Responsibility

Our Church just got a new pastor. The church body voted, and it is official. We are all thankful. There is a danger, however in this good feeling of having a leader. It is to make the mistake of putting everything on our leader, and shirking our own personal responsibility in the fields of our Lord. The Church corporately has certain responsibilities in the Lord’s work, and individual children of God have certain responsibilities within the family too. It is too easy and convenient to refer people who may question us about our faith to the pastor. The Word of God says that we are to study to show ourselves approved and be able to rightly divide the Word of God. In other words, know what you believe and why you believe it. Realize all that Jesus has done for the people of this world. God also instructs us through His Word to always be ready to give a defense or reason for the hope that is in us (I Peter 3:15). You can not give an account for the hope that is in someone else. Neither can they give a defense or reason for the hope that is in you. Only you know what Jesus did in your life. Others may be able to see changes in your attitudes and behaviors BC and AC, (before committing yourself to Christ as your Lord, and after committing yourself to Christ) but only you know what changes His touch has really made within. Our pastor is certainly ready, willing and able to cheer us on and help us in any way with personal evangelism, but he cannot give your testimony to a seeking lost soul. Only you can do that.

There are people you know or who know you, that would never come through a church door for an answer to their problems, but they would come to you to talk. There are those in your circle of friends who would not talk to the pastor, (after all, in their minds, a pastor is up there on a pedestal, and your friend would rather talk to a “regular guy or gal” like you. No matter how misguided this may be, the thought is prevalent) but would seek your advice or help in their lives. Notice that I Peter 3:15 does not say, always have your pastor’s or deacon’s phone number ready when someone asks you for an explanation of the hope that is in you. That would be your responsibility.

I did not see my need in my lost condition as a church related thing. I did not see it as a God related thing. Thankfully one associated with me did. Everyone’s story and situation is different, and we need to start (or continue) thinking outside the box of our preconceived notions of how God does (or should) work! I was at a college-age Bible study group, brought there by my astute friend, primarily (I thought) for a vacation and social interaction. It was there, at the very end, that suddenly God met a hurting young girl and poured out on her EXACTLY what she had been looking for. I did need, however, someone to tell me and help me understand that it was God talking to me- meeting me at my point of need. That is where we as children of God come into the picture. We are the ones who can help seekers to realize and understand that God is calling to them, reaching out to them, interested in them, and pursuing them.

You see, that evening in the living room of the house that I was visiting in, when God caught up with me, I was so afraid and overwhelmed and confused that I RAN instead of embracing Him. I ran up 3 flights of stairs to the room I was staying in to try to escape the conviction and love of Jesus that was being poured on me. Thankfully, God followed me, (like a few flights of stairs and a closed door could bother Him or get in His way) and so did two other people who were paying attention to the Lord and how He works. Neither were pastors, deacons, or even leaders in the church. They were everyday individuals like you and me, who had themselves been hurt and needy people who had found deliverance and answers in their lives in a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. They had experienced the transforming power and presence of the living Jesus and were willing and ready to give an account of the hope that was in them.

The members of the Bible study could have just thought or commented, “Boy, Lynda sure brought a strange one to Study tonight,” as I raced from the room and up the stairs. They could have suggested someone invite me to church on Sunday. They could have just figured that I had “something to work through” and left me alone. However, I would have ended up crying myself to sleep, just as lost and confused as ever; the opportunity to respond to the knock on my barricaded heart’s door lost-- possibly forever. Instead, 2 individuals risked getting involved. They risked and listened to the Holy Spirit’s prompt to follow (surely not knowing totally what they were in for). They risked getting involved in another person’s life and being able to say- “That is God calling to you. He loves you. He wants you for His own. This is what He did for me, and this is what He can do for you.”

It is our job, all of ours, to be ready (in season and out) to tell anyone who asks, (and some that don’t put it into words) the reason for the hope, the Jesus that is within us. It will make our pastor’s job easier and our own lives fuller, if we are all willing to do the part God asks of each of us in going to all the world (and all the local community) proclaiming the Good News of Christ and making disciples.