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It's Your Choice

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It's Your Choice

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It's Your Choice

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What does it mean to be a responsible person? In this sermon, we will examine what the Bible says about the concept of personal responsibility.

Transcript

 

This married couple was on a road trip, and they were traveling along and decided to stop for lunch. And so they pulled into the restaurant and had a nice meal, and after they left the restaurant and got back in the car and started traveling right down the road. After they had been going for probably a half hour or so, suddenly the wife realized that she left her glasses on the restaurant table. She was traveling a little lighter, but she didn't mean to. So she forgot her glasses. So she says to her husband, "I forgot my glasses on the table." And so right away, being the husband that he was, he says, "What is wrong with you? How could you leave your glasses on the table?". Now none of you wives relate to this at all, right? "How could you be so irresponsible? You should have been keeping track of your belongings! What's wrong?". You've got a half hour to turn around and go all the way back to the restaurant. He reminded her all along the whole way, he just became more agitated as they got closer to the restaurant that she could be that irresponsible. So finally, as they're pulling into the driveway, he just tells her straight out, "You've got to be more responsible!". And then she opened the door to get out, and as she started to run in he yelled out, "And while you're in there, get my hat and my credit card!".

Sometimes we're traveling a little lighter ourselves, aren't we? Sometimes we're blaming others for the same lack of responsibility that they have, we have as well. And it can be a challenge to see ourselves as we really should. Isn't that a difficult thing? It's easy to see in everybody else, their shortcomings and how far short they've fallen of perfection, but, I'm irresponsible, too? Yeah. Yeah, I am.

If you were to try and put your finger on what is that all about? What does it mean to be a responsible person? What is it that comes to mind for you? Responsibility is, whoever should be blamed, right? Whosever fault it is. Like the lady leaving her glasses. Or that about the fact that there's a certain amount of obligation, there's something to answer for. That someone's in charge, and someone can judge what's going on. But you have to be answerable for your actions. So if you go in front of the judge, you'd better make sure that you did the right thing because you‘ve got answer for what you did. Or, maybe, it kind of fits to think of a duty. There's a job to be done, there's responsibilities to be carried out, there's standards that need to be met, and if you don't do this, you're going to get fired. Or there's going to be consequences, there's going to be challenges because you didn't follow the rules. So I think in a lot of ways we think of responsibility as a legal kind of thing. Here it is, do this or there's these bad consequences. I think that may be helpful, but if you look into the Bible, I think the Bible broadens that view of what personal responsibility is all about.

Because originally that word meant to promise yourself. What's your response to circumstances around you. How do you respond? Have you promised yourself something as a result of what's happened in your life? Maybe you have promised yourself something. Have you committed to anything that you have made a promise that if this happens, I want to be like this. It's interesting as you begin to think about that because there is a choiceinvolved in those things, isn't there? There's a choice involved in the things I do, the things that I say.

As you think about the responsibility that each one of us bears, I think it's probably something to realize that when it comes to taking responsibility, it's your choice. It's your choice. I'm responsible for the direction of my life. I'm responsible for which course my life takes. So do I take control of that? Do I take a hold of what's in front of me? Do I exert a personal choice in the matter? Or is somebody else responsible for that? Do I say well, I am responsible, under God's direction. Am I responsible for the condition of my life? Am I responsible for even the quality of my life? The quality of my choices? The direction of my life? Am I responsible even for the quality of my family's life? My friends? Do I bear any responsibility in the condition of the world? Because oftentimes in the world I don't have to worry about them. That's their problem. I'm not responsible in any way for that. Or am I? Or am I? Let's think about that.

I thought it might be helpful to take a few minutes to examine this concept of personal responsibility. To define it, to look at it, and to look at it from a Biblical perspective. Because in so many ways it does come down to our choice. You think about an example in the Bible where God expected personal responsibility. You know if you close your Bible and try to think of an example, you probably just have to flip the first couple of pages to come to the first example of that. Adam and Eve. How about Adam and Eve? Did God expect personal responsibility from them right away at creation? Yeah, He sure did. He sure did. He put them in the garden, said here's two trees. There‘s the tree of life, there‘s the tree of the knowledge of good and evil and He said I'm going to force you to choose life. No, He didn't say that! He looked down, put them in the garden, said here's the way it is, and what did He tell them? Well you can eat of every tree in the garden, freely eat, but, the tree of the knowledge of good and evil don't eat that. In the day you do that you'll surely die. So He warned them and then He gave them an opportunity to decide. They got to choose what they wanted to do. He didn't force them to make the right choice. And so they had to take the personal responsibility after God showed them very clearly what the best choice was they had to decide what they were going to do with that. They had the choice of being responsible. And so we see that there's a standard that God set into place. But God said, here's the best, here's the standard, this is life, this is good. And He said this is the way to go. Now, what will you do? What will you do with that information? And that seems to be a theme that's carried out throughout the Bible.

