Now they're talking about throwing old tires down a pipe. That's the latest idea for trying to contain that massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. I've got a few tires they could use.
The authorities are literally scrambling for ways to keep that gunk from destroying wildlife, wiping out fishing industries, polluting beaches and sinking tourism. Potential damage to the environment of this magnitude is no laughing matter. It's cause to mount an all-out, even desperate attempt to stop it. I've turned on the news to find them deploying booms and nets to hold back the oil...setting the water on fire to burn up the oil...lowering a huge dome to contain and siphon off the oil. Oh yeah, and the tires.
At the same time I've been watching this battle against this spreading contamination, I've been reading 2 Corinthians in my Bible. Lo and behold, I came upon this verse about containing pollution...in my soul.
It says, "Since we have these promises, dear friends, let us purify ourselves from everything that contaminates body and spirit, perfecting holiness..." (2 Corinthians 7:1). This call to protect the spiritual environment in your soul is based on "these promises." I looked back at the verses right before this challenge, and I read about who we really are if we belong to Jesus.
"We are the temple of the living God" (2 Corinthians 6:16). You don't drag impure stuff into a temple. And, according to Scripture, my body is the temple where the holy, holy, holy God lives. Then here's an amazing revelation of our true identity in Jesus: "'I will be a Father to you, and you will by My sons and daughters,' says the Lord Almighty" (2 Corinthians 6:18). I am a son of the King of the universe: Royal blood, royal position, and royal responsibilities to live like the man God has made me to be.
So, since God lives in me and calls me his princely son, "Purify yourself from everything that contaminates." I'm thinking of all those workers in the Gulf, pulling out all the stops to keep the pollution from reaching the life and beauty that's in its path. I've got to be that desperately committed to keeping the gunk and glop of sin's contamination out of my eyes, my ears, my hands, and my heart.
I can't see those movies everyone's going to see - not if there's spiritual junk in them. As I'm "remoting" my way through TV channels, there are places I can't stop because of the sin they're portraying or laughing at. I can't listen to the music that rhythmically celebrates or communicates darkness. When someone starts backstabbing or gossiping or criticizing, I've got to walk away. When the humor starts turning questionable, I can't let cleverly packaged sin plant seeds in my soul. I can't afford even a look at the sexually suggestive (or worse) images - or fashions - that, in the Bible's words, "war against your soul" (1 Peter 2:11).
You cannot be God's man or God's woman unless you play fierce defense against the pollution that surrounds you in a sin-contaminated world. "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life" (Proverbs 4:23). You have to fight to keep the junk from seeping onto the beaches in your brain and your heart. If you let it in, it will set the stage for spiritual disaster with a bill too high to pay. Purity is worth the fight, because "blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God!" (Matthew 5:6).