Donald Miller, in his book, Blue Like Jazz, recalls a friend of his who traversed our nation interviewing numerous Christian leaders in hopes of avoiding fatal mistakes in his newly launched ministry. Many of the questions were predictably practical and non-invasive. However, the final question was typically, “What does Jesus mean to you?” When Donald’s friend asked Bill Bright, the founder of one of the largest Christian organizations in the world, that question, he could not answer. He simply began to cry. He sat there and just wept.

            I have a friend who just returned from a week of ministry at the YWAM base in Denver where the two ministry workers were recently killed in the Colorado shootings. The following is a segment of his e-mail to me:

Wednesday was an incredibly emotional and uplifting day. We spent a good bit of the day at the Memorial Celebration of Tiffany and Philip going home to be with Jesus. It started at 10 am and did not end until about 1:30.

When we arrived, there were close to a thousand people at the church. So many people, it was hard to know where to start. I asked the Lord who to talk with and prayed for a while. We talked and ministered to many people. Tiffany Johnson’s brother walked up and looked at the Billy Graham logo on my Chaplain shirt. He said, “I can’t believe you guys are here to honor my sister.” He started to weep and hugged my neck. I prayed God would give him strength. We cried and prayed and he told me many fun stories of growing up with Tiffany and her deep faith.

Then he told me something that rocked my world. Tiffany, Dan, and Philip tried to stop Mathew Murray when he came in after the students, and they were shot down. One of Tiffany’s friends was doing CPR on her, and when she was revived, Tiffany asked how bad it was. “Not good,” they replied. No one could do anything and she was slipping away. Tiffany said to her friends in an encouraging voice, “This is what we do for Jesus, huh guys? It’s all about Jesus.” These were the last words she spoke.

Tiffany’s brother’s fiancé walked up at this point in our conversation. She was sobbing. I asked how I could pray for her. They both looked at me and said, “We want to commit our lives to Jesus’ fire that Tiffany had in her heart. Pray that we will live for Jesus just like she did.” We prayed and they committed their whole hearts to Jesus. Tiffany’s mom walked up and hugged us. She said, “I am jealous of my baby girl; she is in the arms of Jesus.”

The service was a celebration of two wholly committed lives taken home to Jesus. It was a consummation of their faith and trust in Jesus Christ.

The Johnson family walked up on stage during the service. One by one they verbalized forgiveness of Mathew Murray, and his family who were sitting on the front row! This was such a pure picture of the power and love of Jesus Christ.

            Here we have two vastly different and yet strikingly similar life stories. One lived a long life, built a massive organization, and impacted millions for the kingdom. The other lived a short life, had no organization, and yet, is impacting thousands for the kingdom. The common denominator was not their natural ability or longevity of life but their deep love for the person of Jesus Christ.

            What would my response be if someone asked me today, “What does Jesus mean to you?”

            What would my final words be if I was shot and I knew I had but seconds to live?

            Or what would I say to a family whose son murdered my “baby girl”?

            Out of the abundance of my heart will come the answer. What I focus on, and invest in, is what will fill my heart. I pray my heart will be so full of Jesus that my instincts will be tears and words and actions that reveal Christ as the love of my life! Will you join me on that journey this coming year?