God’s People Are Responsible & Accountable

Word-Of-The-Day: ‘If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.’ (2 Corinthians 12:26); ‘<God said to Ezekiel,> “But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet to warn the people and the sword comes and takes someone’s life, that person’s life will be taken because of their sin, but I will hold the watchman accountable for their blood.’” (Ezekiel 33:6)

To say ‘Wasn’t Me’ or ‘Ain’t Mine’ when it is indeed ‘me’ or ‘mine’, is failing to take accountability and responsibility for my actions.  Whether in a personal, contributory viewpoint (responsible and accountable for my own actions) or as a leader (responsible and accountable for the actions of who I lead in some form and capacity), it is up to each individual to do their part and to acknowledge the results of doing their part.  In the first half of 2 Corinthians 12:26, if one person fails to do their job or assigned task, the corporate entity as a whole can be degraded or even fail.  The second half of the verse talks of the person who excels at their job; exceptional work is lauded as it makes the corporate entity (a company, a group, a church) be seen in a positive light. By our actions, our ‘team’ can benefit or be harmed by what we do individually.

Ezekiel 33:6 is an example of someone saying ‘Wasn’t Me’ (or perhaps more accurately, ‘Not My Job’); the watchman sees the attacker and doesn’t stop him and doesn’t sound the alarm; the attacker kills someone.  God, in Ezekiel 33:6, says that while the attacker is guilty of murder and will be held accountable, so will the watchman be found guilty and held accountable for the death of the victim.  The watchman’s responsibility is to watch for danger, stop attackers if possible, and to set off the alarm to have others respond or at least be alerted to the danger.  He is accountable for his actions; if he sets off the alarm and is not able to stop the attacker, he still did his job.  He may need to improve his craft to become better at intercepting the attackers that come in, but he accepted his responsibility and took accountability. 

We need to be responsible for our actions, whether this is in a family setting (the dad must do ‘dad’ things, the mom must do ‘mom’ things, and the kids must do ‘kid’ things), an occupation (a person on an assembly line must do their job correctly for the subsequent steps to fit properly), or in church (from the greeter to the preacher, if one person misses an opportunity to make someone welcomed, it could turn a person away from Christ).  We must hold ourselves responsible in doing our assigned roles and tasks, and be accountable for what we do, both good and bad, and improve and correct what we do.  In all that we do, we need to do in power of Christ.  If we are responsible to Him, we will be responsible to those who depend on us.  We also need to understand we will be held accountable for our actions (or inactions), by both those who depend on us and by the Lord on how well we perform.  In all that we do, take responsibility, be accountable, and work to improve.