Response and Responsibility

I heard a father say recently that he teaches his son “your response is your responsibility”. A truer statement couldn’t be spoken! Response and responsibility reminds me of “action, reaction”. It’s inevitable that what we do, say, and how we respond to the circumstances and culture around us always carries consequence, and the consequences often have far greater implications than we ever imagined. The Most High God sets before each one of us life and death, and encourages us to continuously choose life!

I just finished chapter one of “Letter to the American Church” by Eric Metaxas, and can already tell this is a book I will absorb, digest, and speak in support of often. It carries with it the heavy, straightforward choice now being set before the American Church, one that the Church in Germany faced some 90 years ago and failed. That choice is to wake up, stand up, and take heed that we have been given much, and much is now being required of us. Will we rise to the occasion, take courage, and speak out against the massive anti-Christian forces that threaten to fundamentally change America?

Of the mid-term elections I heard it said that God has given us an extended grace period to continue making the necessary reforms needed so this hideous monster does not completely overtake us, and that while we may not have completely exorcised the devil out, we have certainly constrained him! Let’s take advantage of that by continuing the fight!

Metaxas notes in chapter one that the “Church” can be defined as “God’s people actually living out their faith in all the spheres of their lives so that all society is blessed”, and “when we fail to do this, we are failing to be the Church“. Continuing on, he states “Human beings whom God loves suffer when His own people fail to express boldly what He has said and when they fail to live as He has called them to live“.

Why do I take the time to highlight these things to you now? Believers in Christ, it is important that we self-check, self-examine often. We cannot allow what we hear in the pulpit to be the closest we ever get to hearing or reading scripture and having a personal walk with God! God is waiting to pour out revelations to each of us, longing for us to seek His face personally, individually, and discover how to dialogue with Him in prayer. For anyone who believes it will only be pastors and Church leaders held accountable for being watchmen I ask, if we do nothing when we see evil having its way in our society, will we not be held accountable? To remain silent in fear of what others think or might say, or even in fear of repercussion – of what might happen is incomprehensible! We become responsible for letting evil thrive, and we will be held accountable by God Himself for fearing man more than we have feared Him.

Our fidelity is to God, and we will bear whatever consequences may come.

Eric Metaxas

Metaxas goes on to note that Church leaders are failing to act differently because they are failing to see the drastic change in our culture that has taken place:

"Of Course, most Christian leaders have not seen the change and have not adjusted, but continue to act as though it is an unseemly betrayal of their calling to say anything that might open them up to the accusation of being political.  As we have mentioned... they meekly adopted the stance that is was the "Christ-like" thing to submit and not to fight, nor even to mention such tremendously serious issues.  This was a deeply disgraceful moment for the American Church".

I believe it is also disgraceful and dishonest to say that silence from the pulpits is due to a fear of losing members. Silence from the pulpit is both laziness and cowardice on display! Metaxas says “We are responsible to those suffering now, and to those in future generations“. If you claim to have a vision for your congregation, then it had better include the future! That means taking the time to educate yourself on the cultural threats that most impacts your congregation. David didn’t sit back and watch as lions or bears attacked his flock! He came between the predators and his flock and fought them off! Be the shepherd, fight the battle! Stop pretending that to be political or to be a culture warrior is somehow sinful. As ambassadors of His Kingdom, making disciples of the nations is part of what we are called to do!

As is typical with me, I have anywhere upwards of a dozen things I want to blog about at any one given time, and so always have to pick and choose wisely what I have time to actually write about. There will be more to come on this, I’m sure, but I hope each of you reading this who have been in the least stirred by any of it will take the time to purchase a copy of this book and read it for yourselves.

Be blessed.

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