James 1:27: The Second Half

This past Sunday, Pastor Tony preached a message that was one of the most compelling I've ever heard, challenging us to live beyond ourselves and to reach out to the lost and hurting people all around us with the love of Christ. While the entire message was an excellent call to action, the Lord used one verse yet again to drive me to keep pursuing His Truth:

James 1:27 "Pure and genuine religion in the sight of God the Father means caring for orphans and widows in their distress and refusing to let the world corrupt you."

As we've mentioned on our blog and in talking with many of you, James 1:27 was the verse of Scripture that first compelled us to action in the area of adoption. While I've had this verse sealed in my heart for several years now as my call to act, I've always been just a little puzzled by the second half of the verse--often just stopping at the word "distress" and leaving off the end. How does caring for orphans and widows have anything to do with refusing to let the world corrupt you? Surely these are two separate thoughts that just happen to be together.

Or are they separate? God is teaching me that they're not. Here is what He's shown me this week:

Our culture's view of children: Without getting too deep into political and cultural battles, I will simply say that our culture often views children as a nuisance, a hindrance to getting ahead in life, and a "nice thing to do" if you are a happy couple looking for completion. But don't dare have more than two of them or you're really pushing what's acceptable, especially since the earth is so rapidly becoming "overpopulated." And, of course, if the timing is inconvenient and an "accidental" pregnancy occurs, just take care of the problem. No harm done (a tragic lie from Satan!).

God's view of children: "So God created human beings in his own image...then God blessed them and said, 'Be fruitful and multiply. Fill the earth and govern it'" (Gen. 1:27-28). "Children are a gift from the LORD; they are a reward from him. Children born to a young man are like arrows in a warrior’s hands" (Psalm 127:3-4). Clearly there is a stark contrast between what our culture says about children and what God says about children. Culturally, they are often an inconvenience. To God, they are a significant blessing!

Our culture's view of widows: Let's assume this refers to elderly widows. Unfortunately, our culture is  leaning toward viewing the lives of the elderly as holding less value than the lives of those in their twenties and thirties in the "prime" of life. Certainly many still "respect their elders," but there is a disturbing trend in society that points to those in retirement years as having less value than those further behind in life experience. Let's use our time, effort, and money to better the lives of those in their "peak" stages of life.

God's view of widows: "Gray hair is a crown of glory; it is gained by living a godly life." (Proverbs 16:31) "The glory of the young is their strength; the gray hair of experience is the splendor of the old." (Proverbs 20:29) "Father to the fatherless, defender of widows— this is God, whose dwelling is holy." (Psalm 68:5) Again, we see a strong contrast between the way our culture is heading versus how God sees those who have served Him for many years. Culture sees a weak person lacking strength (and therefore value); God sees splendor and a crown of glory.

Now back to James 1:27 "...refusing to let the world corrupt you." Do you see the connection in the verse now? James calls us to take care of orphans and widows in their distress while refusing to let the world corrupt us. "The world" (our culture) tries to tell us that both orphans (children in general) and widows (elderly in general) are insignificant. From a naturalistic worldview, orphans and widows are weak, useless, and therefore lacking in value to society. As we pursue "pure and genuine religion" in caring for orphans and widows in their distress, may we never allow the world to corrupt our minds from seeing God's beautiful creation of humans--ALL humans--young, old, fatherless, and widowed, and from doing everything we can to care for each of them as God's treasured children.