Time for a Good Soapbox

I realized that my hang-up with blogging is that I feel like I have to write something inspiring every time. This is ridiculous.

So what I'm going to write about today is how angry the shallowness of our society makes me and how I'm kind of a hypocrite for getting angry about said shallowness.

I had not heard of Justin Bieber until last night. I have no idea how new this child is to the music scene, but based on the amount of videos and fan-craziness on youtube I'm guessing it's been more than a few weeks.

The staff talent show for the YMCA of the Rockies was held last night, and one of the performers said he was going to play a song by his musical idol - and began to strum the chords of "Baby." The entire crowd went crazy and I thought ... Is Justin Bieber an employee here that he's making fun of?

My ignorance of his musical career is not because I'm one of those super-alternative people who doesn't listen to the radio or who spits every time someone says, "American Idol." Rather, I have been immersed in support raising since November and up in the boonies of Colorado since May.

I have nothing personal against Justin. When reading his bio I found out that he is a self-taught musician and can play several instruments. I don't know if this is true, but if so that is certainly something to be impressed with - especially for someone who has been trying to learn the guitar for about a year and can only successfully play three cords without looking.

However, I do have a dilemma with what he represents.

Mainly, how our culture has taken childhood and morphed it into this stage of life where kids are able to enjoy the perks of adulthood without the responsibilities - creating a generation of emotionally crippled men and women.

Example: In one of his songs, Justin offers to buy a girl, "any ring," in order to get her back.

Offering marriage at 15 ...

Nope. Not okay.

And I don't want to hear any of this, "Well my grandparents got married when they were 15," business. Your grandparents went through the Great Depression and World War II, all right?

In one of the following lines he says, "Baby, fix me."

No human - or vampire - on the face of the earth can fix you. Ever. I don't care how much your souls collide or how the world ceases to exist when you're together.

I'm not trying to pull an angry schoolmarm card. Part of the reason this frustrates me is from looking back on my own life in middle & high school, and seeing how the things I poured myself into at 13 are  affecting my marriage ten years later. Innocent things. Even Christian things.

Like attending True Love Waits conferences when I was in middle school.

And reading Christian romance novels when I was in high school.

I'm not saying don't talk about sex with your 13 or 14 year old. I'm saying, how about we tell them that they need to keep their heart just as pure as their body. How about sending the message that physical intimacy isn't the only kind of intimacy - and sometimes it's not even the strongest?

And while we're on the subject - how about we start teaching and equipping teenagers to have a passionate relationship with a beautiful Saviour who's love is deeper and sweeter and more intoxicating than any faded substitute this earth can offer, before we start trying to equip them to have a committed relationship with an imperfect human being.

So maybe, my issue is not with what the world has done to childhood, but how it feels sometimes like we, as Christians, have done little to protect it.

My husband and I have spoken a little bit about how we're going to raise our children in this world. How do we parent in a way that is a good balance between our children being too sheltered or too exposed?

Jesus has a special place in His heart for children. He cherishes them, and He doesn't take what's done to them lightly. If you read Luke 17 Jesus recognizes that this is a broken world and children will have to deal with that brokenness, but the ones who bring that brokenness into children's lives are not going to have it easy.

Obvious examples of this are child abuse and sex-trafficking, right?

What about allowing children to be sold on what this world offers as success, love, happiness, independence, etc?

I sit across from many college students who don't understand why they can't relate to a God who refuses to be seen through any of these manmade paradigms.

I will want my children to be safe and protected, yes; but above that I want them to know how desperately they will need God in their lives. How their hearts cannot and will not be satisfied with anything else.

Where my hypocrisy comes into play with all this is the fact that I have never been a parent and know nothing about how hard it is to really raise children in this world.

I do know that my soapboxes are often built on grace, especially when they're built in ignorance.