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A razor blade. Cold steel. Sharp. And used. Sounds like the perfect gift, right? Not really.We all love gifts. If you look around your room or office you will likely see a few gifts that would not bring much on Craigslist, but you treasure greatly. In my office I have a few:

–A Barbie doll from Hannah, slipped in my suitcase one day years ago with a note asking me not to forget her on my travels (yes, I cried);

–A small hand made picture from a Ukrainian pastor. I gave him what was a large sum of money in his land my last day there, but he would not take it. Instead he bought a piece of local art. I treasure it;

–Pictures of my family and students.

You have these also. But I doubt you have a razor blade. But for a man named Jamie, a razor blade became a precious gift, and has ignited a movement that has touched the hearts of a generation. You may be unaware of this movement (many in the Christian subculture are), but in high schools across America it spreads…and it can teach us a lot about a Great Commission Resurgence in our time.

Much has been said and written in recent days about the idea of a Great Commission Resurgence. Far wiser men than I have given sage counsel about both the need and foundations for such a movement in our day. But I live in a world with a lot of teenagers and so many in the next generation who are interested less in a slogan and statements, profound and necessary as they may be. I spend time with young believers who want not only to believe well, but live well, as all of us do. So let me tell you Jamie’s story, which ironically is not his story, and you will see what I mean..

Jamie and a friend traveled to Los Angeles to watch the filming of a music video by MTV (okay I just lost some of you who are my age by saying MTV. but please keep reading). The director of the video was Joaquin Pheonix, the guy who played Johnny Cash in Walk the Line—a movie in no small part about addictions and overcoming them. What struck Jamie about Phoenix went beyond his zealous emotion. He noticed how Phoenix recorded notes: he wrote things on his arm. He had neither a legal pad nor an assistant. When an idea came, he took a sharpie and wrote it on his arm. This struck Jamie: “This isn’t normal stuff. If you’re going to write things on your arms, people are going to see. They’re going to see what’s on your mind and they’re going to think you’re weird. I liked the possibility that he didn’t care what people thought. I thought it would be cool to live like that, to be about things and to be bold about them.”

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