One thing I’ve learned from being at Impact 360 Fellows is that there is never a week wasted when it comes to our academics. The intentionality of the books assigned to us and the classes we take are truly stellar. Every week is full of rich, useful topics to equip us more to become active, knowledgeable Christians as the Lord leads us!
The past two weeks at Impact have been specifically focused on Ethical Philosophy. We have been learning about how our moral frameworks truly do shape the way we think, discern, and live as Christians. With amazing professors such as Matt Dee and guest professor Scott Rae, we learned about Christian ethical systems as well as how to rightly apply those to particular topics in the world today. Over the past couple of weeks, I have begun to see how a Christian worldview truly does affect all areas of thinking, especially when it comes to ethics.
Diving into deep philosophical topics and conversations has never really been the easiest for my brain, but man, has it been so beneficial. I love thinking about how creatively and intelligently the Lord created this universe. From the smallest things (like cookies with a cold glass of milk) to the biggest things (like the way marriage reflects His relation to the church). Though I especially gained a lot from learning this week about how God shaped our hearts in relation to morality and ethics. I find it so profoundly epic that we, as humans, have the opportunity to live a life within the moral boundaries of God and have perfect freedom in this!
Culture today is saying that ethics are dependent on each person, and that ‘freedom’ comes from doing whatever we want whenever we want. Though, the Bible says differently, and our professors helped us to see this. Here at Impact, we are being grounded in fundamental truths, including what true freedom in Christ means when we choose to live in accordance with the way He made us. I have learned that by living inside the morality that God has laid out for us, that’s where genuine freedom is found.
By learning about these topics in class now, we are being equipped for a life with Christ as we launch from Impact in the future.
This is crucial because of how noisy and deceptive the world gets when we are not grounded in the only firm foundation that Jesus is. When culture says that we define our truth, I am now confident to respond in saying that God defines the truth. And not only just stating that but truly believing it and having the grounds to back it up. This is exactly what we as Fellows are getting the education to do.
To say the least, learning about specific philosophical ideas such as Christian ethical systems has been so eye opening the past couple of weeks. To say the most, God is so wildly good and to learn more about Him is never an opportunity I want to take for granted.
Grant Keeton
Fellow, Class XX