I hate the word. I hate it when we use it to describe someone who we don’t approve of. Who am I talking about here? Specifically, in this case, Miley Cyrus. She’s entered the age where she gets a slice of the Madonna/Whore dichotomy. She’s boring and ditzy if she’s not spreading her legs and such, but if she’s provocative, she’s a total slut, total whore.
The word is spoken with such disgust. Like the person saying it would *never* do anything like that, and it reeks of hypocrisy. Even the Bible made it clear that none of us have the right to cast that stone because none of us are righteous. And people at church? Have you ever committed a sexual sin? Lusted after someone?
Masturbated? Watched porn? Then you really don’t get to speak up and throw your words as stones. Well, you don’t know that I’m not really praying for her, you say. I could be praying for her salvation and calling her a whore. I really doubt you are, though, if all you have to say about her is that she’s a dirty whore.
No honoring words. Just judgment and self-righteousness. Because you’re better than her, right? You’ve made better choices? You’ve never done something stupid or degrading? You’ve never sinned?
Plus, what comes out of your mouth is just an overflow of what’s in your heart. Prayer is heart-language. So if you’re praying for her, praying for the brokenness she feels, for how she can’t win living in a society with a double standard, how she’s not good enough for anyone, including God’s people, no matter what she does, why in the world are you calling her things like whore and slut? You’re praying for her heart to be healed and her eyes to be lifted up to God but you’re throwing the stones that are just knocking her back down in the mud.
Once upon a time I was a good little Christian girl. I never did any of “those” sins, and I never spent time with people that did. Through a series of events, God softened my heart and filled me with love and compassion for the people that I worked with. My “Christian” friends abandoned me, saying I was living on the edge, being a bad example, being a stumbling block to the youth, etc. Then hard times came, and the people that were there for me were the “whores and the sluts”. I was angry at God for the situation, but had no Christian counsel I could trust to help me deal with it. I fell on my face and did things I always said I would never do. Thank God for his grace and mercy, bringing me back to his side.
But looking back, I wouldn’t have changed my mind. I don’t regret the friends that I chose. What if, instead of judging me, my friends had stood with me, and held a lifeline to me when I was walking on the edge? What if people had prayed for me, instead of rejecting me. What if they had come with me, so that I was not trying to stand for Christ alone? Perhaps the lost would have been saved, instead of seeing the church abandon one of its own. I don’t blame anyone for the choices I made, my sin was my own and no others. I am grateful, though, that my pride was smashed into little bits. I am no better than the worst “slut” or “whore” out there, and knowing that, I can truly love them and pray for them.
Thank you for your post, and for standing up for love when others were throwing rocks!
thank you for sharing your story, Melissa. I am grateful my pride was smashed to bits, too. our stories seem kinda similar.