Impact's goal

What is High impact’s goal?

How do we judge the effectiveness of a student ministry, or any ministry at all?
What would be the best thing to do with the time that I have been given to invest in this ministry?
What kind of change do I want to see in those in the ministry?
What does God’s word say is the means by which change takes place?
Is Impact doing what it was intended to do? What was it intended to do?

These are questions I have been wrestling with for the past year and a half or so. For lots of years in youth ministry I have gone through tons of different models of ministry, lots of different ways to reach kids, to spend time with kids, to get kids excited about ministry. But what way is the right way, and how do we know if we are being effective?

Many youth leaders today are in a panic. Things do not look good. Ministries face one of two problems- first, they are either simply struggling to get kids to want to come out, seeing that methods that worked in the past (big games, exciting events) just are not drawing the same kinds of numbers as they once did. Others face another problem. They have tweaked things enough to still get the numbers, but the drop off rate after graduation is horrifying. Statistics show anywhere from 60-80 percent are not involved five years after they graduate. Many youth leaders lament that their ministry is not producing the next generation of spiritual leaders, but a generation of those who have “been there and done that”, and want nothing more to do with the faith.
And, as any good leader would do, when things are not going well, just like the rest of us, they panic. And they go into “fix it” mode. What can we do to make kids come back out? How can we get them to stick around? Who is doing things in such a way that the kids are sticking around? How can we copy them?
Some just give up and ask “What do the kids want?” And they just give them that. There has been a huge movement toward a new model of Christianity called the “emergent” model in many youth ministries. Indeed, the very “voice” of youth ministry, “Youth Specialties” a publisher and leader in American youth group ministry, has sold out completely to this model where truth is not discussed. We share out stories, go out and do good things, lots of social activism, and provide a loving community for students. We can tell our story about who god is to us, but we can not say we know the truth for sure, or that it is right for anyone else. Kids love it.
Others are disbanding youth ministries all together. Is it even biblical?

So what should we do?
We would like to take a hard look at what the bible says about how people change, and then build a model of ministry based on what the Word says.
We realize that we can not judge our ministry by number of conversions, or even strength or maturity of believers. While a ministry that constantly produces problems certainly needs to be examined, we have to acknowledge that we are not the ones that produce heart change, and so we can not use heart change as a gauge of how well we are doing. Our job is to do what God says we are to do to be a part of His work in changing people.
What does that look like? What is our part?
Our job is to model, to teach, to love, and to serve. We need to ask how well we are doing those things. To that end, we can acknowledge that our goal – our real, do-able, measurable goal, is to become a community of students, leaders and parents where a passion for the supremacy of Jesus Christ can be caught and lived out in every sphere of life.

In other words, when we ask the question “how does change come about”, our answer is
18 And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another. For this comes from the Lord who is the Spirit.2 Co 3:18

We are transformed as we behold glory, we are changed by God as we see who He is, and we see this chiefly through the gospel. We want to show off God, let students see how valuable He is to us and why, and the what life looks like when you see God as valuable.

So we ask the question, “what would happen if a community of leaders, parents, and students began to model lives that are all about showing off how wonderful Jesus is, where Jesus was supreme in our affections, in our obedience, in our desires? What if we taught the gospel to students, and then lived in response to the gospel, in front of students?” To do this would provide a wonderful picture of God’s importance and worth, his beauty and glory. It would show students what it looks like to live out their faith in all spheres of their lives. It would provide a place where students who are lost could come and see a people who live with a hope that they do not have, and who lovingly invite them to join them in placing their hope in Christ.
This does not mean that we would only teach the “ABC’s” of the gospel each week. What it means is that as we teach through God’s Word, and come across relevant passages to students and discuss various topics that the Word leads us to, we will emphasize how it all relates to the gospel. What it means is that we will try and show by how we live how Christ can be the center of all that God calls us to do.

Now notice that this is a community of leaders, students, and parents. This is essential to see. As we will talk about shortly, you play a crucial role in modeling this to your children. And we have to face the fact that we have failed to equip you to do this, and encourage and support you in the process. That is one of the big things we want to change about our ministry. We are to build a community that models a passion for the supremacy of Christ in all things, but the major component of that community is you.

So again, our goal- to become a community of students, leaders and parents where a passion for the supremacy of Jesus Christ can be caught and lived out in every sphere of life.