Passing the half way mark, we are in our sixth week of our ten week Stepping Up series with our church men’s group. This weeks topic was about men ‘taking initiative’ and wow was it eye opening and inspiring.

The basic definition of initiate is to cause or facilitate the beginning of.

Pause and think of the men, both young and old, around you. In your family, at church, in your neighborhood, at work or fill in the blank ________. Does the word initiative come to mind? Does there seem to be a lack of initiative in men today?

Hold onto that thought as we dig deeper into some great examples of men taking initiative. The list of great men who took initiative is long, but this session focused the three stories in particular.

David, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and the first responders of 911.

Lets pick up the first story with David on the battlefield.

In 1 Samuel, we read the awesome account of the confrontation of David and Goliath. The scene unfolds where David is asked by his father to bring some food down to the battle at Ephes-Dammin, which literally means “edge of blood.” At this point in the story, Goliath has been relentlessly taunting the army of Israel for thirty-nine straight days, simply beating them down through intimidation and fear. David walks into the scene on the fortieth day as Goliath continues to curse and intimidate the army of Israel. This shepherd boy looks back at one of the soldiers and says, “Who does this guy think he is and what do I get for shutting this fool up?” David stands before this giant enemy of Israel, picks up five stones and with divine line of sight, sends a stone deep into the head of Goliath sending him to his death on the ground.

What I think is awesome is that David yells the following as he takes off running towards Goliath, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty. This day the Lord will hand you over to me, I will strike you down and I will cut off your head.”

David took initiative!

Next up, Dietrich Bonhoeffer.

Bonhoeffer has always been one of my great heroes of the faith. His battle field was the Thrid Reich and the Goliath at that time was Adolf Hitler. As Hitler was rising to power in Germany any church that broke away from the German state church was targeted. The German state church had basically sold out and sworn its allegiance to Hitler and his policies, which included, the systematic persecution and murder of Jews.

Bonhoeffer was one of the early opponents to Nazism and courageously spoke out against Hitler’s new government from the start, especially focusing on challenging Christians in Germany not to support the Nazi ideology. Insisting that the gospel was at stake, he devoted himself to church work; training pastors, preaching, and writing about the resistance he advocated. A voice crying in the wilderness.

Beyond this, he joined the German resistance movement and was believed to be part of the plot to assassinate Hitler. Bonhoeffer was arrested by the Gestapo in April 1943 and two years later was hanged at Flossenburg, only days before the American liberation of the POW camp. The last words of this courageous opponent of Nazism were, “This is the end — for me, the beginning of life.”

Alan Wolfe of The New Republic shares that “Bonhoeffer is the story of a life framed by a passion for truth and a commitment to justice on behalf of those who face implacable evil.”

Dietrich Bonhoeffer took initiative!

The men (and women too) who selflessly ran into the World Trade Towers on September 11th need no introduction.

On a day that many will never forget, we awoke to learn that terrorists flew airplanes into the World Trade Towers in New York City. In the wake of this scene of insane chaos; police officers, firefighters, EMTs and volunteers took the initative and ran into the danger zone to rescue people and to contain the madness. In the process, they became heroes and powerful symbols of this country’s resilience.

Read this excerpt from ‘Welcome Back, Duke’ written by Wall Street Columnist Peggy Noonan:

It is not only that God is back, but that men are back. A certain style of manliness is once again being honored and celebrated in our country since Sept. 11. You might say it suddenly emerged from the rubble of the past quarter century, and emerged when a certain kind of man came forth to get our great country out of the fix it was in.

I am speaking of masculine men, men who push things and pull things and haul things and build things, men who charge up the stairs in a hundred pounds of gear and tell everyone else where to go to be safe. Men who are welders, who do construction, men who are cops and firemen. They are all of them, one way or another, the men who put the fire out, the men who are digging the rubble out, and the men who will build whatever takes its place.

And their style is back in style. We are experiencing a new respect for their old-fashioned masculinity, a new respect for physical courage, for strength and for the willingness to use both for the good of others.

You didn’t have to be a fireman to be one of the manly men of Sept. 11. Those businessmen on flight 93, which was supposed to hit Washington, the businessmen who didn’t live by their hands or their backs but who found out what was happening to their country, said goodbye to the people they loved, snapped the cell phone shut and said, “Let’s roll.” Those were tough men, the ones who forced that plane down in Pennsylvania. They were tough, brave guys…

Awesome!!!

These are examples of men that went forward in the face of danger. They were not passive like most men of today. They had a burning conviction to place the value of others above themselves.

How is it that men like David, Bonhoeffer and the first responders of 911 were able to take initiative while others became paralyzed or ran?

Robert Lewis, the founder of Men’s Fraternity, suggest that there are three feelings that hold men back from taking initative.

1) Feeling of passivity
2) Feeling of inadequacy
3) Feeling of fear

God created men to take initiative! Some of the areas that God (and our families) want us to take initiative are in protecting, serving and providing. Men were created to do things and accomplish thing, not to sit around and be passive. Passivity and complacency have NO place in a mans life. The sad narrative in today’s culture is that too many men sit around and wait for life to happen and only a few rise up and take initiative and make life happen.

Men its time to wake up and take initiative! Its time to lead lives of intentionality and purpose! It’s time to get amped up for the life God has given to you by pursuing His will instead of wasting it on self-indulgence.

When God calls you or your family needs you will you be ready to rock-n-roll?