Leadership: Purity
Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore, the world does not know us, because it did not know Him. Beloved, now we are children of God; and it has not yet been revealed what we shall be, but we know that when He is revealed, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him as He is. And everyone who has this hope in Him purifies himself, just as He is pure.*
1 John 3:1-3 (NKJV)
Don't confuse purity with prudishness. One describes FREEDOM, and the other? PRIDE!
Because purity is 'freedom from adulterating matter,' while prudishness is 'excessively proper.' **
What does “adulterous matter” include?
Things that pollute our hearts, minds, or bodies, like junk food, intoxicants, voyeurism, conspiracies, or immorality.
Things that separate us from our Father, like willful sin, deceit, self-indulgence, harmful friendships, and following the world.
The Apostle Paul strived for purity: 'Let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us' (Hebrews 12:1).
The Apostle John details the process: 'But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the Blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin' (1 John 1:7).
Actors, models, and talent for Christ:
Staying “pure” in an impure industry seems daring, daunting– even dangerous. It's easy to focus on the danger but forget our assigned destination: the one that says 'Go into all the world' (Mark 16:15).
How better to go than through media?
Our “Go-Get-Em God” gives His modern-day high-steppers a “go-get-em” commission in an era of instant messaging.
(Back then, He assigned Paul, John, and others leading roles in His new church recruitment: to broadcast life-changing revelations.)
Today, He's trusted you with leading roles in Earth’s most influential mission fields of film, fashion, music, and theatre: to broadcast life-changing revelations.
'You yourselves are our letter, written on our hearts, known and read by everyone. You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts' (2 Corinthians 3:2-3).
Staying pure isn’t prudish. It’s POWER!
Leadership: Purity (Part 15)
* 'Here is the most mystical teacher of the New Testament insisting on plain morality as vehemently as his friend James could have done. The combination is very remarkable. Like the eagle he rises, and like the eagle, with the impetus gained from his height, he drops right down on the earth beneath!'
'And that is not only a characteristic of St. John's teaching, but it is a characteristic of all the New Testament morality--its highest revelations are intensely practical. Its light is at once set to work, like the sunshine that comes ninety millions of miles in order to make the little daisies open their crimson-tipped petals; so the profoundest things that the Bible has to say are said to you and me, not that we may know only, but that knowing we may do, and do because we are' (McLaren's Expositions on 1 John 3:3). http://biblehub.com/commentaries/1_john/3-3.htm
** https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/purity
** https://www.dictionary.com/browse/prudish
NOTE: God is my Ghostwriter. If what I write is good, it’s from God! We’re ALL called to be actors (action stars) for Jesus. We’re ALL called to models of Jesus, and we ALL have gifts, talents, and callings from God– to multiply them in the world for His glory.
P.S. NO DEVOTION, PREACHER, or SERMON… can begin to replace personal time in the Bible. I wholeheartedly and clear-headedly recommend READING THE BIBLE DAILY.
WARNING: Don’t focus on favorite verses, because out of context, they’re often misinterpreted. I plead with you to READ AT LEAST 1 BIBLE CHAPTER DAILY. How long does it take? An average of 5 to 10 minutes!