An Intimidating Truth
By: Craig Docksteader
What if I told you that your journey here on the earth is not pre-planned? What if I told you that what you do matters and will impact both what you accomplish in this life and your opportunities in the next? What if I told you that despite the faithfulness of God, the power of God, and the mercy of God, your future and the welfare of others is contingent on the choices you make and the actions you take?
The very mention of this possibility freaks some people out. It creates in them an anxiety and a fear of falling short. They have been told that theirs is a world of opportunity without responsibility; that they can have authority without accountability. Some have been told that because Jesus paid it all, the work is done and there is nothing left to do. They have been duped with a false grace message that says, “Regardless of what you do, everything is going to turn out alright!”
Nothing could be further from the truth.
Ironically, we live in a generation where Christians are searching for purpose. They are uncertain of their place and their purpose so they flock to conferences, devour books, and seek out prophetic words in an attempt to find it. And yet the suggestion that such a discovery might carry with it significant personal responsibility, is not usually a welcome one. While they are prepared to accept that a failure to steward the environment will impact future generations, they are repulsed by the suggestion that how they live their lives can have an impact on their participation in the plans of God.
This is problematic.
It is a well-known management principle that you do not delegate responsibility without also delegating authority. Inversely, you do not delegate authority without delegating responsibility. If you are given a job to do, you must be provided with the authority to carry it out. And if you have the authority to make something happen, you have the responsibility to do so. The two go hand in hand.
This is true not only in the business world, but also in the kingdom of God. To think that God would give us authority without giving us accountability is wrong. But to think that God would give us opportunity without giving us responsibility is also wrong. In the kingdom of God, these things go together.
Regrettably, this is not often a welcome message. We live in a Christian culture which wants the opportunity and the authority to change the world but doesn’t want the responsibility to do so in case we find it to be inconvenient. That’s worth repeating: We live in a Christian culture which wants the opportunity and the authority to change the world but doesn’t want the responsibility to do so in case we find it to be inconvenient.
Lived properly, the Christian life is plenty inconvenient. Your life no longer belongs to you, and you no longer have the option of simply chasing after whatever you want. It’s a laid-down life that God seeks.
2 Chronicles 16:9 sums it up nicely when it says, “For the eyes of the LORD move to and fro throughout the earth that He may strongly support those whose heart is completely His.” Whether we like what it says or not, the message is clear: God needs our hearts to be fully His in order for Him to release the fullness of His purposes through us.
This truth can be intimidating. But I would encourage you to instead let it be invigorating. There is a growing discontent with the level we have lived at as Christians and a willingness to pay the price to obtain the “more” we long for. There is a hunger to not just hear the stories of miracles, but to live them.
But if we wish to walk in the authority that Christ has promised, we must first accept that this opportunity has been granted because we have been given great responsibility. If we accept that, it will drives us to our knees and into the presence of God, which is exactly where He needs us to be in order for Him to do what must be done in us first.
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Craig Docksteader is a former pastor, currently working on Parliament Hill in Ottawa, Canada. He and his wife Gail have three daughters and three granddaughters, and serve as elders and worship leaders in their local church.
