MileyHave you kept up with all of the media coverage and blog postings about Miley Cyrus and her Video Music Awards performance? There have been people raking her over the coals for what she did while others want to sit down and talk to her and pray for her. Her name and her performance have drawn more coverage in cyberspace than anything I’ve seen lately.

I have a question for you.  If you didn’t see it live, did you click a  links on a newsfeed or in a blog posting and watch it? Did curiosity get the best of you after all of the conversation about the performance? Did you watch it live? Once you saw the performance heading in an inappropriate direction, did you continue to watch it?

It is very easy for people to point their fingers at Miley Cyrus and talk about how horrible she is, how far she’s fallen or what a disgrace she is, but if people didn’t watch it, talk about it, and sensationalize it, it would stop. We are not responsible for what Miley Cyrus does, but we are responsible for what we do. What are we focusing our attention on?

Philippians 4:8 says,

Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.”

We are responsible for where we focus our attention, not the source of those thoughts or sights. We’re responsible for where our mind goes.  How many people continued to watch after the first few seconds rather than turning the channel? How many exposed their children to the performance and then slammed Miley for doing it? Was the remote control in the house broken? Did the off switch on the television cease to work?

Proverbs 12:8 says,

Reckless words pierce like a sword, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.”

How many of us would want the things said about us that have been said about Miley Cyrus? Have we been caught up in the firing squad, shooting our own arrows her way or have we chosen to speak life? That old saying our mothers used to say is more than just an old saying; it’s Biblically based.

If you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.

There is only one person responsible for what Miley Cyrus did on the VMAs and that’s Miley Cyrus, but we’re responsible for what we viewed, what we’ve meditated on, what we exposed our children to and what we’ve talked about.

There’s another old saying that goes like this, When you point a finger at someone else, you’re pointing three more at yourself. I think the premise of the saying comes from Matthew 7:3-5,

And why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.”

It would be easy to point out Miley’s mistakes in her performance on the Video Music Awards, but we would be better served focusing our attention on becoming more like Christ than pointing out how someone else isn’t.