It wasn't any different with Jesus Christ. If you take a look over at John 8:30. Here, as Jesus Christ is going about preaching and teaching. We find an example that really is one that connects with that story we were reading about, or looking at, in Adam and Eve's example. Here we have Christ, He's been preaching, He's been teaching and guess what? People respond to that. People take some responsibility, listen to that message, and then it says they came to Him. And so down in John 8:30 after preaching and teaching it says, He spoke these words and many believed in Him. So they believed the word. They believed the message that Christ was giving to them. But was just believing enough? Just understanding. Was that all that it took? Or was there an expectation that God had for those that actually heard and believed? Well, let's see. John 8:31 it says Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him. So the belief was there. What does He say? If you abide in My word, you are My disciples indeed. If you continue in My word, one of the translations says, you are truly My disciples. And the truth, you'll know it and it will make you free. So there's a connection between believing and then obeying. Continuing in the word. The expectation that this is my standard, and I'm going to order my life, I'm going to make my decisions revolve around the standard of God. So, if I claim to be a believer, if I claim to understand the truth, I'm only free, I only have true freedom, if I follow it. If I do it. If I put it to practice in my life. And so, in a sense He's saying, I can't put responsibility off by itself separate from standards to judge our actions. There is a standard to judge our actions by. And so, if we're going to talk about responsibility, and taking accountability upon ourselves, God says it really stems from His word.

Maybe to put it a different way, I believe responsibility is the foundation of our identity. We should identify ourselves through responsibility.

Now, what do I mean by that? Well, let's look at an example and we'll see if it becomes a little bit clearer. Over in Deuteronomy 30, here's an example of the Israelites who have been wandering around through the desert for forty years, they're coming into the Promised Land. They are to be the people of God. They have been identified as His people. And what does God expect from them? Well, let's see.

Deuteronomy 30:11. He rehearses again for them, saying, this is the commandment which I command you today. It's not too mysterious for you, and, in fact, He says it's not far off. He says it's not in Heaven that you should say, who's in Heaven? Who will ascend in Heaven for us and bring it to us that we might hear it and do it. So this isn't something that's hard to understand. This is not something that I can't quite put my finger on. This is not something that I can't get a grasp on. He says it's not beyond the sea that whoever go over the sea for us and bring it to us that we may hear and do it. Deuteronomy 30:14, He says the word is very near, it's in your heart, your mouth, that you may do it. You may do it. Almost reminiscent of Adam and Eve, God instructed them, gave them the word, they understood it, they realized what they needed to do now it was up to them to make that choice. To make that decision on what they would do. So here's God almost replaying that same event with the children of Israel telling them that very same thing.

So He says, in Deuteronomy 30:15, I've set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I command you today to love the Lord, your God, walk in His ways, keep His commandments, His judgments, His statutes, that you may live and multiply, He says, that the Lord, your God, may bless you in the land which you go to possess. So He sets the standard. Of course, He also says here's some consequences though if you don't. So just like Adam and Eve you can choose the tree of life but if you choose the tree of the knowledge of good and evil there's going to be death if you choose that. He says the same thing here Deuteronomy 30:17, If your heart turns away so you don't hear, you're drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today you shall surely perish. You shall not prolong your days in the land which you crossed over to the Jordan to go in and possess. I call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you that I've set before you life and death, blessing and cursing; and God is so awesome He tells us what the best choice is. He says, choose life that both you and your descendents may live. That you may love the Lord, your God. That you may obey His voice, that you may cling to Him for He's your life and your strength, your length of days that you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give them.

