Thursday, February 10, 2011

The Line We Walk :: Naked Culture

I have to admit, I struggle with being current with pop culture.  As a student minister, pop culture is at the forefront of many of the students lives.  From "The Black Eyed Peas" to "Jersey Shore," and "Transformers,"  these students  are interested in anything and everything that is popular.  I don't know much about this stuff, and I don't really want to much of the time. Why would a student minister NOT want to be current on this stuff?

Well, if you know me and have heard me talk to students or give my testimony, you know that battling lust is a big part of the last 5 years of my life.  An addiction to pornography (that ended 5 years ago) took a MAJOR toll on my spiritual life and marriage.  The more I understood the problem, the more I understood that it wasn't a battle with simply nudity, but any sort of overly sensual, or sexual things.

The problem is that almost EVERY ASPECT of pop culture is drenched in this stuff.  Musical lyrics are often terrible, let alone the videos that go along with them.  There's not a 'good' movie that doesn't have a nude or incredibly provocatively dressed woman in them.   I mean, new shows are based on this stuff, NBC's newest show is called Perfect Couples, and the previews have them in their respective beds.  Game shows are drenched in cleavage bearing women holding boxes and such.  Action movies have a scantily dressed heroine or love interest.

The truth is, I've worked hard to get over this and to rid myself and my family of this type of garbage.  If I don't want to be exposed to this stuff, what am I to do?  Many students don't know anything different and don't even understand why I WOULDN'T want to watch a show like Jersey Shore or a movie like Little Fockers. 

I'd be lying if I said I didn't feel very awkward watching the Super Bowl half time show with some friends and students.  I group of people singing, with a woman star in a tight outfit that showed all leg and much chest.  Then she starts inappropriately dancing with people on stage.  I don't want my family to see it, especially my son...let alone the students... But its the Super Bowl, and the half time show is a big deal.

I have to admit, I haven't figured it out.  How do we, as believers, walk the line of purity and relevancy?  How can I be engaged in pop culture without being exposed to it? Is it really even worth being relevant and putting my purity at risk?

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