrument and singing a song that she wrote. There was no choreography or jaw-dropping spectacle. Just a girl with a guitar and an anointed voice (Tori is a believer) and that was the moment that the most people responded to on social media. This should tell us something. Maybe it isn’t all hopeless out there. There are young people who are interested in things that are real and wholesome.
Let’s continue to pray for and with them and lift up the young people in Hollywood who are willing to be lights in a dark, dark world. And let’s continue to equip our students more than ever before, and encourage them that it’s ok to stand out and stand up for what they believe in.
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