The Greatest Handful I Have Been Given

The greatest handful I have ever been given was a great gift: it was the Gospel of Jesus Christ. When Lori asked me to write a piece for her radio program on the theme of giving back, my thoughts went immediately to the greatest gift that I have been given: The Gospel. Though this answer sounds cliché, I really could not think of anything more important about which to write. I think that I would be hard-pressed to find a person who would disagree with me, but I think that anyone who has experienced Christ through his Gospel would declare with me that it was the greatest handful that he or she had received also.

What amazes me is how God chose to give out these great handfuls of Jesus. Not many people have experiences like the apostle Paul did one day as he was traveling to Damascus. When, all of a sudden, the risen Jesus appeared in a thunderous great noise, and a flash of light, he was thrown from his horse to the ground, and Jesus persuaded Paul to serve him instead of persecute him (Acts 9). Most people experience Jesus through relationships with others. God chose for people to be agents of his saving grace through faith in Christ. The agent from whom I received Jesus was my youth pastor Matt, in high school.

The greatest thing about Jesus was that, “being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness” (Phil. 2:6-7). In theological terms this event is known as the “incarnation of Jesus.” The gospel writer John describes it this way, “The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us” (Jn. 1:14). Part of my undergraduate work is in youth ministries. In the youth ministry world, people often talk about “incarnational theology” as it relates to youth work. What this means is that we act like Jesus in the lives of youth, in a sense we even become Jesus to them. Think of it as “being Jesus with skin on.”

The greatest handful I have received was a handful of Jesus, given to by me youth pastor, Matt. To me he “became Jesus with skin on.” When I say “the greatest handful of Jesus,” I’m not necessarily talking about my specific salvation experience, but all of the ways that Jesus was present in my life through Matt during high school. Through my relationship with Matt, I have been challenged, encouraged, and uplifted. We have experienced joy together, and we have struggled through many of life’s issues together. Even now, after having graduated from college, he still plays a major role in my life. Most recently, Matt performed the ceremony of my wedding!

When Jesus was on the earth, he picked out twelve men, and lived in community with them. They experienced all of life’s twists and turns together in supportive community. During the times when Matt and I lived close together physically, in the same town, we grew close spiritually through the community that was developed. Now, when we do not live near each other we still carry that spiritual bond.

Now to give back! As a result of Matt becoming Jesus in my life, and a few other positive experiences with youth ministry, I chose to study Youth Ministry as a college student desiring for teenagers and young adults to experience the love of Jesus through me. I want today’s youth to experience the same kind of Christian community that I experienced, and the same kind of incarnational role model that I had in my youth pastor Matt. Not only in Youth ministry, but I am also making it my life’s goal to be in constant Christian ministry and education, both formally in churches and schools, and informally through community and relationships with people.