What Is Your Version of Personal Responsibility?… On this weekend’s musings, one thing that constantly seeps into my mind is what we all call “personal responsibility.” It is an irritating rub for me because it seems like just about everyone out there has a different take on it and that “take” is what they themselves want, even if their “take” is dead wrong.

This past week you couldn’t dismiss the thought on this topic. Daily we were bombarded with reminders about how common it is for humanity to be critical or condemning of some people while justifying or excusing the same conduct in others (if not themselves). This seems to be true whether the phenomenon occurs in the political, civil or religious realm. I’m thinking we humans are stuck in what God says is ‘our personal responsibility.’

The Scriptures make it pretty clear: the Bible teaches us that right is always right and wrong is always wrong, regardless who the parties involved might be. The Creator put that in our heart and conscience, expecting each of us to take personal responsibility and accountability for our actions. But just what does this mean? Check out this scenario—a true crime story from November 2021 which has ‘personal-responsibility-failure all over it’:

Not long ago, a young woman was attacked in a New York residential area while at least 40+ neighbors watched from their windows or were on the street. During the course of this 30-minute assault, not even one person telephoned the police although many took pictures of it on their phones! The young lady sustained fatal injuries. She died for the simple reason that no one would pick up the phone and call for help. 

Interviews conducted with the people who witnessed her death revealed that they were not totally indifferent as one may suspect. Many of them were horrified when they saw what was happening. But the main reason nobody did anything? Each person thought ‘someone else’ would take responsibility and get help. They were afraid to step in.

What do you think of this? No one, really NO ONE stepped in. If you were there, how would you have reacted? I know crime-infested areas are horrible places, but could you have just stood by thinking someone else will help? As a person who was a paramedic (in my younger days), let me tell you how powerful a touch, a spoken word saying “hang on” or a phone call to 911—anything—anything to help—would make a change in that kind of situation. Could it lead to your own detriment, yes it could and for some it has happened, but what detriment would it lead to for your mind because you didn’t try to do anything at all?

Part of growing up is taking responsibility for oneself. We start as infants with no personal responsibility whatsoever—everything that we need done is done for us. But, as we progress through the stages of childhood, we take on more responsibility. Think back to when you learned to tie your shoes, do your homework, maybe even clean your own room, etc. Hopefully we are learning that responsibility has its rewards—and irresponsibility has other, less-than-desirable effects!

We would be wise to take in the wisdom of the Apostle Paul who wrote to the church at Corinth about the difference between a child and a grown man, saying: “When I was a child, I spoke, thought, and reasoned in childlike ways as we all do. But when I became a man, I left my childish ways behind.”
(1 Corinthians 13:11 The Voice)

Paul also wrote to them in a second letter (2 Corinthians 5:10) as a reminder that we will be accountable for the way we live responsibly: “In time we will all stand in judgment before the throne of the Anointed, the Liberating King, to receive what is just for our conduct (whether it be good or bad) while we lived in this temporary body.”

Going back to the news story, many of us may never encounter this kind of a situation, but how often, in the seemingly mundane events of our lives, do we find ourselves saying, “I’ll let someone else do it?” And like the story, everyone else is thinking the exact same thing?!

To me, this kind of attitude has grown so much in the last two decades that it has created a vacuum of responsibility in our society where people simply point fingers instead of doing what’s right. And for those of us who claim to believe in God, what does that say about us? Really, I have to ask them “What ‘god’ do you believe in? What Bible are you reading?”

As I close this tough subject but a well-needed wisdom we need to go back to, I want to remind all of us that on the day we stand before God, there will be no finger-pointing. We each will be judged based on what we did with the Christ we claim to believe in. I know I want to hear those words, “welcome home good and faithful servant” so, doing the best that I can, I want to take responsibility for my actions and stand up for what’s right when others sit and point fingers.

Isn’t it about time for the people who profess faith in God to get out of their own selves and stand up for what is right and be willing to help another person? If we don’t who will? If we don’t what does that say to the world about the God we profess? What do you think?