Self-Righteous Apologies and Miley Cyrus…

If you pay any attention to the news, you’ve probably heard about some of the “scandals” involving Miley Cyrus.

Well last night, she hosted SNL and took time in the opening monologue to address them.

Now, I don’t know anyone who commanded Miley to make an “apology”, but what she did is fairly typical.  In fact, I think you can even tell the audience is rather uncomfortable because it seems like she is trying a bit too hard to make herself look not so bad.

Notably she does two things:

1. Tries to minimize her sin by comparing to what she wants to point to as bigger sins.

–Hers isn’t so bad because look, Charlie Sheen/Lindsay Lohan/Tiger Woods/anyone else has done worse!  This is kind of the opposite (but similar thing) when you talk to someone about something bad happening in your life and they say, “Thats ok, (fill in the blank) happened to me.”  They are trying to say that your situation is ok because something they judge as worse happened to them.  While theirs might be worse, it doesn’t make your situation ok!  Doing this with sins committed against us is just as bad as doing so with sins we commit ourselves.

2. Only apologizes for” not being perfect” as opposed to specific behaviors.

–It is less an admission of guilt of sin and more making an excuse.  Miley would have us believe that she sins because she isn’t perfect, but rather scripture shows us that we aren’t perfect because we sin. Thats what’s going on in Genesis 3.  God had made everything “good” then Adam and Eve sinned and brought death into the world, and through Adam we all inherit that sinful nature (Romans 5:12).

However, as I was planning on writing this, I was thinking of all the ways to take Miley down a peg for her immaturity, lack of taking responsibility, and for her yodel-style singing on the show, but then I felt convicted.  It’s easy to look at how other people wrongly handle confrontation about their sin but how often do we do the exact same thing?!?

It strikes our flesh to want to take responsibility for our sin so much that any confrontation from someone about it generally ends with us responding in several ways.  Pastor Mark Driscoll talks about them here:

Look at how even Nathan confronted David regarding his sin with Bathsheba:

Nathan Rebukes David

And the LORD sent Nathan to David. He came to him and said to him, ”There were two men in a certain city, the one rich and the other poor. The rich man had very many flocks and herds, but the poor man had nothing but one little ewe lamb, which he had bought. And he brought it up, and it grew up with him and with his children. It used to eat of his morsel and drink from his cup and lie in his arms, and it was like a daughter to him. Now there came a traveler to the rich man, and he was unwilling to take one of his own flock or herd to prepare for the guest who had come to him, but he took the poor man’s lamb and prepared it for the man who had come to him.” Then David’s anger was greatly kindled against the man, and he said to Nathan, “As the LORD lives, the man who has done this deserves to die, and he shall restore the lamb fourfold, because he did this thing, and because he had no pity.”

Nathan said to David, “You are the man! Thus says the LORD, the God of Israel, ’I anointed you king over Israel, and I delivered you out of the hand of Saul. And I gave you your master’s house and your master’s wives into your arms and gave you the house of Israel and of Judah. And if this were too little, I would add to you as much more. Why have you despised the word of the LORD, to do what is evil in his sight? You have struck down Uriah the Hittite with the sword and have taken his wife to be your wife and have killed him with the sword of the Ammonites. Now therefore the sword shall never depart from your house, because you have despised me and have taken the wife of Uriah the Hittite to be your wife.’ Thus says the LORD, ‘Behold, I will raise up evil against you out of your own house. And I will take your wives before your eyes and give them to your neighbor, and he shall lie with your wives in the sight of this sun. For you did it secretly, but I will do this thing before all Israel and before the sun.’”  David said to Nathan, ”I have sinned against the LORD.” And Nathan said to David, ”The LORD also has put away your sin; you shall not die. Nevertheless, because by this deed you have utterly scorned the LORD, the child who is born to you shall die.” Then Nathan went to his house.

2 Samuel 12 1:15

Even David needed to have a hypothetical given to him so he couldn’t then deny his own sin! Certainly its no stretch to believe it takes us quite a bit before we’re willing to give in and admit it isn’t someone else’s fault and that it is a big deal.

When we refuse to acknowledge our sin we are denying the  work of Christ in the Gospel.  Jesus died to save us from our sins, not for us to deny them.

So use this recent Miley Cyrus fiasco as a teaching moment for your kids, friends orwhoever but also use it as a time to remind yourself and to seek humility so when someone confronts you about sin you might listen with an open heart.