Christian celebrities like Katy Perry and Miley Cyrus have strayed away from the way their parents taught them to go, but at least one rising star is bucking the immorality trend in her teenage years: Duck Dynasty's Sadie Robertson.
Sadie, daughter of Willie and Korie Robertson, is a breath of fresh air and she lets the breeze blow on the masses with her new book, Live Original: How the Duck Commander Teen Keeps it Real and Stays True to Her Values. Sadie's key message boils down to this: Christian values.
“Sadie Robertson represents everything that a well-adjusted teenager should be, even while growing up in the spotlight on Duck Dynasty,” the book marketing blurb reads. “She exhibits poise, respect for her family and friends, and a faith that influences her choices. Everyone wants to know how a family as eclectic as the Robertsons are raising such confident, fun, family-loving kids. With this book, Sadie sheds light on the values instilled by her family that make her the person she is.”
In her book, Sadie outlines a simple list of principles that lead her to personal and spiritual growth and allow the relationships she has with her friends and family to flourish. These values include think happy, be happy, dream big, shake the hate and do something. But the big message teens and young adults everywhere—including backsliding celebrity Christians like Miley Cyrus and Katy Perry—need to hear is Sadie's take on purity.
“People are like, 'It must be easy for you because you're Christian.' That doesn't make it any easier for me,” Sadie, who is also featured on Dancing with the Stars, told US magazine with regard to her 10-month relationship with boyfriend Blake Coward. “It's something a couple really has to decide together.”
That's a stark contrast from Miley Cyrus, who twerked her way into the headlines then proceeded to strip naked, straddle a wrecking ball and suggestively lick a sledgehammer in her video, “Wrecking Ball” last year. Katy Perry empowered the gay agenda with her song, “I Kissed a Girl.” And we're all praying for Nicki Minaj, likely agreeing with her Christian mother that she will turn from immorality to live for Christ and Christ alone.
Sadie Robertson has overcome all these temptations, and I believe she will continue to rise above the immorality. With a grandfather like Phil Robertson telling her boyfriends to “keep it in your pants,” Sadie has surely been taught where to draw the line. In her book, she advises dating teens “to not be home alone, to stay out of each other's bedroom and to pray together before dates.”
Although Sadie's book targets teen girls, her message is relevant for men and women, boys and girls of just about all ages. She told Inside Edition, “Just be confident in the person that God made you.”
I've said it before and I'll say it again—believers are in a war for who will maintain their allegiance: Christ or the world. Will we obey the lust of the eyes, the lust of the flesh and the pride of life? Or will we obey the Word of God and the Spirit of God? Scripture duly warns:
“Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. For all that is in the world—the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—is not of the Father but is of the world. And the world is passing away, and the lust of it; but he who does the will of God abides forever” (1 John 2:15-17, NKJV).
Careful study of Scripture reveals that Jesus and His disciples battled against the spirit of the world, which battled against them. The warnings against the spirit of the world are repetitive. James compelled us to keep ourselves “unstained by the world” (James 1:27, NASB), while Paul warned us not to be “conformed to this world” (Rom. 12:2). John told us, “Do not love the world or the things in the world. If anyone loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him” (1 John 2:15, NKJV), and James clearly stated that a friend of the world makes himself an enemy to God (James 4:4).
My prayer is that Miley, Katy, Nicki and others will be like the prodigal son and return to her Father's embrace. God is just waiting to see her come running over the hill. Let's pray she finds her way home—and let's continue praying for voices like Sadie Robertson who speaks life into a culture of death and lets her light shine in a world of darkness.
Jennifer LeClaire is news editor of Charisma. She is also director of Awakening House of Prayer in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, and author of several books, including The Making of a Prophet and Satan's Deadly Trio: Defeating the Deceptions of Jezebel, Religion and Witchcraft. You can visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.