So He tells them here's the best way. Here's the way that isn't so good. There's going to be difficulties and bad consequences. Over here are blessings. But you've got to choose. You've got the choice. You need to take personal responsibility for what you decide to do. And God said, choose to be responsible to Him. Choose to follow His guidelines. You've got the freedom, it's your choice, but you've got to make that choice.

Did you see the foundation of where that choice needs to lie? I believe it's in who we are. How do we identify who we are? Well, He says here in Deuteronomy 30:20; look at it again. He says, Love the Lord, your God. Obey His voice. Cling to Him. He is your life. You want real life? You want real meaning to your life? You want an identity? Our identity is found in responsibility. In taking personal responsibility to prove that God is our God. Because we're evidence of the fact that God's way really does work. God's way works. And God says choose to be responsible to Me. Because we align ourselves with the Family of God. We align ourselves with our Father. We say God is our Father; my identity is in His family. Because He is my God and I identify with Him. And so there is this connection between being personally responsible and showing where our identity is truly found. I think we see that in our families. Our family identity is found in who we are and how we behave and the things that we do. And so when we do things as a family we can identify--oh yeah, that's that family, they do that kind of thing, that's who they are. And God uses that kind of example in a spiritual sense. Because when we lose our identity, we don't know who we are. We see so many examples of that. We saw that happen to Adam and Eve. They lost their identity. Now they were on their own. The children of Israel--they chose to follow the way opposite of God's way. What happened to them? They lost their national identity. They ended up going into captivity. They were gone! They lost their identity. The only way we can find our identity is to understand how God wants us to take that personal responsibility. Otherwise we're going round and round and round in circles and never really coming to the point of where God wants us to be. So if we reject that responsibility, I believe we lose our identity.

And you know what we do? So oftentimes that's exactly what we do. I think it's one of those traits of human nature that we have that tendency, I guess in a sense, to avoid responsibility. To not take personal responsibility. And example after example in the Bible points that out. And so we have this failure, we have this lack of a responsibility, we could say we have sinned. We have sinned that we have failed to act in a responsible, accountable way.

And we have so many ways as human beings that we've done that. Isn't there? I think one way that we reject personal responsibility is that we hide. We hide from it. Didn't Adam and Eve do that very thing? What did they do after taking the forbidden fruit? What did they do when God was walking through the garden? First thing they did, they hid. They hid themselves. They got in this, what they thought was this very safe place where they didn't have to be accountable. But see, they lost their identity and they thought that would take care of the problem. If I just hide out from this problem. And I think of that hiding out and it takes a lot of different forms, doesn't it?

I had a fellow that I got to know when I was in school for music. He was trying to finish his music degree, and after getting to know him a little bit, he was a friend of my older brother. In fact, I found out he was in school with my brother who graduated five years before I even got there. But he was still in school. And he didn't have a masters, or didn't have a doctorate, but he was hanging out in school. And he continued to hang out in school because, you see, going out there is a scary place. I don't know what's going to happen. I know my circumstances, I know all the professors here, I know the class, I know what's going to happen, but I don't have to take that risk to go out into that dangerous place out there. So I came, finished my degree and left, and guess who was still there? Same fellow was still there. So he was hiding out from taking that responsibility. Get out there, get on your own. And that is a challenge. Sometimes people never leave their parents. They are always under their roof. Maybe you're always in that interim job  because it would be a scary thing to leave that for something that might be different.

And so we don't take that risk. We don't make that decision, and those kind of worries, those kinds of anxieties and fears can overwhelm us partly because of the fact that we don't take that personal accountability to step out and realize where our identity is found. Do we really believe that I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me? Or do I not? Do we loose that identity? Do we forget the promises that were given to us as God's family? Certainly that seems to be one way that we can hide out, we can skip out on that responsibility.

Of course, probably our favorite one might be, well that's his fault. You see, I'm the way I am because my parents were derelicts. They didn't know how to raise me, and it's their fault that I turned out like this. And so I can blame them or I can blame my wife, or my kids. If they were decent kids, if they listened to me, then I wouldn't be the way that I am. You see we kind of hide out in that. I don't have to take responsibility. It's not my fault. You know, I'm 45 years old, I've been gone out of my parents house for 30 years but it's their fault. It's not my fault anymore, right? And so I can blame my personal problems on anybody else because that makes me feel a whole lot better. Because it's their problem. It's like saying I assume full responsibility for my actions, except the ones that are somebody else's fault. Right? It's their fault. It's their responsibility. And so the problems in my family are things that I can't do anything to change. It's just that's the way it is.

