Robin S. Sharma once stated: “the business of business is relationships.  The business of life is human connection.”  We live in a world with so much communication technology at the touch of our fingers, yet the touch that most people need and want–especially post-Christian minded ones–is the touch that comes from altruistic human initiative.

The kind of relational initiative that I am referring to is not a utilitarian kind of connection (“I’ll scratch your back if you scratch mine”), but rather the genuine attempt to connect with another person for who they are, and for what you see in them that they can become.  Here, the desire is not for manipulation, personal gain, or the appearance of social status.  Relational initiative sees people for who they are right now–the good, the bad, and the warts–and attempts to connect with them so that together both of you are elevated to a higher plain.

Without question, Jesus was a master in relational initiative.  There was no one better at this than him.  Think about how he connected to Peter when he was first known as “Simon.”  In John 1, we learn that Andrew, Simon’s brother, brought him to Jesus, and the rest is history.  Look carefully at these words in John 1:42: “[Jesus] looked at him and said, “You are Simon son of John.  You will be called “Cephas” (which, when translated, is Peter).”  Andrew’s brother that stood before Jesus was Cephas, a normal, middle-class hardworking fisherman.  But Jesus didn’t see normality in Cephas; instead, he saw what he could become.  And because of Jesus’  intuitive foresight, he reached out to Cephas’ soul and invested his life in him so that in time he became the PETER that we know and love in the Bible.

There are scores of people all around us who need that same kind of “Cephas look” from us!  In our post-Christian times, people are starving for genuine, authentic relationships.  But most of them will not take the initiative.  They prefer the comfort of their own shell, perhaps due to past pain, severed relationships, insecurity, fear or other brokenness.  The call of the gospel to us is to find one person–not a mass of people, but one–that we can befriend for the sake of Christ.  If we did this, the world would be changed–our’s and their’s.

Maybe that person is within your own family; maybe at work or school or neighborhood.  Who walks in front of your path regularly that you need to make a relational initiative?  Don’t go by the presentations or appearances of others, as that can be deceiving.  One of the most basic needs in the human experience is connection that has no strings attached to it.  People want to be accepted for who they are, and what they can become with a “Cephas look” by you.

There is an old Turkish proverb that says: “No road is long with good company.”  Be the bridge that can bring value and meaning to someone this week.