“I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” (Galatians 2:20)
As discussed in my previous post, an impacter is one loves sacrificially, is others focused, and is one who serves.
The central question now is how can we as adults teach youth that we serve others not through our own efforts, but through dependence on God and His Holy Spirit living within us. One simple way is to change the language of our curriculum. For example, instead of a nametag saying –
I Am An Impacter –
it might be revised to read
– Impacted, Now Impacting
More important, however, than the language used on a nametag will be the discussions that happen every day between adults and youth regarding the process by which any person is truly able to sacrificially love others. These discussions will center around one of the greatest mysteries of Scripture – Not I, But Christ.
How many Christians will spend their entire lives never knowing what it means to live a life of submission and dependence on Christ? How many will never fully understand the reality they are a new creation as a result of Christ’s resurrection? This is difficult doctrine even for adults. But at the
Recently, during the fourth day of City Impact’s summer Teen Job Club program for 7th & 8th graders, I asked the students what percentage of the actions and talk among youth at their school reflected kindness. The answer was about 10%. When I asked them what percentage of the actions and talk among youth at their school reflected sacrificial love, the answer was less than 1%.
The need to help our nation’s young people become focused on caring for one another is great. The challenge in developing materials and programs to help accomplish this purpose is even greater. At City Impact, using our strengths to sacrificially love one another is slowly becoming a part of our DNA and an attitude that infects everything we do.