But you see, if we begin to think like that, don't we really neglect the duty that God has given us? Aren't we really saying "God, You're not strong enough, or powerful enough to help me, to guide me, to lead me in my outlook?".

I ran across an interesting quote from an Episcopal bishop. This guy's name was Phillips Brooks. He was a bishop back in the 1800's. But he said something interesting about this concept of taking responsibility. He said this: "Do not pray for easy lives." When I heard that the first time I said, wait a second, I'd like an easy life. I want it easy. I don't want problems. I don't want difficulties. I want it to go smooth. That's what I want. But he said, no, don't do that. Don't pray for easy lives. He said, "Pray to be stronger men." I think women applies, as well. He said, "Don't pray for tasks equal to your powers." I have the ability to do that. That's what I want. Just give me what I can take. Give me what I'm able to do. But, instead, he said, "Pray for powers equal to your tasks." So, we don't know what life is going to bring, but it turns the whole thing around to point us where our identity really is. If Christ can strengthen me so that I can accomplish all things, is He going to give me the power to handle whatever life may bring? I think the answer is absolutely! Absolutely. In fact, the bishop went on to say, "The doing of your work then shall be no miracle. But you shall be the miracle." That's the way that thinking is you shall be the evidence that something spiritual is going on that is beyond our physical capabilities. Beyond just this physical world, but that there's something spiritual through God that we're able to deal with life, and take that accountability to heart. Because all too often either we hide or we blame, do you ever justify yourself? Do you ever rationalize things? You know, well, that's just because it was tough situation. It was difficult. I didn't know what to do. That was the best thing I could come up with at the time. And so we justify why we did it. Well, I'm like that because, you know, I grew up in a lousy town. And they were prejudiced because we didn't have any money. I came from a poor family and so I had it rough. It was difficult. And so we blame money. Well, the town was prejudiced. I was prejudiced against. People were bigots. Racism. Those things caused me to be the way that I am. And yet, if we justify ourselves by that, does that help us to be the kind of individual God really wants us to be? Hey, I'm not happy because look how bad my life has been. I've had a bad, rough life and so I'm this way. You know, my marriage has been terrible. So what do you expect? It's not my fault. It's not my fault.

But you think about those things. Hiding, and blaming, and justifying. Adam did that. Israel did that. Example after example. How about Cain? He denied it. Ah, not that big of a deal. Ananias and Sapphira. They denied these things. They didn't take the responsibility that they needed to take in order to show who they should belong to. Did they?

Speaking about an example of this is how oftentimes we get things in the wrong perspective. Like the little boy came home from school one day. He thought he'd make his parents very proud. So he told his parents, "Mom and Dad, I'm a proud man today because my teacher finally got it. She finally admitted that I'm one of her most responsible students!". And the mom was just thrilled, "Wow, that's great!". She gave him a big hug and kissed him. "I'm so glad you turned things around. This is wonderful!". Of course, dad's looking at him, saying oh yes, something's fishy about that. So dad says, "What exactly did she say?". The little guy said, "Well the class was in an uproar like four or five times today and things went totally wrong, and every time it happened my teacher said that I was responsible. So I'm one her most responsible students." You get it turned around just a little bit. And I think if we don't look at our lives, we get things turned around, don't we? Do we reject the personal responsibility that God expects us to take upon ourselves? Sometimes we run away. Sometimes we run away from our problems. You've heard the saying "Stop the world, I want to get off." You know, things happen. Problems. Troubles. When are they finally going to be over because life is depressing, it's difficult. If I would have had a healthier family, or if I would have went to a better school, or if I had gotten a better job, my life would be different. And so we run away, and we escape. Or we try to. We try to escape by thinking that way. So we immerse ourselves, we immerse our thinking in other things because we want to get away from that. So we immerse ourselves in alcohol and we drink. Or we go to drugs. But we can also immerse ourselves in shopping. We can immerse ourselves in television. We can immerse ourselves in video games, in a whole different world, because I don't want to deal with that world out there, I can with this because it's made up, I don't have to be accountable, I can just ignore the rest of the world and do what I want. I can escape all that. I don't have to think about any of that.

