Torch, Summer 1995

on line With ,;"~I)+r- President Cedarville College Pursuing A Passion For Purity O n September 18, over 2,400 students who arrive on our campus will see in large letters at the front of our chapel the theme for the 1995-96 academic year: Pursuing a Passion for Purity. Almost everyone in America appears to be concerned about purity. Bob Dole, Bill Clinton, and seemingly every other politician running for office in '96 is sounding the trumpet for family values and personal purity. We only wish it were more of a genuine passion for purity than for a position in government. Churches and Christian families have a major interest in the lack of purity evidenced in our leaders, preachers, parents, and teens. Blame is placed on Washington, our school systems , the entertainment media, and today 's culture in general. These may be contributing factors, but personal purity is exactly that-a personal responsibility. We each make choices that determine success or failure in this vital area. 2 Torch Cedarville and other Christian colleges desire purity for those students in our charge. We must model purity as trustees, administrators, faculty, and staff if we are to achieve our objectives in the lives of these young people. As depraved human beings, we all are impure. Praise God for His salvation and forgiveness through His Son, Jesus Christ. Our pursuit of Him and His pure Word is our only hope for success. There is a danger in thinking that we solve the purity problem as we address the externals in our lives . Externals are important. But the inner man is by far the most important. Jesus rebuked the Pharisees because their entire relationship and service for God revolved around the externals. The same can happen to us. It is far easier to live, teach, and preach Christian living that invokes a list than it is to place the emphasis on the inner man. At Cedarville, we place a major emphasis on the difference between a biblical mandate and an institutional or personal preference. Some things are clearly addressed in Scripture. Other issues are left to our discernment and at times our preferences. We make a major mistake when we equate our preferences with biblical mandates. A balance in this approach is crucial to our pursuit of purity. We need discerning Christians who know how to apply biblical principles to every aspect of life. Pu!'ity involves our whole being– our minds, speech, actions, motives- and our practice of purity develops through a lifelong pursuit of God. Pursuing purity truly is a matter of passion. A wholehearted love for the holy God and his pure Word should permeate every other passion of our lives. "Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word....Thy word is very pure: therefore thy servant loveth it" (Psalm 119:9,140).