Episode 2 - Wynonna Judd

Today's episode was about Wynonna Judd. I wasn't sure what to expect, since the teaser about the Judd's appearing on the show in the past seemed to include all sorts of drama and public airing of private family secrets.

Right off the bat the focus was on Wynonna's weight. That's great for her that she lost weight, but it reminds me of a trend I've noticed with Oprah: she consistently talks about how our inner selves are where we need to find peace, but she's so focused on the outer self. She's always obsessing over her own body, and this is something she's very vocal about towards others. On the repeat shown last Friday, she was consistently commenting on how good Jada Pinkett looked; today she was quick to jump on Wynonna about having lost weight.

Here's the rub: I have written a lot on my personal blog about the subject of weight. I myself have always struggled with obesity, weight, and body image. I'm ok with rejoicing with someone who has lost weight because I totally get it. That said, we can still love and celebrate and be excited about Wynonna even if she hadn't lost almost 60 pounds. It's hard to explain, but I feel like the very excitement Oprah has when someone's been "good" and lost weight and the tough love "how are we going to stop being bad"--most notably with herself, but also with others--perpetuates this idea that our worth is wrapped up in our body and if we're marching down the scale or up it. She was so hard on herself when she went back over 200 pounds recently, and think about it--if she's so awful for weighing over 200, what about the person who weighs 250? 300? 350? More? Does our worth diminish in a direct ratio to how much we weigh? How Oprah handles people's weight often just makes me feel sad and kind of icky.

Caveat: I loved Wynonna's crack about getting back to her original weight of 8 lbs 15 oz. Hilarity!

The truth is, Jesus wants us to steward our bodies well.

So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

                        I Corinthians 10:31

You can read my personal blog for many more thoughts on this subject, and I'll aim for brevity here, but Jesus doesn't care if we're being "good" or "bad" and trying to get skinny or lazily getting fatter two-thirds of a pack of Oreos at at time. Jesus looks at our heart, and we can diet and exercise, manipulate and control ourselves into a smaller dress size and our heart can be just as sinful as if we were laying on the couch eating three Hot Pockets washed down with a 20 oz Pepsi every afternoon. God cares that if we're eating well, it's to glorify Him and not because we're chasing after the lie that our worth is directly proportional to our thigh circumference. God cares that if we're exercising it's because we see our body as a gift from Him, on loan and meant to be well taken care of while we are living in it, and not so that we can make men lust after us and women jealous.

Back to the show: I thought it was interesting to hear Wynonna talk about how she had to spend time with God and put herself back on the list in order to lose weight. Now, I don't know exactly what that means, but it did convict me a little. I hate the message on The Biggest Loser about how if you just love yourself enough you'll take care of yourself, and people get fat because they're so selflessly helping everyone else that they lose track of themselves and treat themselves poorly by eating poorly.

I'm not sure if that's what Wynonna meant, but I have to boldly just state that you don't eat the kinds of things that make you morbidly obese out of a selfless and good heart. You don't! Yes, there can be a time component, that you spent so much time taking care of your family that you didn't get in a workout or make a healthy dinner, but even that isn't just not loving yourself. If you feed your family junk you weren't loving them all that well, either, and none of us begrudgingly eat horrible foods! We eat them because they taste good, and it's just as simple and quick to grab an orange or some carrot sticks and hummus as it is to grab a cookie or some chips and dip. There is inherent selfishness involved and it's just as selfish to say that now you only will focus on yourself until you have a hot body and then you'll fit your family back in. REJECT this.

Ok, end rant. So much for brevity!

Here's my point: I started to roll my eyes (figuratively) and write Wynonna and Oprah off at this point. But then I realized that there is an element of truth here. Maybe Wynonna meant tit for tat the exact Biggest Loser message, but maybe she didn't. I will argue that it's still selfish, typically motivated by trying to please others and / or living out of a need to define your own worth by what you do, but there's something to be said for not taking care of yourself because you get wrapped up in everyone else. I think it's still a willful decision, and it's coming from just as sinful of a heart as the person who downright refuses to do anything for anyone else, but there's an element of truth in needing to prioritize yourself if you have let your life get so caught up in everyone else that you are just lost in the mess.