And so that kind of thinking, we escape from assuming any responsibility for our lives because we think it's going to be easier. We think it's going to be better. Somehow it's going to be better if I don't have to worry about it. I don't even have to think about that. So we find all these addictive behaviors, we immerse ourselves in them, we think we can escape any of those consequences and somehow it's going to work out.

But it doesn't. We try to get away from personal accountability and it ends up worse. Have you ever thought those kind of things? That well, I could be happy. You know, if my wife would change, then I'd be happy. Or my boss. If he'd quit giving me such a hard time then I'd be satisfied on my job. Or if I just lost some weight. I'd feel better about myself. Have you ever thought those kinds of things? Or, if I could just find a mate. If I could find a mate, then I'd be happy. I'd be happy then if I could just find that special someone that would be just perfect. But do you see the flaw in that reasoning? The flaw is if you're not happy without that relationship, you're not going to be happy with it. If you're not happy with the weight you have right now, you're not going to be happier without it. It's not going to be any better. If you're not happy, you're not satisfied, you're not content on your job right now, you're not going to be happy if the boss changes. It won't be any different. You'll find something else that isn't the best. And so, you've got to take that personal responsibility to say, you know, circumstances don't dictate my attitude. They shouldn't. Because that's not where my identity is. My identity is not in how much I weigh, or who I'm married to, or what I think about my boss. My identity is found in Christ, and so circumstances cannot dictate the way I think. Why I do things that I do. Do I do it just to please others? Because if I could really make them happy, if I could please them then my life would be that much better. But see, that's not the Biblical basis that God gives us here. Why does God do the things that He does? What motivates God? Love motivates Him. God is motivated by an unfeigned love. Pure love. He doesn't have any ulterior motives. He wants the best for us. He does what He does because that's who He is. Do we do what we do because it's who we are? It's because of our upbringing. It's because of our Father. It's because of who we belong to. It's because of who our identity really is. Because when you get down to it, if we're baptized and we have God's Holy Spirit in us, what is inside of us? Well, it's who we are. Our identity. The things that we do come from within. That's what Christ said. Even the things that are sinful, they come from within and they defile us.

Well, if we have God's Spirit, what's coming out is good and right and out of love. And so when we're committed to what we love and care about it's the right thing. And so we internalize these things, we internalize God, we have His Spirit within us, and it becomes who we are. We identify with God. And God guides us and leads us through His Spirit and we are submissive to His way. And so we identify with Him so I think when it comes right down to it, it is our choice. Personal responsibility is that foundation of our identity. Who we really are.

And so when we take that to heart, I think then we've got to take it to the next level, which means we've got to take control of our identity. We've got to take control of it. So many times throughout scripture we're reminded that it just doesn't happen on it's own; that we have a part to play in these things. So as God calls us and works with us, gives us His Spirit and the power to overcome, the power to overcome sin in our lives, the power to be connected to Him, we've got to do something about it. We've got to take control of our lives and our thinking. And so He talks about that over in Galatians. Let's notice that. Galatians 6:4. Notice the way the apostle Paul puts it. I think he had this on his mind. Paul certainly identified with the gospel of Jesus Christ, he's helping the Galatians to see that very thing, to take stock of themselves, to recognize where their real identity does come from and then to do something about it. Notice what he says. Galatians 6:4. He says, Let each one examine his own work, and then he'll have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load. So, in a way he's saying, take stock of yourself. Take stock of yourself, because each one of us has to accept the responsibilities that are ours. We have to be responsible people. The New Living says, We are each responsible for our own conduct. The New Century says, Each person must be responsible for himself. We bear that responsibility. God set it so that we have to take personal accountability to Him. And if we take control of our identity then I think we can ask ourselves some questions.

Am I really responsible for my choices? Do I accept that? Is it easy to accept the fact that I am responsible for my choices? Do I tend to hide behind a mask and avoid situations, avoid problems? That's what he says, when we examine our own work or examining our own work because we are responsible for our conduct, well, how often do I feel sorry for myself? Could that play a part in taking control of our identity? Allowing God to lead us and guide us. What do I do? How do I feel? What determines my feelings when bad things happen? What dictates those things? Do situations dictate those things or does my thinking dictate my reactions?

