Readings for today: Deuteronomy 32:28-52, Luke 12:35-59, Psalms 78:56-64, Proverbs 12:24
“Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more.” (Luke 12:48)
We live in a narcissistic age. We live in a “selfie” culture. All the attention must be on me. All the focus on my rights. It is rare to hear anyone talk about responsibility anymore other than to cast blame. I see it all the time on social media. I hear it all the time on cable news. I experience it all the time in interpersonal relationships.
Jesus is crystal clear. To whom much is given, much is expected. We have a responsibility to God and to our neighbor. To shirk one or the other is to invite judgment. God designed this world to work in harmony. God designed humanity to care for His creation. But His design is dependent on each one taking responsibility to carefully steward the gifts God has given them. This is why the world is so broken. This is why humanity is so fractured. Sin keeps us focused on Self to the detriment of those around us.
I see it here in Africa. I have been in southern Ethiopia for the last week where there has been a terrible drought. Climate change enacts a terrible price especially on the global poor. Someone asked me yesterday why God withholds the rain. I challenged that notion. According to a recent report by the World Bank, it would cost 150 billion a year to provide universal access to clean water. Perhaps instead of blaming God we should look in the mirror. God made us in His image and gave us dominion over all He has made. Our failure to be good stewards. Our failure to care for the most vulnerable. Our failure to fulfill the creation mandate is not on God. Imagine what could happen if the nations of the earth - and the people who live in those nations - directed their energy and attention to taking care of their God-given and God-ordained responsibilities rather than taking care of themselves? 150 billion is a drop in the global GDP bucket and yet, it would literally transform millions of lives. We don’t lack the resources. We lack the political and social and spiritual will to make it happen.
The church is called to be different. To model for the world what it would look like to fulfill our responsibilities before God and one another. The communities where our churches are planted should be blessed. The people who attend our churches and belong to our churches should be loved and cared for. The church’s ministry and mission should be directed at equipping God’s people to die to self and live for one another. Sadly, the opposite is too often true. Especially in the American church where the average church-goer believes they are a consumer. They evaluate the local church based on how well it “meets their needs.” When they grow bored or tired or frustrated or upset, rather than obey Jesus and fulfill their responsibility to dig in and forgive, they bail. They go to the new church down the road. The results are devastating to the body of Christ. We become weak. Frail. Superficial. A mile wide and an inch deep. Meanwhile, the world around us continues to “wait with eager longing for the revealing of the sons and daughters of God.” (Romans 8:19)
I’m tired of all the blame-shifting. Tired of our refusal to own our fears and failures. Our mistakes and missteps. Our sin and selfishness. It’s time to grow up, church! Time to grow up, humanity! Time to grow up and accept the responsibility God has given us as His image-bearers. Time to grow up and live into the calling God has placed on our lives as His children. Time to put aside the excuses. Roll up our sleeves and get to work. Through Christ we have access to all the power we need to do the work He has called us to in this world. All for His glory!
Readings for tomorrow: Deuteronomy 33, Luke 13:1-21, Psalms 78:65-72, Proverbs 12:25