Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Carrie Prejean and I Corinthians 6:19-20

It came out in the news yesterday that Carrie Prejean, Miss California and runner-up in the Miss USA contest, had previously posed for naked and/or near-naked photos. She issued a statement regarding this; two paragraphs are copied below.

"My comments defending traditional marriage have led to intimidation tactics that seek to undermine my reputation and somehow silence me and my beliefs, as if opinion is only a one-way street," says Prejean.

"I am a Christian, and I am a model. Models pose for pictures, including lingerie and swimwear photos. Recently, photos taken of me as a teenager have been released surreptitiously to a tabloid website that openly mocks me for my Christian faith."

Let us examine these issues one at a time.

First, her courage to publicly say that she does not support gay marriage was commendable, especially considering that she sacrificed something she wanted in the process. Yet no one—and certainly not a Christian—should be surprised when the ungodly world attacks a Christian who stands up for what is right.

The Bible teaches clearly and repeatedly that marriage is between one man and one woman, until parted by death; that all sex outside of marriage is sin; and that homosexuality, in particular, is an abomination (probably the strongest biblical word for sin) to God. Those of us who believe the Bible accept these things, as well as the fact that we must love those who sin. Those who hate the Bible also tend to hate those who love the Bible and the God Who authored it.

To address the second paragraph, let us first look at I Corinthians 6:19-20:
"What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's."
Carrie has made a serious biblical mistake. The emphasized words above point out that her body, beautiful though it may be, is not hers to parade publicly—it is God's, to be used for His glory.

It is taught throughout the Bible that modesty is a virtue, and that to be immodest and provoke lust in the mind of another is sin. I heard on the radio this morning that the first released photo of Carrie, wearing nearly nothing, was getting thousands of web hits every second. Thousands of men—if not millions—are going to lust after her body because...she allowed them to. God is not pleased when a Christian flagrantly disobeys Him, nor is He pleased when a Christian seeks to rationalize or justify his or her sinful disobedience.

Naturally, those who hate Carrie are going to crow about her hypocrisy—You claim to be a Christian, yet you do this!—and, sadly, their observation is correct. David was rebuked in II Samuel 12:1-14 because not only did he take his friend's wife, and arrange for his friend's death, but also because "thou hast given great occasion to the enemies of the Lord to blaspheme."

I believe that Carrie's biblical responsibility now includes the following:
  • To repent of her sin of immodesty
  • To publicly apologize for allowing herself to be photographed in this manner
  • To humbly resign from her position as Miss California
  • Going forward, to exemplify the life of a Christian
That last item can still include promotion of biblical marriage and exemplification of modesty and beauty. And I hope it does.

1 comment:

Brenda Brough said...

I hope that someday we might hear Carrie's entire testimony. Though I certainly do not applaude her choices when she was a teenager, it seems to me that she just might be trying to leave those days behind. Mind you, not entirely convinced of this since she was just running in a BEAUTY pageant which focuses on the outward appearance and the parading of it. But in her defense (although somewhat cautiously) I'm assuming she had those photos made before she was a Christian. Again, not entirely convinced yet as I've not heard her testimony, but let's suppose. So now she is on the world's stage entirely clothed and speaking out the truth about marriage. Of course the devil wants this kind of talk squelched and many of her opponents immediately began digging around to find any mud they could start slinging around to distract from what she was saying. And it's working. I would really like to see her stay in the ring and be able to shout from the rooftops that marriage is between one man and one woman, and that the rest of our nation could also support her new message and let the ghosts of her past stay in her past. It's a terrific example though of how sinful choices made when we are young, albeit we allow the Lord to change our lives, will always follow us and we'll always have to face the consequences of those choices.