How easy is it for me to blame others? How easy is that? How easy is it to let go of guilt? Because if we harbor that, it's another way we can lose our identity. How easy is it to admit we're wrong? I was wrong. Is it easy? Is it easy to admit we're wrong?

I think those are part of the examples that Paul is getting at here when we examine our own work. Is it easy to believe that I do determine the direction of my life or is that somebody else's responsibility? Is that their problem?

Teddy Roosevelt thought about it a little bit differently. You know what he said. He said "If I could kick the person in the pants who was most responsible for my trouble, I wouldn't be able to sit down for a month." A lot of times, that's the case. You see, I think that personal responsibility, that personal accounting that Paul is talking about here in Galatians, examining our own works, and rejoicing in ourselves alone. I'm not going to blame somebody. I can rejoice because I recognize the fact that I can do these things through the power of God. It's through His Holy Spirit. Not on my own. I can't do it myself. Because my own thinking, my own ways have lead me to blame and to hide and to justify. But God's way and His attitude and the mind of Christ leads me to take that personal accounting. To recognize that I do have choices just like Adam and Eve. Just like the children of Israel. And I've got to seize what is in front of me, make the right choices and take control. Take those personal choices and apply the word of God so that I do the things that are right, that are good, that are pleasing to God.

In fact, maybe Paul had this on his mind as he wrote to the Corinthians. Because over in 1 Corinthians he says it just a little bit differently. Notice 1 Corinthians 6:17. He uses an example that I think fits for you and I. For all of us. As he points out to those of us who are spiritually connected, which we certainly claim to be. We are spiritually connected to God. And here in 1 Corinthians 6:17 he points that out. He says, He who is joined to the Lord is one spirit with Him. Because we have the Spirit of God. We're joined to God. And so because of that, what does he remind us of? Because of that he says flee sexual immorality. Every sin that man does is outside the body. But he who commits sexual immorality sins against his own body. So, there's guidelines. There is a standard that we need to live by. So he starts to point out some of the standards here. Then in 1 Corinthians 6:19 he says, Do you not know your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you? Who you have from God and you are not your own. For you were bought with a price. Therefore glorify God in your body and your spirit which are God's. We are a temple. We are to be a building for God. We're housing God's Spirit, in a sense a temple in that way. So do we glorify God in our body? Do we find our identity, and take control of that identity so that whatever it is we are doing that that is bringing Him honor, that that is bringing Him glory, that is giving Him the credit for all that happens that is good in our life. That's what Paul is talking about. Because we're joined with Him. We're connected with Him. Our identity is found with Him and so how I dictate my choices are connected to Him. So of course I'm going to flee sexual immorality. Of course I'm going to get away from those things that do not bring Him glory and honor. And so we've made that choice, we've taken control of our life and we've submitted it to His Spirit. So that by His Spirit now it changes my perspective. It changes my thinking, so I'm not so ready to hide. I'm not so ready to blame. I'm not so ready to run away. I'm not so ready to justify things. But I've changed my perspective to God's way of thinking. I'm striving to put on the mind of Christ. So taking control of your identity means you're fulfilling your responsibility to God.

And, of course, what it also points out here, not only are we joined to the Lord as it says here, we're fulfilling our responsibilities to God. But did you notice we're also fulfilling our responsibilities to our neighbor? Because we're not getting messed up with sexual immorality, we're not doing those kinds of things. We're not impatient. We're not blaming others. We're not justifying ourselves. We're not putting others down. So, I'm loving my neighbor as myself. So I'm fulfilling the first commandment, the great commandment. I'm fulfilling the second, loving my neighbor as myself, and if I do those two things, I think the implication here, I'm also fulfilling the responsibility to myself. So if I love God, I love my neighbor, I'm showing responsibility, I'm taking personal accountability and fulfilling my responsibility to myself as well. So I think they are all intertwined in that way. And so as we build that spiritual structure with God's Spirit within us, we take that responsibility for how that structure is going to come out. That's a hard thing to do.

