Pure Faith: Reflecting Christ. Caring for Kids.

"Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world." James 1.27 NIV

James 1:27 and the Great Commandments
This year, Project 1.27 is again focusing on our foundational verse, James 1:27. The more I’ve studied, the more I see how James 1:27 is a full circle reflection of  Jesus' words in Mark 12. 

Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.

Pure and Faultless Religion
The word religion used in James 1:27 is talking about a deep faith in Christ that moves believers to a life of worship that harmonizes service of the lips with service of life. As believers seek to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength, we grow in our understanding of who God is and our lives overflow in worship that is service of the lips - praising God, thanking God, sharing His Word and testifying of his work in our lives. Our service of words reflects Christ to those around us. 

Look After Orphans and Widows in Distress
Reflecting Christ goes beyond words to the service of life. Reflecting Christ’s love involves close proximity to people in distress. Pure religion is not just about meeting needs, it involves demonstrating God’s love in ways that draw other people to Him. Pure religion reflects hesed love. Hesed describes love that pursues proximity, gives sacrificially, and wraps up all of God’s attributes including lovingkindness, mercy, grace and faithfulness. In James 1:27, Paul calls believers to “look after orphans and widows” as an example of caring for vulnerable people who need the hope and healing hesed love can bring. Our service of life reflects Christ to those around us. 

Keep Oneself from Being Polluted by the World
Sometimes believers read this as avoiding all exposure to evil and sin. Certainly believers should flee from sin, but that doesn’t mean avoiding the messy, painfilled situations that are a result of sin. Pure and faultless religion involves allowing God to purify us into a more accurate reflection of Christ as we fling ourselves into sin’s mess to care for another person. God’s purifying work in messy, painfilled situations reflects Christ to those around us. 

Pure Faith
Project 1.27 offers Faith Class as part of our precertification training for foster and adoptive parents. We focus on scriptures like  Hebrews 11, “Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see.” The goal is to encourage future foster and adoptive parents to consider every fear they have around serving in foster care through the lens of God’s presence. We talk about preparing to serve in foster care through immersion in God’s Word, prayer, a supportive community of believers and other spiritual practices. Future foster and adoptive parents are encouraged to follow David’s example of living out their faith by “running towards the battle.” Over and over, I’ve been blessed to hear stories of how faith in Christ has sustained parents as they walk beside a child struggling with dangerous behaviors, profound grief, and the heart-breaking impact of physical and emotional neglect and abuse. Looking after kids in foster care deepens our faith in ways that reflect Christ to those around us. 

Pure Faith: Reflecting Christ. Caring for Kids. 
Faith is further purified as Christian foster and adoptive parents experience God’s faithfulness in the midst of the messy, seemingly impossible challenges experienced while caring for kids involved in foster care. 

Re-examine James 1:27 within your church community. Let’s challenge each other to a pure faith that reflects Christ and cares for vulnerable people, including kids in foster care. Pure faith will have a ripple effect in our communities, alleviating suffering, rebuilding lives, building trust, offering hope and bringing the light of God’s love into the dark places. Pure faith reflects Christ to those around us. 

Project 1.27 Staff is available to share about Pure Faith and topics around kinship, foster care and adoption in your church, community or support group.

Topics Include

• Pure Faith. Reflecting Christ. Caring for Kids. (James 1:27,  the Great Commandments and Foster Care)
• Fear Not! How Faith Flourishes in Difficult Places
• Loving My Actual Neighbor
• God Came Near (Christmas)
• Seeking Out Goodness: Finding God in Hard Places
• The Foster Journey- Exploring Foster Care Basics
• Everyone Can Do Something - Find Your Fit in Foster Care
• Stepping In to Kinship: Parenting Children from your Extended Family
• 9 Practices to Help Kids from Hard Places Flourish
• 8 Anchors of Resilience for Christian Families
• Trauma-Informed Training for Church Staff and Volunteers

 Email [email protected] for more information.

By Shelly Radic, Executive Director