This Is No Time To Pray

This week, we are going to explore a small story found in the book of Joshua chapter 7 that provides an important insight on the nature of community and responsibility.

This story addresses three groups of people. First, is the group of people who mask their irresponsibility behind religious activity, especially prayer. If we are not careful, we can make the mistake of thinking that as long as we are praying about something, we are doing something important. But we will discover in this story that sometimes you need to quit praying and take action.

The second group of people are those who have tender hearts and are compassionate to those who are suffering the consequences of what they have sown. When people act irresponsible, rather than holding them accountable, they see all the reasons why it is okay for this person to act irresponsible. But this kind of thinking actually enables the irresponsibility in the individual.

And the third group are those who are unfairly reaping the consequences of someone else's sown irresponsibility. It isn't fair, but it happens all the time. They are reaping the seeds sown by an irresponsible spouse, child, boss, neighbor, or friend. They are having to take the responsibility for someone else's irresponsibility. It's not fair, but it's true. Why? It's the nature of community.

Leveraging You Reap What You Sow

So if the principle of reaping what you sow is at work in the background of our lives every day (and it is), how do we leverage it for good? If there is an area of your life where you are not where you should be, chances are you have sown and reaped yourself into that position in some capacity. Remember, we are where we are today by the choices made in the past. But the good news is, we will be where we are in the future by the choices we are making right now.

I mean, if we find ourselves in debt, usually it is because we have been irresponsible with our credit (of course, there are always exceptions). If we have been using credit unwisely, not saving, and we have no money, we don't go, "Oh my, I'm upside down in debt. I wonder what happened?" We know, don't we?

But there are some cause-and-effect situations that are not as obvious. So if you are somewhere in life where you don’t think you ought to be, and maybe you don’t even think you deserve to be, Andy Stanley gives a couple of suggestions that you can do to leverage this principle of sowing and reaping.

First of all, take responsibility for that which you are responsible. If a pie chart represents one hundred percent of the responsibility for a situation, ask yourself, "What is my slice of the pie?" While your companion, your kids, your boss, even your health may own a large chunk of the pie, chances are, you have some responsibility for the situation. Are you really taking responsibility for the portion for which  you are responsible?

Secondly, begin to do the things you should have been doing all along. Paul wrote in Galatians 6:9: “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up.” So you own your slice and you start doing what you should be doing. And here is where the principle of sowing and reaping works to your advantage: just like you reap way worse than you think you deserve, in due time, the rewards you receive for doing good are often bigger than you deserve as well.

A Man Reaps What He Sows

The Galatians 6 passage that describes the reap what you sow principle is laden when references to irresponsibility and responsibility. Paul states in Galatians 6:3 (NKJV): “For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.” When you play the comparison game, it is easy to deceive yourself. Why? Because if your doing better or worse than others, you run the risk of deceiving yourself into irresponsibility. You have to hold yourself to your own standard, as we shall see.

Again, Andy Stanley says, “You see, as long as you are comparing yourself to others, you will make excuses for yourself; when you begin to compare yourself to yourself, you will make progress. It’s only when you tune out everyone else’s 'status' in life that you can begin to reach your own potential and take on your own God-given responsibility.”

Then, in verse 5 (NIV), Paul clearly says: “for each one should carry their own load.” We each have family responsibilities, community responsibilities, financial responsibilities, and opportunities for which we are each responsible. He is encouraging us to not compare our opportunities with someone else's opportunities, but be responsible with our own responsibilities...our own load. 

Then verse 7 gives us the principle, along with a warning, “Do not be deceived: God cannot be mocked. A man reaps what he sows.”  When you reap the consequences of shirked responsibility, you may be able to convince other people that you are not to blame. But God knows! If you are irresponsible, if you are not willing to carry your own load, you are not going to get by with it.

Does God forgive? Absolutely. Does He bless? For sure. But never make the mistake of thinking that forgiveness removes the consequences of irresponsibility. More about that...tomorrow.

Archimedes and Grace

In the 3rd Century B.C., a Greek mathematician put to paper a formula to explain why ships float and rocks sink. Using the concepts of buoyancy and gravity, Archimedes provided a mathematical calculation to explain a concept that had been in existence since the beginning of time. Archimedes didn't invent the principle, he merely identified it. And while we don't give Archimedes Principle much though, we leverage it millions of times every day as we set sail in boats from canoes to battleships.

Now this is important. Andy Stanley says it this way: "...I have never met anyone who thinks that God is in heaven indiscriminately deciding what sinks and what floats. I’ve never met anyone who has prayed, “God, we have created this ship, and we ask that you help it float.” We don’t think that way, because we understand the principle. If we adhere to the principle, what we make will float every single time. God created a principle, and we leverage it all the time. You can leverage it and benefit from it, or you can ignore it and pay a price."

This week, we are going to study a Biblical principle, that like Archimedes principle, can easily slide into the peripheral of our thoughts, yet it works every single day of our lives. And the same thing is true of this principle. It works every time. It is neither good nor bad...it just is. It is the reason when someone acts irresponsibility it catches up with them. It is also the reason when someone acts responsibly, they eventually experience a harvest.

The principle? Let me allow the Apostle Paul to tell you: "A man reaps what he sows" (Galatians 6:7). Like Archimedes’s principle, you can leverage this principle for good things, or you can ignore it and pay the consequences. It's not a good or a bad principle, it just is...every single time. "God is not against you: He’s not sitting up in heaven always deciding to punish you or bless you. Instead, God has given us this awesome principle that we can leverage to our advantage." It really is a part of his grace!