I heard an example of this that was related to a building that is in New York City. Today it is called 601 Lexington Avenue. You would probably recognize it. It's one of the ten tallest buildings in New York. Since the twin towers went down there is a lot more recognizable on the skyline. It's that really bright, shinny building. It's got a forty-five degree angle on the top of it and so it is kind of recognizable when you see the skyline because of the very interesting, unique shape that it has. It was built back in 1977 and the man who was responsible for the design, the structural engineer, the one who did the superstructure of the building, was a man named William LeMessurier. And he did such an amazing job that because of the building, and because of it's construction, and after it was completed, he was elected to the National Academy of Engineering. Of course that is one of the highest awards that you can receive in that field, so it is quite a professional recognition in that sense.

But something interesting happened a year after the building opened. A year after the building opened it came to the engineer's attention that something wasn't quite right. That 601 Lexington was flawed. You know what they found? They found that the steel superstructure, instead of being welded when the constructors were putting it together, they decided to cut some corners and they bolted those beams together instead of putting steel plates on them and welding them together. Now that doesn't sound like a very big deal, but they began to realize that if they got a strong wind, especially from certain directions that that building would just collapse. And these winds weren't that infrequent. They come along every ten, fifteen years or so. So this was a problem. This building could go down because of these bolts that were in the superstructure. In fact, it's kind of interesting, you know what floor was most vulnerable? The thirteenth floor. The thirteenth floor was most vulnerable. So here's the dilemma. What do you do? So, LeMessurier was faced with the problem. Do I tell somebody about this? Because if I tell somebody about this, what's going to happen? First of all it could be a big lawsuit and who's going to pay for that? Who's going to pay for your mistake because you should have been overseeing the construction and never allowed them to bolt that together. You should have made sure of that. Certainly that came to his mind. That lawsuits could easily come about. He could easily be bankrupted because of the mistakes that were made in putting this together. And in fact, elected to this ‘Engineer's Hall of Fame', per se, he could have been totally disgraced because he goes from being high on the mountain of wonderful deeds that he did to what was he thinking, what's wrong with him? So he figured his career could probably be over, that he would just be totally disgraced, and he even thought about suicide. He thought about killing himself because what a dishonor it was to have this beautiful structure actually be so vulnerable. But you know what he did? He decided to blow the whistle on himself. And so he did. He got a hold of Citicorp who owned the building at the time, he told them the problem. He notified the city and the different corporate leaders that this was the problem, that the structure was built incorrectly with all these bolts instead of welding. And you know what they began to do? They began to dig into that superstructure and weld all of those joints. Take out the bolts and weld each one of those joints. And so they did that. Took them a year to do that. And after the work was completed, in fact, it was kind of interesting, when they were half way through, half way through replacing these different bolts, there was a hurricane that was offshore from New York City and he was just beside himself thinking, oh no, if that comes on shore we're all going to be in trouble. But at the last second the hurricane turned and went a whole different direction. And so, ultimately, they did finish. It cost millions of dollars, but the interesting thing about it was that instead of LeMessurier being disgraced, he was honored even more. Instead of his reputation being ruined, it was enhanced. It was enhanced because he took personal responsibility. He became the man that said, I have a problem, I have to fix this problem, I made the problem, and now we've got to do it right.

And of course, I think that whole scenario plays out in our life all the time. It should. That I have a problem, in fact, I am the problem and I need God's help to fix this problem because I belong to God. My identity is with Him. I need to fix my superstructure. You know because we are a flawed building, aren‘t we? We area flawed structure. And yet we may stand before each other and say boy, we look good.  I've got my tie on today. I don't look half bad. I look strong. I look confident. I look reassured. But, you know, that's the outside. What's going on on the inside? By all appearances everything is great. But you see, God knows the heart. He knows our points of weakness. He knows there is some of those areas in our life that are bolted together, they are kind of bending in the wind, and we need to replace those things with that spiritual welding that can really be found only in God because otherwise we are vulnerable to collapse.

So what do we do? I think we realize where our identity lies, we get the help we need. We take control, turn our lives over to God, and realize that's where we can get the help that we need. That's where ultimately we can get fixed. We can be made right. And we're doing that by taking personal responsibility. Recognizing our own responsibility in these things.

