Focus on the Family’s Chad Hills is concerned about Justin Bieber. Reacting to Bieber’s interview with Rolling Stone, where the singer discussed issues from abortion to abstinence and healthcare, the Focus on the Family spokesman is nervous that Bieber didn’t embrace the abstinence-only-until-marriage stance heavily promoted by Focus. Hills thinks that his manager, the “crude and sexually explicit R&B icon” Usher, may be corrupting the 16 year old singer. “Justin is already being asked – and criticized – for his political beliefs,” writes Hills, who goes on to criticize Bieber for his views on abstinence, “when he probably can’t even tell you why he ate waffles for breakfast.” He asks readers to pray for Bieber, whose movie is being marketed to evangelical Christians, from “being swept directly into the center of the extremely profane, hyper-sexualized, violent and self-indulgent culture of R&B.” Hills writes:
The secular music and entertainment industry is a sexual and political minefield for adult artists, much less for kids. Justin is already being asked – and criticized – for his political beliefs, when he probably can’t even tell you why he ate waffles for breakfast.
Bieber’s only a kid, and he’s being swept directly into the center of the extremely profane, hyper-sexualized, violent and self-indulgent culture of R&B. Moreover, Justin’s being “mentored” by the very crude and sexually explicit R&B icon, Usher.
The Bible warns us in 1 Cor. 15:33, “Do not be misled: ‘Bad company corrupts good character.’” Temptation is an ever-present force when people are in the spotlight.
What can you do? Pray hard for these people. Because, as Miley Cyrus and others have discovered, it’s much more difficult to keep your faith in the limelight.
Being young and famous does not destine you to moral failure, but it does mean you need to know where you stand – before you take the stand. NFL football star, Tim Tebow, is proof that it can be done.
Whether or not you like Bieber or R&B-style music, I know Justin’s mother is concerned. And she’s praying for her son’s protection. Shouldn’t we do the same?
