Being Held Accountable
Accountability. It’s such an ugly word, I think. Don’t get
me wrong, I’m a pretty responsible, trustworthy, and reliable person…when I want or need to be. However, I’m
also non-committal and indecisive. Therefore, I am not usually the first person
to volunteer, but if I say I will do something, then I will follow-through
because I’ve made that commitment. If I haven’t committed to something, don’t
look for me to do it. I’m also pretty lazy at times; and very insecure. Why am I
telling you all of this? (Besides the fact that I frequently overshare?)
Because I honestly feel like if I can
commit to something, sacrifice my time or money or effort, then others should
be able to as well. I don’t mean that I think everyone should do what I do;
what I mean is I believe everyone should be doing something…
I’ve really been struggling with this lately. I’m not trying
to be or sound self-righteous; again—I don’t think I’m all that special—but I just
don’t understand how if I can find the time, money, inconvenience to [fill in
the blank], then why does it seem like no one else can? I realize we all lead
very different, yet similarly, very busy lives. And I realize I don’t know what
goes on in most people’s lives, but everyone has something to offer to someone
else. It just seems like no one wants to be bothered with helping…
I wonder if we even realize that to be Christians is to be
Christ-like. Can you name a time in the Bible when Jesus was selfish?
Everything He did (from teaching and feeding thousands on a beach, to His
death) was for the sake of someone other than Himself. Jesus is the epitome of
selflessness. He is Who we strive to be like… yet we can’t do one simple thing
for others most of the time. Nobody wants to be held accountable for anyone
else other than themselves (and in case you haven’t noticed in this world, most
people won’t even take accountability for their own actions anymore either).
Why do we struggle with not only volunteering ourselves, but
also holding others accountable for their own stewardship? Is it because we
assume that if we don’t give much, we shouldn’t expect others to as well? OR,
we don’t expect others to give much so we don’t have to either? Do you realize
that even if we’re not holding ourselves, or others accountable doesn’t mean
that God is letting each of us off the hook also? (Matthew 25:19, Luke 12:48,
Romans 3:19) And can you imagine how angry, frustrated, tired, hurt…He must
feel when we consistently don’t ‘show up’? (We don’t show up for Sunday School,
skip out on a service or two (or more), we don’t volunteer at our church, we
don’t write a check out weekly/monthly, we don’t worship with emotion, we aren’t
on our knees praying, we don’t open our Bibles… [I could go on, and on]…
If you feel like you’re not getting enough from God (enough
time to volunteer, enough money to tithe, enough effort to care…), it’s because
you’re not giving enough to Him. God will give you all that you need when you give Him all that He wants. (Matthew 19:26, Luke 1:37, Philippians
4:13, 2 Peter 1:3). Faith without works is dead. (James 2:14-26) [Take this pause to read that passage in its
entirety] God will not move for you, until you commit to move for Him. (Matthew
13:58, Philippians 2:13) Why do we think He should feel so privileged that we
are Christians, that we don’t owe Him anything other than us taking [destroying]
His Name?
Take a moment before you move on from this reading, and ask
our Lord and Savior, what you can do for Him, considering all that He’s done
for you… Because regardless of what you think, you do owe Him a whole lot more
than you’re giving Him. Period.
Comments
Post a Comment