Obeying Christ In Contemporary American Culture Part 3

I didn’t watch the Super Bowl this year nor did I see the halftime show until later. I must say I was taken aback by the display of raunchiness and scantily clad women, yet I understand that the show had to appeal to today’s culture. There is much outrage over the airing of this during primetime while children are watching and rightfully so. 

Culture: the characteristic features of everyday existence (such as diversions or a way of life) shared by people

//pop culture

Dr. Michael Brown, Christian Leader and host of the nationally syndicated Line of Fire radio program, asks the question and I agree “Why are we so shocked by the latest sexually charged halftime show?”

But this is just the Super Bowl. What about the music videos that young children have been watching for decades. I doubt that anything that JLo and Shakira did during the Super Bowl is any worse than the normal fare many young Americans have grown up with. No big deal! —Dr. Michael Brown (1)

We didn’t just arrive at this place. The world is driven by the flesh. And in some cases so are Christians. The church has sat back and watched the moral decay and decline of this nation for many years without saying a thing. It tends to pick and choose its outrage depending on its agenda whether political or otherwise.

Our culture today celebrates and idolizes pornography, sexual fantasy and so forth. Cable TV and rap music degrade women all the time with racy scenes and lyrics, yet we applaud and honor those who do so. Scripture says we live in a “warped and crooked generation.” (Philippians 2:15)

I’ve been doing posts on the Book of Romans and recently came across several posts and articles discussing the uproar about the 2020 Super Bowl LIV halftime performance by Shakira and JLo with what Time Magazine describes as a veritable (authentic) army of female dancers. (2)

Throughout human history the fingerprints of God were upon them, yet they refused to honor him as God or even be thankful for his kindness. Instead, they entertained corrupt and foolish thoughts about what God was like. This left them with nothing but misguided hearts, steeped in moral darkness. ²² Although claiming to be super-intelligent, they were in fact shallow fools. ²³ For only a fool would trade the unfading splendor of the immortal God to worship the fading image of other humans, idols made to look like people, animals, birds, and even creeping reptiles!

²⁴ This is why God lifted off his restraining hand and let them have full expression of their sinful and shameful desires. They were given over to moral depravity, dishonoring their bodies by sexual perversion among themselves— Romans 1:21-24

In a nation that does not honor nor fear God as God we should not be surprised by such a display of raunchiness.  

raun·chy

/ˈrôn(t)SHē/

earthy, vulgar, and often sexually explicit.

I like how Dr. Brown puts it.  These two women are just like the rest of us: gifted but fallen human beings in need of redemption.

When man comes to himself he sees evil as a foreign invader that must be driven from the native soils of his life before he can achieve moral and spiritual dignity. —Martin Luther King Jr.

I also applaud those who have spoken out.  But like Dr. Brown, I ask again: why the shock? The show had to appeal to today’s culture.

Change comes by way of inward transformation. As believers, we need to look inwardly to see if we are imitating the ideals and opinions of the culture around us in anyway. If so, we must be inwardly transformed by the Holy Spirit through a total reformation of how we think so that we can have a godly impact on society.

We are in  cultural war for the soul of humanity. We are called to be the “salt of the earth” and “light of the world.” (Matthew 5:13-20) Isaiah 9:2 says, “The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned.”

The time for moral outrage was decades ago, not today. Today is the day for repentance and confession and self-examination. Today is the day to plead for mercy on our fallen and debased culture. —Dr. Michael Brown

What happened during Super Bowl LIV was just the latest manifestation of the moral decline of our society. When will the church wake up? This nation is in need of repentance. We are desperately in need of awakening, reformation, and revival of the church and the nation!

Read Obeying Christ In Contemporary American Culture, Obeying Christ In Contemporary American Culture Pt. 2

Lord, have mercy on us!

Dr. A

Endnotes:

1. Why are we so shocked by the latest sexually charged halftime show?,

2. The Biggest Moments of the Super Bowl 2020 Halftime Show,