Irresponsibility and Blame

As we saw in Monday's post, when we act irresponsible, someone must shoulder the burden for our irresponsibility. Yesterday, I reflected on the story of the original sin of Adam and Eve, and noted that if it appears that we are the one who will shoulder that responsibility, our tendency is to try to shift the blame to someone else or even to our circumstances.

And when we attempt to shift blame, it always creates conflict. Think what must have been going through Eve's mind as she her Adam, when confronted by God, shifting the blame to her. Don't you know she was furious (and probably a little frightened as well). Why do we do that? It's not even an effective tool is it? Have you ever known someone who always shifted the blame to others? Do you want to be like that person? Would you hire him at your business?

But not only does blame create conflict with others, it always creates conflict within ourselves. Why? Because we know the truth, don't we? We may fool everyone else, but we know exactly where the problem lies, don't we? We were created to be responsible, and when act irresponsible and expect someone is to be responsible for our irresponsibility, we can never fulfill our God-designed potential.

The First Story of Irresponsibilty

Shirking responsibility is not a new phenomenon for sure. It can be traced all the way back to the garden of Eden. When you read the Genesis account of creation and the fall, there are two interesting truths that stand out.

First of all, even before the church rules (The Ten Commandments), and before sin infected the human race, God gave humans responsibility. When you read Genesis 1:27-29, it is easy to see that humans were give responsibility over the entire earth. In fact, there was only one rule...and a lot of responsibility.  Isn't it true, that we are the happiest when we have a responsibility and we do it well? We all feel better when we take responsibility for the things for which we are responsible. That is not an accident, we were designed that way!

You may meet people who are experts at placing blame and excusing their irresponsibility, but they never have a smile on their face. You won't meet a happy, irresponsible person.

Secondly, Genesis 3:8-13 recounts the story of the original sin. The interesting thing about the story is how quickly Adam and Eve shifted the blame for their irresponsibility. Adam said in Genesis 3:12: “The man replied, ‘It was the woman you gave me who gave me the fruit, and I ate it.’” He blames Eve at first, then he even blames God! "The woman that YOU gave me." When Even is confronted by God, she replies in verse 13: “The serpent deceived me....” 

Here's the truth I want to leave you with today. In a culture where every one takes responsibility for what is entrusted to them, there doesn’t need to be a lot of rules. But when there is only one rule, if everyone doesn't take responsibility, the one rule will be broken. 

The Nature of Irresponsibility

Andy Stanley says there are three identifiable characteristics of irresponsibility: 1) irresponsibility is contagious; 2) irresponsibility is contagious because it is rewarded; and, 3) when someone or a group act irresponsible, someone has to come along and shoulder the burden of that irresponsibility.

Let's break them down for a moment. We can certainly observe that irresponsibility is contagious. There is no point in my working hard, paying my own way, cleaning up my own messes, when other people have found a way to succeed being irresponsible. Let's be honest, it's easier to be irresponsible. And if can profit from being irresponsible, why not?

Secondly, irresponsibility is contagious because it is rewarded. I mean, that's just the way the world works...what gets rewarded gets repeated. So if we reward irresponsibility, it will be repeated. If I continue to remove the consequences of poor choices for someone who acts irresponsible, they will continue to act irresponsible.

Finally, when someone or a group of people act irresponsible, someone has to come along and shoulder the burden of that irresponsibility. Irresponsibility impacts everyone that is connected to the irresponsible person. Remember when Jonah decided to disobey God and headed toward Tarshish instead of Ninevah? He got on a boat and a great storm arose and it appeared that everyone on the boat was going to die. The merchants-sailors on that boat had not been irresponsible, but yet they through the cargo (how they made a living) overboard to try to save their lives. They not only lost the wages they would have made from the trip, but they had to reimburse the people who had sent the cargo with them. I would say Jonah irresponsibility impacted their lives, wouldn't you?

As Christians, we should be incredible examples of responsibility. We know the inter-connectedness we share with everyone. And ultimately, we know we are accountable...to one another, but most importantly, to our Heavenly Father.

The Blame Game

We all do it every once in a while. Something doesn't happen the way we had hoped it would, a dream isn't fulfilled, or we experience a difficulty in a relationship or a circumstance. Our first tendency is...place the blame on someone or something. It can't have been our fault. We couldn't be...responsible!

Responsibility is not a difficult term to understand. Neither is irresponsibility. Because we can see both of those terms in other people's lives very easily. But it is very difficult to see it in the mirror.

An amazing transformation has occurred in American culture over the past 50 years. Andy Stanley puts it this way in his sermon entitled Taking Responsibility For Your Life: "...there is a new twist on civil rights that goes something like this: The Constitution has given me certain rights; therefore, I have the right to be irresponsible, and you don’t have the right to hold me accountable. I have the right to do whatever I want to do and say whatever I want to say and act any way I want to act. You don’t have the right to hold me responsible. At the same time, you are responsible to clean up the mess that I create through my irresponsibility. You are responsible to foot the bill that I have created through my irresponsibility. As an American citizen, my civil rights give me the opportunity to act irresponsibly, but you don’t have the right or the responsibility to hold me accountable."

The problem with irresponsibility is, when I act irresponsible, someone has to pay the price. Parents understand this. When a child doesn't take responsibility to keep their room clean, the parent pays the price...they have to clean it.

The same principle is true in every arena of life. This week we are going to be exploring the temptation to blame others for our irresponsibility and the importance of taking responsibility for our own lives, regardless of how others act or what circumstances may come our way.