Following in the footsteps of Jesus means being an initiator …

All of us can be initiators when it comes to seeking something for ourselves and what we desire, but beyond that, we tend to prefer either responding to the limited degree we’re comfortable with, or not responding at all.

But following in the footsteps of Jesus means being an initiator because love doesn’t wait to respond, love acts! It initiates instead of loitering.

From love, Jesus constantly stepped into lives to serve, to heal, to meet needs, to preach the good news of the kingdom of God. And He told the story of the Good Samaritan (see Luke 10:30-37), giving us an example of a person who initiated ministering to someone in need without ever having to be asked.

Love initiates; selfishness hesitates, stipulates, minimizes, or fails to act at all.

Being a responder is much easier and preferred because it gives opportunity to scale response or even not respond at all.

Can it be that the church today is experiencing so little effectiveness in the West because we consistently fail to initiate?

Imagine what might be accomplished for the kingdom of God if we were initiators like the fellow in this story told in Bits & Pieces …

He was born in Columbus, Ohio, in 1890, the third of eight children. At eleven he quit school to help with the family expenses, and got his first full-time job at $3.50 per week. At fifteen he got interested in automobiles and went to work in a garage at $4.50 a week. He knew he would never get anywhere without more schooling, so he subscribed to a correspondence home study course on automobiles. Night after night, following long days at the garage, he worked at the kitchen table by the light of a kerosene lamp. His next step was already planned in his mind – a job with Frayer-Miller Automobile Company of Columbus.

One day when he felt ready, he walked into the plant. Lee Frayer was bent over the hood of a car. The boy waited. Finally, Frayer noticed him.

“Well,” he said, “what do you want?”

“I just thought I’d tell you I’m coming to work here tomorrow morning,” the boy replied.

“Oh! Who hired you?”

“Nobody yet, but I’ll be on the job in the morning. If I’m not worth anything, you can fire me.”

Early the next morning the young man returned to the garage. Frayer was not yet there. Noticing that the floor was thick with metal shavings and accumulated dirt and grease, the boy got a broom and shovel and set to work cleaning the place. The rest of the boy’s future was predictable. He went on to a national reputation as a racing car driver and automotive expert. In World War I he was America’s leading flying ace. Later he founded Eastern Airlines. His name: Eddie Rickenbacker.

Eddie was an initiator.

How might we better contribute to the kingdom of God if we we intiators from our faith? Initiators of loving, and initiators of compassion, and caring, and serving, and giving, and evangelizing, and discipling, and … and … and just being a child of God who imitates God?

What might this world be like if Christians initiated? If they didn’t have to be asked to love, or care, or serve, or give?

What might this world be like if Christians initiated like the Good Samaritan initiated? Or initiated as enthusiastically as Eddie Rickenbacker?

Are you an initiator or a responder?

Scotty