Rockfest Day 7 - Early Adopter

“Early adopters.” It’s a phrase I hear thrown around quite a bit these days. It refers to people who adopt or buy-in to new ideas or technology early. Early adopters are first generation people. They accept things before all the bugs get worked out and before the general population accepts it. They get on board early with a new idea and help spread the word.

All sorts of people are early adopters. They are not all nerdy, geeky types. Not all rich and can afford the new stuff types. They come from all walks of life. But early adopters tend to have one thing in common. Early adopters are considered by some to be risk takers.

I heard it used most recently in connection with the people who purchased the first version of the iPad when introduced. I am one such early adopter of the iPad. Buying technology doesn’t take great risk – risk doesn’t have to be great to still be risk – but it is risky because the technology could be riddled with flaws and fail and the early adopter is stuck with a useless, fancy paper weight.

We have had early adopters throughout our history. Think of the people who drove the first cars made by Henry Ford. They were early adopters taking risks because there were no gas stations on every corner to easily refill the fuel tank and not too many people could repair them when they broke down. And everyone was taking a risk because no one knew how to drive.

Early adopters like to be on the cutting edge. Like to be on the frontier, where things are happening and unfolding. If they encounter a few hiccups along the way that’s okay, that is part of the experience and they can help make the later versions better for having adopted early.

Today we tend to find early adopters in the world of technology but they are found elsewhere. I am reminded of twelve early adopters, the Really Early Adopters. These twelve men probably didn’t consider themselves to be big risk takers but they turned out to be ultimate risk takers. Most all paid for their early adoption with their lives or livelihoods.

These twelve Early Adopters came from all different walks of life – fishermen, a doctor, a tax collector, to name a few – and they didn’t really have anything in common, in the beginning. But they all believed in the same thing - Jesus. They adopted early, got on board and helped spread the word.

The cool thing about the twelve Early Adopters is that the Jesus they got on board with is the same Jesus you and I can get on board with today. He is still version Jesus 1.0. There is no version 2.0 and there never will be. The risk of adopting Jesus into our life doesn’t come from Him, it comes from us, from letting go of all the other stuff that holds us back.

It is risky to do something our friends aren’t doing. It is risky to try a new way of living by love. It is risky to ask for help from someone we cannot see. It is risky to live by forgiveness. It is risky to live by faith. But those are risks that we feel and we must let go of.

There is one more Early Adopter – the Original Early Adopter. God adopted us as his sons and daughters through Jesus before we were ever created. (Eph. 1:4-5). We have already been adopted by our Heavenly Father. He does not mind getting our version 2.0 or 6.0. He will get on board with whatever version we are.

It is not risky to let go and be loved by God. Why not adopt the One who already adopted you?

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