However, the thing to redeem here is it's not about getting you on the list--it's about getting with God and seeking how to honor Him in setting your priorities because, again, we are Biblically commanded to steward our bodies well. For example, yes, I honor God by keeping our home inviting and clean for our community group to meet here every week, and by planning / shopping for / cooking good meals for my husband, keeping our finances up to date and within the budget my husband and I set, earning extra cash by doing transcription, serving others through the various ways I volunteer for my church, loving people in relationships, and serving God by utilizing my love and gift for writing on this blog, my personal blog, and for my church.

Yes, I am called to do all of those things. However, I can't get so caught up in them that I never exercise and make my husband good healthy food while shoving unhealthy foods down my gullet. Everything--everything--I do must be for the glory of God and worshiping God in all I do means that I do prioritize my personal time with God, my exercise, and time to prepare healthy foods for myself in the midst of everything else that I do.

It seemed like this is what Wynonna meant, and she did refer to Jesus later on, so I hope that she does know Jesus and His truth and that God is not a vague spiritual force. Finding our worth in who the God of the Bible says we are--His, bought with Jesus' precious blood--is the only way to find peace and joy, and to live to honor God out of that is how we can then prioritize life so that we love Him and honor Him by how we steward everything from our bodies to our money to our time to how we love and treat others.

Phew! That was a lot, so I'll try to only hit on highlights from here.

Sidenote: Interesting little catchphrase, that alone should be seen as "all one" with God. Interesting.

It sounds absolutely awful that Wynonna has had to live through not just a husband committing adultery, but that he molested a child that the family knew and loved. I cannot imagine that, and pray that she is finding her peace in Jesus Christ. I pray for her ex-husband's soul, because the wrath of God against someone who harms a child is not something I would wish on anyone. As a survivor of sexual abuse, my heart aches for that child and I pray that they are finding healing in Christ as well.

Now that Naomi, mama Judd, is coming out, Oprah is once again quick to jump on how good she looks. My original argument about Oprah still being too caught up in body image stands. I am committing to pray for her on this specific point. Ultimately, I pray she would know Jesus, but the anguish that must be in her soul as she grasps at the air for worth yet is so lied to about how her struggle with weight demeans that worth is just haunting to me!

Something I love about Oprah is that I absolutely believe her when she says that she wants to be totally present and maximize every moment of her 130 shows in this final season. She cares that she does her very best, doesn't waste a show by just "getting through", or focus on what comes next when this is all over, but being here and present in the moment. A recent sermon at church was called Redeeming Greatness, and it was all about how we should be inspired by greatness and aspire to be great. It's for Jesus' glory, yes, but it's good and ok to want to be the very best you can be. Jesus was great and wants us to be great and use the gifts and talents He has given us! Oprah is someone we can respect in this regard. She works hard, intentionally does the very best she can at everything she does, and has excelled and experienced great success and she seems to really love what she does. This should inspire us to be great at what God has called us to do!

I don't have a ton to say about it, other than oh my wow! The Judd's farm is so incredibly gorgeous and, though I'm a city girl, I sure wouldn't whine if they offered to build me a house on their property!

What Ashley is doing is amazing, though it was interesting to see Wynonna's sense of sibling rivalry. Pointing out that she'll go to the Congo someday, that Ashley can save the world because she doesn't have kids, that she "cleaned out her closet" after Naomi talked about Ashley meeting with the president of Rwanda for 3 1/2 hours trying to end female genital mutliation... it was comical but seemed to belie ongoing issues in her heart. I hope she realizes that "standing behind the cross", as she said, means that her duty is merely to focus on what Jesus has put before her and doing it well for His glory. If she doesn't revolutionize Africa that's ok.

I loved the song at the end. It's so moving to see the images of the so many ways Oprah and her show has changed lives, from helping dying children to bringing fathers home from war to their families to building houses for people. I love all of the ways she seeks to use her wealth and influence to help people. I just pray that she'll know Jesus and do it for Him so that when she stands before Him she'll hear "Well done, my good and faithful servant" and not, in spite of the multitude of good things she did on earth for humanity, "Depart from Me, for I never knew you."

I'm really looking forward to tomorrow's show, about AIDS, and so far really enjoying this Oprah journey!