So…
Forgive me for being “out of pocket” last week. I was BEAT. There’s a lot going on in the atmosphere and lately, I’ve been taking “Come unto me all ye that labor…and I will give you rest” (Mt.11:28) more literally than I used to. I advise you do the same. 😉
There’s a lot to “catch up” on, though. Although I share a lot of devotional topics on here, people connected with me via Facebook know that I do keep my ear to the pop culture censor…especially when it comes to sexuality. Over the next few posts, that’s what I think we will focus on (but of course, if anyone has questions, we can address those as well). One subject matter that I think I will dive into on Thursday is a line I heard from a movie about porn being “comfort food” for, an, um, certain apendage. It was hilariously profound because when you think about the way “comfort food” is often used/abused…let’s just say that I think that’s worth looking into.
For now, however, I actually want to give parents a “head’s up” about a certain song that’s out and for everyone else, a spiritual PSA on the moral meter of pop culture right now.
You know, something that three-years-in-of-abstinence is teaching me is that it’s not just sexual intercourse that’s sacred. I Corinthians 6:18 (NKJV) tells us, “Flee sexual immorality. Every sin that a man does is outside the body, but he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body.” If you subscribe to biblical theology, then you know that ANY KIND OF SEXUAL ACTIVITY OUTSIDE OF THE MARITAL COVENANT BETWEEN A MAN AND A WOMAN (Hebrews 13:4) would be considered “sexual immorality”. Oral sex. Masturbation. Dry humping (do people still say that if they are under 35?). Homosexual activity. ANY KIND. And, the more that I’ve been pondering that…considering I have participated, one way or another (either as a viewer or participant) in all of those things, I thought about the fact that none of this was nearly as fun unless there was 1) some risque nudity involved and 2) I was mentally aroused by an idea first.
THEN I thought about the state of a lot of music. How the news two weeks ago was one artist who decided to walk butt naked (literally…cause that’s basically all people have been talking about after viewing it) down a street and the premiere of another artist, a young woman’s music (?) video. It’s the latter that I will expound on today.
I remembered this chick when she was in the group 3LW. Then she seemed a bit awkward. Then I recall her being in the “Cheetah Girls” and I said, “She got her teeth fixed. She seems to be growing into her looks.” But being someone who often felt socially awkward and so I tried to “play up my sexy” to fit in, I couldn’t help but wonder if she really liked herself…or if she was needing validation…a bit more extreme than others.
THEN I saw her latest music video. Now, I wanted to post it, but sometimes people write in to tell me that certain links are “stumbling blocks” for them (I Cor. 8:9) and so I’ll let you all do the research. But I did want to share a bit of the lyrics and post a link of her response to some of the reactions that she received last week.
CHORUS:
Last I remember I was face down
A&^ up, clothes off, broke off, dozed off
Even though I’m not sure of his name
He could get it again if he wanted
Cause the sex was spectacular
The sex was spectacular (yeaaah)
The sex was spectacular
The sex was spectacular
BRIDGE:
You can say what you want but
You can call me a slut but
What he did to me last night felt so good
I must have been on drugs
I hope he used a rubber
Or I’mma be in trouble
Promise I don’t remember
Except for
Give it to me, give it to me
Ooh baby what a ride ride
Oh ride ride
So smooth like it beats
I like the heat
Ooh baby what a night night
Right right
Yes. I’m an inquisitive gal and so if I ever meet her, I will have a lot of questions. And not the typical churchy kind, either. Cause here’s the thing: if you’re that drunk, how can you even trust your senses enough to know if the sex was good, bad or indifferent? I think it’s a fair question cause more and more, when I look back on my sexual history, being that I was “high on lust”, I’m sure what I call myself missing is an illusion as well. But then, look at her state of mind: she doesn’t know his name but he can still get more. She doesn’t mind being seen as a slut because it felt good. She doesn’t know (or really seem to mind) if he used a condom. THIS IS WHAT POP CULTURE IS TALKING ABOUT. POP CULTURE IS POPULAR CULTURE. This is what’s popular right now.
I read an interesting article over the weekend on PsychologyToday.com about how young girls who are claiming to be lesbian and bisexual has spiked up to 15% in recent years because female celebrities are making it POPULAR to do so. When I opened my Facebook wall up for conversation/debate about the “naked walking singer” video, church leaders (no joke) were defending it. A girlfriend of mine even posted the link of a well-known pastor doing taking up for it last week in his church (I wonder what people think when the Word says that in the last days, even some of the very ELECT will be deceived-Matthew 24:24). And then, I reflected again on this video and its horrible PSA to young women. How it’s time out for those who claim to be followers of Christ to cringe in shock or to have the message of “love everyone” so misconscrued that we forget to hold people accountable and most importantly, to redirect to truth. Kiely, the artist, claims she’s just telling a story. She’s right. I mentor girls with this same story. But the Enemy is strategic (John 10:10). The story is glamourized (um, somewhat). She’s walking home, make-up in tact, grinning. No STDs. No unplanned pregnancies. No signs of date rape (although a dude sleeping with a drugged up chick…um…well). As I said on my page: “I get the POINT of the song. What is the PURPOSE of the artist?”
And that is what I hope we strive to get back to: the PURPOSE of sex. To make two people in covenant one (I Corinthians 6:12-20). To treat our bodies as the Word tells us to: AS MEMBERS OF CHRIST. Adam and the Woman (Eve’s name in the Garden of Eden) were naked and not ashamed because the light of the Lord covered them (Genesis 2:24-25). SIN UNCOVERED THEM and we have been seeing nakedness and shame ever since; yet we are becoming desensitized to the shame. We should never be desensitized to sin. Meaning, we shouldn’t be comfortable with seeing ANYONE who does not BELONG TO US without clothes on. I told my mom a couple of days ago that more and more, porn to me is like how the Romans were when they sat in arenas and cheered as people were torn to shreds. We “get off” on the nakedness of other people. More and more, I am also starting to mentor my girls as young women who are spiritually “betrothed”. The Lord knows who are mates are. He had someone in mind since birth. We shouldn’t deter people from the beauty of sexuality, but rather than making “points”…we also should focus on teaching PURPOSE.
Me personally? I have seen more naked men and women than I ever should have and even with as much as Keily’s song sickens me, what disturbs me more is it has planted yet another seed that I must work to uproot in my own life (cause a lot of house music has a cadence that is so catchy that it’s basically hypnotic—CATCH THAT) and that she appears to have been so poorly mentored herself that dancing around in panties, lying next to a guy that’s naked, singing to young women about drunken sex…seems like entertainment to her rather than visual abuse (abnormal use) of the GIFT of sex.
If you want to check out the link of her “defense” (uh, OK…if you say so Keily), check it out here:
http://www.soulculture.co.uk/blogs/news-blogs/kiely-williams-responds-to-spectacular-video-criticism/
There’s a lot of stuff we engage in without checking out the fine print. There’s a lot of stuff that we cosign on without knowing what we are really getting into…often until it’s too late. Whatever it is you get into, read, hear today…put education ahead of entertainment.
It’s not “fun” if it’s killing you. I assure you of that.