A youth worker friend of mine related this story to me: One day while eating at Taco Bell he was joined by one of the students from his youth group. The student excused himself for a moment and reached into the backpack he had been carrying and pulled out a Taco Bell cup and proceeded to go the soda fountain and fill the cup. Judging by the condition of the cup it had been well used and when the student returned he asked him about using the cup. The student explained that he brought the cup into Taco Bell to use it at the all-you-can-drink refill station without having to pay for a new one. When my friend pointed out to him that this would be considered stealing the student quickly rationalized the action by saying that he was doing it to save money for church camp. We laughed about the students’ rationalization, but we’re all guilty of the same thing. In our own lives we often rationalize similar actions and say that they are no big deal.
Purity or the lack of purity reveals itself in almost everything we do. Purity shocks people. It should. It’s a rare quality. But it characterizes the new lifestyle to which Jesus calls those who submit their lives to Him. By God’s standards, purity isn’t foreign; it’s normal.
“Happy are those whose hearts are pure, for they shall see God.” Matthew 5:8
During our Sunday morning class the youth looked at (or will be looking at, depending on when you’re reading this) purity or integrity. Here are some Bible verses you may consider reading on the subject to further discussion with your student: 2 Timothy 2:22, 1 Peter 1:15 and we read in class Acts 5:1-11.
Here are some discussion questions you may want to talk about with your student: Why is it important that journalists and newscasters are truthful? Why are we to conduct ourselves with truth in our lives? What do you need to do in your life to perform “heart surgery” so you will respond in purity?
Again, these are just ideas, maybe you have your own way of talking to your student about their lives and that’s fine too. It’s your involvement as a parent in your student’s life that can make a world of difference.
And as always if you have any questions or concerns or maybe you want to get involved with the youth ministry just let me know.
John “does anyone else want Taco Bell all of the sudden?” Downey
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