Faith and Personal Responsibility

He leads me …

What does it mean to trust God? It does not usually mean that the Lord will tell us what to wear today, because we are perfectly capable of making that decision for ourselves. We will probably wear something different depending on whether we are going to church, going to work or staying at home doing odd jobs. We know what kind of clothes are best suited to each situation and dress accordingly.

However, if the Lord wants someone who we do not know to meet us while we are out buying some lunch, He might tell them to look for a person in a bright pink shirt. At our end we would have had a strong desire that morning to wear a bright pink shirt because we felt great and wanted to brighten other people’s day too. We may have no idea that the Lord has set the meeting up this way until it happens.

The faith on our part is probably thinking that wearing a bright pink shirt may appear a bit over the top, but just in case the Lord is somehow going to use it, we will do it. It may come down to thinking ‘Oh well, even if the Lord is not involved, who cares? I might as well have a bit of fun anyway.’

Having said this, the Lord is not likely to ask us to wear a bright pink shirt if we do not have one. He would use something that we already have to make us stand out in the crowd rather than expect us to go out and buy a pink shirt when we do not know why.

The thing about faith is that it requires us to respond to a strange feeling or some other unusual event which has caught our attention. It stood out for some reason, and it is then over to us how we respond. We can ignore it, or perhaps ask the Lord to confirm that it is actually Him and not just a random experience. The confirmation might come from a friend who texts us and says, ‘It is an awesome day and I just felt like wearing my bright yellow shirt. Do you have a brightly coloured top to wear so that you could to the same?

Throughout this time we have applied personal responsibility to the situation. We have used our logic/common sense to gauge what we should do, and whether we should step out in faith. As Christians we are required to be obedient to the Lord, and this includes being responsible and using our common sense. The only time that we may be called to do something with a lot of risk is when there are no other options. 

For example, if we were to come across a vehicle stopped at the edge of a high bank with a person slumped against the steering wheel, what do we do? Our common sense tells us that if we try to get the person out of the vehicle we could both go down the bank and be seriously hurt. However, we have a very strong conviction to go and get the person out of the car to safety. By faith we trust that this is the Lord and that we can do it.  We pray, ‘Lord, please help me because I cannot do this on my own’, and then we go and see what we can do.

What if we have someone close who has had an accident and ends up in hospital? We take responsibility and make sure that they are getting the best medical attention available. But there is the aspect of faith too. We pray that the Lord helps the patient with their full recovery, and that He is also with the medical staff by helping them to do their best to enable the best results.

We do this understanding that God is the One who knows all things, and only He knows what is truly best for the patient. This could mean that the outcome may not be what we are expecting, but we know that we should still trust God no matter what happens. We remember Jesus’ words in the Garden of Gethsemane as our example, ‘… yet it must not be what I want, but what you want.’ (Matthew 26:39 PHILLIPS) We might then thank God for looking after everyone involved in the special way that only He can.

The Bible teaches us about the good and bad consequences of personal responsibility –

Only the one who sins will die. A child won’t bear a parent’s guilt, and a parent won’t bear a child’s guilt. Those who do right will be declared innocent, and the wicked will be declared guilty. (Ezekiel 18:20 CEB). 

We also see that Bible gives us many examples of people who did not apply personal responsibility to their lives and what happened to them as a result. There was Achan who was held responsible for disobeying the Lord by taking for himself some items that were from the silver, gold, bronze, or iron set aside for the Lord. As a result, God said that Achan was to be ‘burned with fire, along with everything he has, for he has broken the covenant of the Lord and has done a horrible thing in Israel.’ (Joshua 7:14–15 NLT).

Jonah was held responsible by God for running away from Him (Jonah 1:1-17), and ended up being thrown into the sea and being swallowed by a large fish.

In the New Testament we see that Paul was given the massive responsibility by God to present the gospel to the Gentiles (Ephesians 3:2). We also read that the deacons of the early church took personal responsibility for meeting the practical needs of the church just after the Day of Pentecost (Acts 6:3). The early church leaders also had some clear direction of what the Lord expected of them as seen in - Matthew 20:25–27, 1 Timothy 3 & 4, Titus 1:7-9 and 1 Peter 5:1-5.[1] 

We can look at this and think that this is all about being the best Christian that we can be. While this is true, we should understand that God wants us to be part of His big picture.

The Jews show us what the God’s big picture is. They believe that they are asked by the Lord to make a difference, by making the world a home for the Divine presence. This means working to try and make the world a place of justice, compassion, and human dignity along with the sacredness of life. God asked a lot of the Jewish people, and because they responding positively, He made them great.

When we look at various countries we can see that the larger a nation is, the more powerful it is. But when it comes to spiritual strength, we can see that it is not about the numbers of people, but rather it is about their sense of responsibility, just like the contribution of Judaism in response to God’s call to responsibility.[2] 

Should we as Christians accept the violence, suffering, poverty and pain in the world? Is it just the way life is? God has called us to be bold and become His partner in the work of creation.

Generally God does not interfere in history. He acts through us, not instead of us as He originally intended when He told Adam and Eve to have dominion over every living thing that moves on the earth.

The responsible life is a life that responds. God calls us to use the freedom He gives us, to make the world that we have, more like the world that should be. Think of Jesus words, ‘May your kingdom come, and your will be done on earth as it is in heaven’ (Matthew 6:10 PHILLIPS). We are meant to be part of the changes.

Which voice will we listen to? Will we follow the voice of desire, like Adam and Eve did? Maybe we will listen to the voice of anger, like Cain did? Or will we follow the voice of God calling us to make this a more righteous world?[3]

Dear Reader – If you have found some value in this blog, please feel free to send a copy on to your family and friends. Kind regards, John

[1] What does the Bible say about personal responsibility? GotQuestions.org;

https://www.gotquestions.org/personal-responsibility.html

[2] The Way of Responsibility: The Jewish Future, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, RabbiSacks.org;

https://www.rabbisacks.org/curriculum-resources/ten-paths-to-god/unit-10-responsibility/

[3] Taking Responsibility, Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks, RabbiSacks.org;

https://www.rabbisacks.org/covenant-conversation/bereishit/taking-responsibility/