Miley Cyrus was born in 1992 to Billy Ray Cyrus and Tish Cyrus. She grew up on her family's farm near Franklin, Tennessee. She lived on the farm until she was about 14 years old.
Miley was raised in a Christian household and was baptized in a Southern Baptist Church. She attended church faithfully and wore a purity ring.
Her personal pilot said the young star had a sincere faith and moral convictions. He felt confident she would not trade her character for fame.
Miley left the farm and grew into a celebrity in television, movies, and music. She catapulted into stardom with her performance on the television show Hannah Montana.
As Miley grew into stardom she began to pull away from her Christian roots. Her first step of departure was when she stopped attending church. She has stated that she left the church because her gay friends were not being accepted and were forced to undergo conversion therapy.
As Miley slipped farther and farther away from church, she also began to walk away from the faith. Her performances turned raunchy and risque as she grew older.
You can see from the following statements how she has abandoned the faith.
She shared a photo on Twitter with a quote that says "You are all stardust. You couldn't be here if stars hadn't exploded. So forget Jesus. Stars died so you could live."
She recently said "God is a gay man. If you don't believe me look at the length of his hair."
"I'm allowed to decide what my relationship is with spirituality as an adult, that doesn't have to be aligned with the way that it was when I was brought up".
(referring to Noah's Ark) "That's [expletive] insane. We've outgrown
that fairy tale, like we've outgrown [expletive] Santa and the tooth
fairy."
"I am literally open to every single thing that is consenting and
doesn't involve an animal and everyone is of age. Everything that's
legal, I'm down with. Yo, I'm down with any adult—anyone over the age
of 18 who is down to love me. I don't relate to being boy or girl, and I
don't have to have my partner relate to boy or girl."
"I love my parents, but they are conservative [expletive] mother [expletive]."
In my book "Fertile Soil..See Kids' Faith Grow and Flourish for a Lifetime" (order here) I share the three big reasons why kids grow up and walk away from the faith.
- 25% walk away because they have grown disillusioned with the church.
- 50% walk away because they don't believe in the Bible or God anymore.
- 25% walk away because they say they are too busy.
I think Miley falls into the group that has grown disillusioned with the church. This is reflected in her "LGBPTQ" views and and not being able to reconcile that with the conservative beliefs of the churches she was part of as a child.
I think Miley obviously also falls into the category that doesn't believe any more. Her views of God and the Bible are way off course.
I think Miley also falls into the category of being too busy. The lure of fame and fortune has taken over her life and left little to no time for God.
Miley is a snapshot of the many, many young adults who grew up in church but have now walked away.
Our prayers are with these grown up kids who have wondered away. I pray that God will draw them back to His side. We know that the prodigals are on the heart of God and should be on our hearts as well. No matter how far away they may be, He is longing for them to come home. He is a God of abundant grace and hasn't given up on them and neither should we.
In my book "Fertile Soil...See Kids' Faith Grow and Flourish for a Lifetime" (order it here) I share how we can create Fertile Soil. I share the ingredients we need to place in the soil to make it fertile. I believe when kids are planted in fertile soil, they can grow up to love and follow Jesus for a lifetime.
Will you join me in praying for Miley? I don't think God has given up on her and neither should we. Pray she and the other prodigals will come home to Jesus.
