Beauty and the ...Beast?

Last weekend, while the family was sick, there was a lot of TV watching in the Libby household. After the kids were finally all snug in their beds, Dave and I decided to turn on the "boob tube" to see if there was anything worth watching to pass the time for us as it isn't always easy to go to sleep when you are sick. 

There was actually something worth watching.  We were watching Nightline and they were covering a story about purity and about a Purity Ball that takes place in Colorado for fathers and daughters. The story interviewed families whose daughters AND sons had made vows to stay pure until they were married.  The young women were given purity rings by their dads.  Their dads explained to them that until the day they meet their husband, their father would fill that role as well as the Lord.  And these dads would take their daughter to the Purity Ball to celebrate this momentous time in this young women's life.  Dave and I thought it was great to see such a story run on Prime Time television.  I myself had a purity ring as a teenager and gave it to my husband on our wedding day.  I think it's important for our culture to see that morals still matter to many. 

Now,  I am not a tech savvy person as many of you know but I do manage to hold onto a Twitter account.  I am not very good at it but I saw that little hashtag at the bottom of the TV screen and decided I needed to let Nightline know that I appreciated their story.  I went on and tweeted my appreciation and read some other comments as well.  I was appalled at how appalled the viewers were.  I mean, I should not have been surprised by some of the comments.  Having no understanding of what the Bible says about purity would make this story "creepy" or "messed up".    

Yet, despite knowing how our society feels about God and the Bible, I was taken back by the terrible things that were said.  You forget sometimes what a fallen world we live in until you see it in black and white right in front of you.  On one hand, I could count how many comments applauded the story run that night.  I would have needed the feet and hands of 3 football teams to count the rest.  
So. Sad.
  
My heart is saddened by the reality that is our world. Our society takes such a precious relationship between a father and daughter and twists it so that it becomes "abnormal" for a father to care deeply for his daughter.   It becomes "bizarre" for a father to take his daughter on dates so that she can see how she is to be treated.  It becomes "creepy" for a father to take the purity of his daughter seriously.  They take a beautiful thing and turn it into a beast.

Maybe I am getting old since more seems to affect my heart than used to.  Maybe it is because I have 4 little babies that are growing up in a sad world and I am explaining things that should never have be be explained.  Or maybe, our world is simply getting more and more beastly.

And as my heart weighs heavy over these issues, I can only ask myself one question.  "If this is how I feel, how does Jesus feel?"  "How does his heart, more loving than my own, stand to see and watch all that is going on in this world?"  

I can.  Only.  Imagine.
  
But while I am still here on this earth, I will speak up.  I will hashtag by appreciation when right is made known (in fact, Nightline favorited my tweet...probably because it was rare!).  I will take my stance known despite the cultural trends.    Yes, this was only a tweet.  I know what you're thinking, "That was an easy stance."  Maybe so.  But it was a stance nonetheless.  I think it's even those little stands that we take that make a difference in our culture. And when we are brave enough to speak up about the little things and make ourselves available, we will be ready and brave to stand up when the stakes are higher.

Should I ever be surprised when the beast rears his ugly head when something beautiful is being pointed out?  No,  I shouldn't.  
But instead, I should trust Him, love others and take a stand for who He is and what His word says.  

Will you do the same?