In His Steps

The novel opens with Reverend Henry Maxwell attempting to pen his sermon for the coming Sunday service. Desiring to compose his sermon in peace, he asks his wife to ensure that he is not disturbed. While this occurs his wife leaves the house. He finds himself almost to the end of his composition when the doorbell rings. Rev. Maxwell tears himself from his desk in order to answer the door and is met with what appears to be a homeless man. The stranger asks Rev. Maxwell if he is aware of any local jobs, but Rev. Maxwell turns him away with an apology; immediately Rev. Maxwell returns to his study to complete his sermon.

On Sunday morning the First Church of Raymond fills to the brim with Raymond’s more privileged and affluent community members, eager to hear the polished preaching of Rev. Maxwell and the dulcet tones of local prodigy Rachel Winslow, as the people of Raymond “believed in having the best music money could buy” (10). Coaxed into receptivity by the music, Rev. Maxwell launches into the sermon he recently composed only to be interrupted by the very same man who interrupted him two days previous. Having wandered into the service, he addresses the congregation about the circumstances that led to his unemployment and his hardship. He asks them the question that will catalyze the events of the narrative at large: “What do you Christians mean by following the steps of Jesus? I’ve tramped through this city for three days trying to find a job, and in all that time I’ve not had a word of sympathy or comfort except from your minister here” (15-16). In a final rebuke, the man puts his finger on the heart of the problem: “It seems to me there’s an awful lot of trouble in the world that somehow wouldn’t exist if all the people who sing such songs went and lived them out” (17). With that, he faints.

At once the local doctor assists in transporting the man, whose name is discovered to be Jack Manning, to convalesce in Rev. Maxwell’s home. There his health continues to spiral, and he asks for his daughter to be sent for. The following Sunday the congregation finds Rev. Maxwell in a terrible state, unable almost to preach, and in a moment of unusual candidness he admits that he has never quite asked himself the question put by the man: What does it truly mean to follow Jesus? Steeling himself for the challenge he is about to issue to the congregation, he continues: “I want volunteers from First Church who will pledge themselves earnestly and honestly for an entire year not to attempt anything without first asking the question, ‘What would Jesus do?’” (23). Meeting with those who felt called to respond to the Reverend, he stays after the service and meets with many who will be the principal characters of the novel: Rachel Winslow, Virginia Page, Edward Norman, President Marsh, Alexander Powers, Milton Wright, Dr. West, and Jasper Chase. In the meeting they determine that each of them is to act, to the best of their abilities, as they believe Jesus himself would in any situation in which they find themselves. They leave room for prudential decisions and will not judge anyone else’s decisions.

Edward Norman, whose life at the Daily News is narrated in Chapter 3, is the first pledge-taker whom the novel introduces in depth. Arriving at his office the next morning he speaks with his managing editor about the changes that he is planning to implement at the paper, starting with the decision to leave out news about the prize boxing match that occurred the night previous. While Ed Norman and his editor, Clark, are both churchgoing men, they had never before spoken frankly of matters of any great importance, least of all their faith. Ed explains that he wishes to guide the paper along Christian principles while Clark voices his doubts that it could possibly work financially. Finally, the two come to an agreement to proceed as Ed sees fit, though with doubts in the mind of the rest of the staff.

During the whole next week Ed Norman receives voluminous correspondence regarding the changes taking place at the paper. The correspondence is largely negative and only slightly contrasted by encouragement from Rev. Maxwell and the group at the Raymond church. In addition to angering a great number of his readers and subscribers, he also determines to slowly phase out the various advertisements that he deems to be unseemly and immoral, particularly those for the local tobacco and alcohol purveyors. On top of all this, what many on staff at the Daily News deem to be the last nail in the coffin is the decision to discontinue the Sunday edition of the paper. While Ed Norman decides to simply double up the Saturday edition instead, the move is still met with consternation by most, and only hesitantly does Clark the managing editor agree to stay with Norman on staff rather than leave for another job.

Chapter 4 ends by circling back to the perspective of Rev. Maxwell as he struggles with a question that he had curiously never asked himself before: ”How would Jesus preach?” (47). Instead of relying on his natural skills as a rhetorician and an orator, he reflects on the week that had just passed him by: Being confronted by the stranger in his very own Church, issuing the challenge of the pledge to his congregation, and burying that same stranger, he knows that his preaching must reflect his new reality. Rather than speaking about what his audience wants to hear, he speaks from the heart: “[N]o one in the First Church could remember ever having heard such a sermon before. There was definite rebuke of the greed of wealth and the selfishness of fashion, two things that First Church had never heard rebuked” (47).

Inspired by Rev. Maxwell’s new approach on Sunday, Alexander Powers, superintendent of the local railyards, invites him to speak to his workers as well. Powers wants to provide a short reprieve for his workers during the day where they can rest, eat their meals, and commune with one another, and he asks Rev. Maxwell to come say a few words. After the meeting, which goes quite well and promises to be highly anticipated in the future, Power accidentally opens a letter not meant for him that proves corporate corruption in the company for which he works. He ruminates on the decision that lies before him—ignore his findings and continue on as if ignorant of the corruption, or expose the fraudulent practices and be assured of both public disgrace and the loss of his job—and falls to his knees in prayer.