Doing: The Other Half of the Battle

Breaking News: Unsupervised boys tend to get into trouble.

Whether you know that as a parent, a teacher, or a (hopefully former) troublemaker, I'm sure it comes as no surprise to you. It is not really breaking news, because you already knew it was true.

As one of my favorite childhood mentors (the legendary GI Joe) used to say, "Knowing is half the battle." However, there's a whole other half to the battle, and that's the "doing" half. Unfortunately, the "doing" half is the part of the battle that we, as a society, are losing. 

Have you ever left a medical appointment with a diagnosis and no treatment plan? It's not a very good feeling. Knowing what ails you without doing something to make it better is very frustrating. Knowing is not enough; you need someone to DO something.

Law enforcement spends a lot of energy investigating, prosecuting, and punishing crimes. They know almost everything about these crimes, but what they do is generally not enough to prevent them. The last thing you want to hear when your car is stolen is, "Happens all the time around here, we'll keep an eye out for it." Again, knowing is not enough; you want someone to DO something.

As believers, we are challenged in James 1:22-25 to "be doers of the word." Knowing is not enough, we must also do. We have to fight the OTHER half of the battle.

So knowing that unsupervised boys tend to get into trouble is not enough. We have to take action and DO something to make a difference. That's why the ChASM Project plans to welcome our first cohort of students in July. We don't just know that unsupervised boys get into trouble, we're DOING something about it!

Why July? July is the month when boys are the most unsupervised and tend to get into trouble. Instead of hanging out on the streets, they will be stepping into a school year that will fundamentally transform the rest of their lives. They will encounter the love of Jesus, have male role models who truly care for them, receive targeted individualized instruction, and be discipled into the strong leaders that God created them to be.

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle. But knowing isn't the whole battle. Knowing alone isn't enough; we must do. I invite you to join me in fighting the OTHER half of the battle by giving to the ChASM Project. Your tax-deductible gift helps us get young men off the streets and into a ChASM classroom, and that makes a difference that lasts a lifetime.