Personal Responsibility

Man has always been inclined to ""pass the buck."" It seems that in society today this trend appears to be increasing to previously unprecedented levels. Individuals who commit heinous crimes often seek to mitigate the punishment they receive by claiming they had a ""troubled childhood."" People who would have been called alcoholics or even ""drunks"" thirty years ago are now said to have a ""disease."" The desired effect of all this is to create a ""more understanding"" and tolerant populace.

First of all, tolerance of sin will kill you. Secondly, the outcome is that no one is responsible for his or her actions, or the situations their actions place them in. Christians cannot adopt this ""Devil made me do it"" mentality. From the very beginning God demanded his children to accept the responsibilities and consequences of their actions.

In Eden God instructed Adam and Eve that they should not eat of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He told them forthrightly and clearly that, ""in the day that you eat from it you shall surely die."" (Gen. 2:18) Of course, we all know the story of how Eve was tricked by the serpent into eating of the tree and then how she encouraged Adam to do the same. (Gen. 3:1-6) Notice what Adam says when God confronts him about his sin. ""The woman whom Thou gavest to be with me, she gave me from the tree, and I ate."" (Gen. 3:12) As you can see, the idea of ""passing the buck"" has literally been around as long as man.

So how did God deal with Adam and Eve? Did He excuse Adam because of his wife's behavior? Did He excuse Eve because she was ""quite deceived"" by the Devil? (1 Tim 2:14) We all know that He did not. In fact, God said to Adam that it was, ""because you have listened to the voice of your wife, and have eaten from the tree . . . "" that he would be punished. Eve likewise received the consequences for her actions.

For us today the message is clear. When a person does not take responsibility for himself or herself, they can be led into sin very quickly. More importantly, they won't be absolved from the consequences of those actions, no matter how severe. For Adam and Eve, the consequences were that they lost their home in the garden and the closeness to God that man has been striving to regain ever since.

So where does personal responsibility fit into our lives? The corollary that immediately jumps to mind is in the realm of our salvation. Paul says in Philippians 2:12 that we are to, ""work out our salvation with fear and trembling."" The threat of Hell is very real (Matthew 7:13) and it is a punishment that will be dealt out. As we can see from the example of Adam and Eve we will not escape God's wrath just because we are deceived by Satan's crafty temptation. This is especially true in light of 1 Corinthians 10:13: "" . . . God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will provide a way of escape also, that you may be able to endure it.""

With this in mind, we can see that our relationship to God is something that we must take personal responsibility in. That relationship is primarily established through studying and understanding His Word. It is very easy to fall into the habit of going to worship services, listening to the preacher, and ""Amening"" at the appropriate moments. If we follow any man or woman into apostasy, can we expect God will allow us to ""pass-the-buck?"" If the past is any indicator of the future, that would be a dangerous assumption to make with your soul on the line. We must take personal responsibility in our study and understanding of God's Word.

A similar situation arises in regard to family and friends. It's difficult at any age to slide left when the rest of the group is marching to the right. Nevertheless, your eternal destiny depends on your actions, not the actions of your family, clan, or club. Sometimes taking personal responsibility will mean breaking formation. If the rest of the flight is headed towards a mountain, isn't it better to pull up than doom yourself right along with them?

There was a time when someone else took responsibility for us. ""Surely our griefs He Himself bore, and our sorrows He carried . . . "" (Isaiah 53:4). Almost two thousand years ago, Jesus took responsibility for us. The Son of God marched down a road on the way to a cross where he would bring salvation to ""everyone who calls on the name of the Lord . . . "" (Acts 2:21, Joel 2:32) Once that was accomplished He returned the reins of our destiny, hoping that we would follow Him home. We have been offered a remarkable and precious gift, if we will only accept responsibility for it.