In fact, that's the way Joshua mentioned Israel had to do it. If they were going to succeed, if they were going to build a nation that was strong and invulnerable to attack, they had to be welded together by God. So if you look over at Joshua 24, at the very end of Joshua's life. His life is wrapping here at the very end of the book of Joshua. And he tells the people, he tells them to have that kind of perspective. To take control of your identity, fulfill your responsibility to God. Fulfill your responsibility to your neighbor and by doing those things you will fulfill your responsibility to yourself. He says it a little differently in Joshua 24:14. Therefore fear the Lord. Serve Him in sincerity and truth. Put first things first. He says put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the river and in Egypt. Serve the Lord. Know where your identity springs. It says, if it seems evil for you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you'll serve. Whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the river, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you dwell. You've got to choose, he says. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. So, once again we have that scenario playing out. We have an opportunity to choose. God sends Joshua who says this is the best choice, this is what you need to do.

And so as we begin to do that we realize that's what we have to do. We have to do that today. We have to accept that personal responsibility and develop that ability to get the help we need when we need that help. Where was their help? In fearing the Lord. Serving Him. That was their very present aid. Remember Psalm 46, I think it is. God is a refuge. God is our strength. He is a very present aid. He is always ready. He's always ready to help so we don't have to blame, we don't have to fear, we don't have to mistrust. We don't have to feel insecure. So we can recognize the fact that we do determine our choices. We do determine the direction of our life. We can get rid of the masks that we hide behind. We don't have to run and we can reorganize our priorities and our goals.

And so, this concept, I think in a way, Joshua is saying has to be stamped on the hearts and minds of the people of Israel so they will do what's best. And it's no different for us. I think this concept of personal responsibility has to be stamped and internalized to the depth of our very being.

Paul said about that same thing over in Ephesians 4. Paul kind of sums it here in Ephesians 4 and the beginning of Ephesians 5, and talks about this accountability that God expects from each and every one of us. Notice the way that Paul put it here over in Ephesians 4:22. I'm going to read it from the New Revised Standard Version, it might be just a little bit different than yours, but notice what it says: You were taught to put away your former life, your old self, corrupt and diluted by it's lust, and be renewed in the spirit of your minds. To clothe yourselves with the new self. You see, that's taking personal responsibility. That means, I'm going to choose what I'm going to wear today. I'm going to clothe myself, I'm going to put on, the way the King James says it, put on the new man. I'm going to choose what I wear today. It's my responsibility to decide my attitude, my approach, my direction, my thinking. God has given me His Spirit. Am I going to use it, or not? Am I going to respond to it, or not? Am I going to trust God to direct me, or am I just going to do what I want to do? Well, he says, Clothe yourself. Put on this new self, created according to the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. I can identify with that, that's who I should be. That's who God is. So then he says, Ephesians 4:25, Put away falsehood. Let's all speak the truth to our neighbors. For we're members of one another. Be angry, but be careful. Watch out. Don't sin. Don't let the sun go down on your anger. Don't make room for the devil. That's not who we want to identify with. So, the behavior that goes along with that, that's not what I'm going to think. That's not what I'm going to do. Ephesians 4:28 Give up stealing. Rather let them labor and work honestly with their own hands having something to share with the needy. Ephesians 4:29. Let no evil talk come out of your mouths. I'm going to be responsible for even the things that I say. Because what I'm going to say are things that are useful for building up, it says. And as there is need so that your words may give grace to those who hear. Because if I don't do those things, I'm not being accountable to God, and ultimately Ephesians 4:30 says and if I don't do those things I'm grieving the spirit. I'm not utilizing God's Spirit the way that I should. It's useless. It's not being a part of my thinking and reasoning and actions. So he says Ephesians 4:30, don't grieve the Holy Spirit of God with which you were marked with the seal for the Day of Redemption. So instead he says put away bitterness. Put away wrath, and anger, and wrangling and slander. Why we're taking account of ourselves. Putting those things away, putting on Christ. So he says forgiving one another as God and Christ has forgiven you. Then he goes on in Ephesians 5:1. The thought continues Therefore be imitators of God as beloved children and live in love as Christ loved us and gave Himself up for us. A fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.

So Paul summarizes the kind of thinking, the kind of people that we need to be. The kind of family that we need to be. The family of God. We are God's sons and daughters and so we recognize who we are. We know that our identity is in the family of God as His children. And so God reminds us; take control of that identity. Take control of who you are. Respond to His great calling and be accountable to God. Be accountable to the family of God. Be accountable to yourself. And when we take that personal responsibility we can be sure then that we're choosing life. Because, after all, it is our choice.