Unpolluted, 2017

Last week in my classes, we memorized James 1:27, one of my favorite verses. It says:
Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.
We do a pretty decent job of the orphans and widows part but the polluted part, well, that's the kicker. Each student was assigned to write a paragraph about the dilemma. These responses tonight are from juniors All are used by permission. Boys in blue, girls in pink.

Being polluted by the world means to go with the trends of the world and put aside the word and instructions God left for us. However, in today’s society, it is harder to stay unpolluted due to social media and television which causes teens and children to become desensitized. From a parent's perspective, they probably do not enjoy the idea of snapchat, instagram, or even the Internet due to the access provided just at the tip of your fingers. God expects us to keep ourselves from being polluted, however, it is now much harder for pretty much everyone.

Sydney

I think that there’s a difference between being polluted by the world and being around the world. We should be experienced in the world so that we know how other people feel and act in their culture. Even if their culture is secular, it shouldn’t be avoided like a taboo to us. Eventually, he will have to deal with people in the world, so it is essential to know how they want to be treated and to act around those people. However, to be polluted by the world takes a different meaning. To be polluted would mean to be changed by it, similar to peer pressure. By being influenced by the world and influenced by it to do things that he know we shouldn’t, that is when we fail.

Lanz

To be polluted by the world, means to not differ from what the world does as to what a Christ follower should do. It is when as a person you start taking in what people do such as listening to bad music, saying bad words, treating people badly, but to be able to not be polluted by the world, you should surround yourself with people who encourage you to be a better person and not people who lead you to wrong doing before the eyes of the Lord. Finding friends who have the same beliefs as you is better than having to find friends and then trying to change their beliefs, because you risk being changed yourself. Overall pollution is being completely overtaken by a world lifestyle.

Gaby

Most people would say “don’t do this and that”, but the ignorance is bliss mindset is unhealthy and will hurt you in the end. My opinion is that once you believe that you are mature enough, get close to the things that will pollute you. Don’t exactly do these things, but understand the harm behind it and use common sense. A lot of sheltered kids when they go out on their own go wild and do the things that they were missing out on because they were not exposed to this.

Sebastian

To be polluted by the world is to allow the world the change your character, and to follow the world’s ways rather than your own. It is extremely difficult to keep yourself from being polluted by the world, but you could start by staying away from people, places, and things that tempt you to sin, but you can’t shield yourself from everything, so we have to remember to channel Jesus through our actions. Parents should slowly allow their child to experience more things, but teach them how to battle them in Godly ways.

Morgan

We want to get closer to other people, get closer to the world, and there are many temptations. We have to keep ourselves from these temptations; we need to know what is good and what is bad. We also need to understand what the consequence will be if we chose to get polluted- if we choose to sin. Today in chapel, Andrew Archer said something that really made me think a lot - “we are humans and we can choose whether to sin or not”.
Euphe
God bless, Steve Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com