This is the first part of an article on responsibility, a term that can evoke different emotions. Some people are afraid of him; they think someone else is going to interfere in their lives and they may not like what they find. Some people think it’s great; Who doesn’t want someone to walk beside them while living the Christian life?Others like theory, but not practice. Many people visit Niddrie for a few weeks and often during the visit, say, “I would like to have this kind of community and responsibility at home. “However, several times the same people, after returning to stay, say after a few months: “Why can’t people leave me alone?Don’t I want to talk more about personal issues?
If you’ve been involved in some kind of relationship that involves responsibility, I’m sure you’ve found these attitudes or actually had them. So why do we take care of it?Why should people reveal their deepest, darkest secrets?Why does it bother us when most people can’t even really prepare, prepare, or listen to what you have to say?Christians have the Holy Spirit living in them and they have a Bible, isn’t that enough, and our relationship with God is not private?
- I hope that at the end of this series you will know the answer to these questions and better understand the importance of accountability.
- I thought the best way to solve this problem was to ask some simple questions: why should we be responsible?How is it a relationship that involves responsibility?.
If you look at your biblical concordance, you won’t find the term “responsibility. “But you will find principles and examples of disciplinary relationships in the scriptures. I think the most obvious starting point is Jesus himself. He chose twelve disciples who would follow him during his mortal ministry. They ate together, traveled together, slept together, and were instructed by the Lord (Jn 12:16; Mc 3. 7, 20; 6,1, 30-32). Jesus was intentional with these men; invested time, energy and effort. I’m sure this wasn’t the easiest band to like. they fought, tried to be Jesus’ best friends, and took time to understand what He was teaching them. One of them was very cheeky, another betrayed him for a little money, and another doubted that he was who he claimed to be. I wouldn’t have been as patient with them as Christ was!However, because Jesus loved them, he continued to live with them. What an example for us, we often want to throw in the towel after the first time we are upset.
Or think of the Apostle Pablo. Il is famous for his writings, missionary trips, and church settlements. But he also invested in some men during his life. Think of Timothy and Tito. Al beginning of letters to these men, Paul calls them “My beloved son?”and ‘my real son’. This shows that he had sincere love and concern for these young men; He was his spiritual father (Philippians 2:22). Paul spent time with these two men, teaching them the gospel and being a model of pious life for them, so that they could be sent to do the same in different places. the day, that should be our goal in our relationships of responsibility: we have to want to see people grow up and then have the same relationship with someone else. There must be a domino effect.
There are also many verses that speak scattered throughout Paul’s writings, there are verses that tell us to dedicate ourselves to one another (Rom 12. 10), to love each other (Rom 13. 8; 1P 1. 22, 3. 8; 1Jn 3. 11, 3. 23, 4. 7,11). , 12), live in harmony with each other (Rom 12. 16), educate themselves (Rom 15. 14), cheer (2Co 13. 11; 1 Ts 4. 18, 5. 11; Heb 3. 13), cheering (Heb 10. 24), rebuking one another (Col 3:16), and confessing sins to others (Tg 5:16).
However, for today’s purposes, I thought we should focus on Titus 2. 1-11. Stop and read it.
Now take a moment to think of one or two Christians who have influenced your life, people you really know. I hope everyone has thought of at least one person. The reason for doing this is to illustrate that the Christian life is a matter of community. Not a single person was responsible for helping you or me grow. We should all be able to stand up and talk about those who have been influential in our Christian walk. Otherwise, you can be almost certain that you are not growing as a believer beyond your own personal spirituality and opinions. Sooner or later we will get in trouble if we think we can live alone. Either we harden our hearts or we turn away from the theological heresies of every dangerous blog and the new teachings that emerge. Regardless of what we think of our local church, we need each other. This is the main point. We need people to challenge and encourage us. We need people who care about us. The book of Titus talks about this: Paul warns a young shepherd to protect his people from false teachers who seek to harm the flock.
See chapter 1. 11 :?Do you have to lock them up, because they survive whole houses, teaching them what they shouldn’t?See 1:13: “Give them back severely, that they may be healthy in faith. “Title 1 ends with this list of the sins of false teachers. We know them not only for their teaching, but also for the fruits of their lives. And as soon as we begin chapter 2, we see Paul alerting Titus on the introductory lines, saying, “But you?”It must be different.
How should it be different, and how should we be different as we wait for the blessed hope, the appearance of our Lord Jesus?You and Tite should listen to verses 1 through 11 until 2. 13 (read it now) becomes a reality in our lives. So let’s draw some principles from these verses. Verse 1: The key words here are “solid doctrine”. This phrase can literally be translated as “healthy teaching”. If we want to grow physically, we have to control what we eat and drink. We cannot simply feed on poor quality foods and we hope there are no consequences. The same is true for our souls. If we do not control what we eat and digest, this will have an effect on us spiritually. If we simply listen and read waste, the end result will be waste. Paulo wants Titus to “say what’s appropriate. ” A sound doctrine must be the basis of every true disciple in the body of Christ.
This applies to both women and men. Women often feel they don’t have to worry about doctrine because it’s “a matter of men. “Women just need to love and care for people. But in fact, it’s total nonsense. We don’t like or care about people if we don’t teach them a strong biblical doctrine. Paul here is not just about teaching leadership in the church, he is talking about a common language. He speaks of the common contexts in which Titus finds himself as a young shepherd. and where we find ourselves interacting with other women.
Titus is encouraged to speak in people’s daily lives using a healthy teaching, so he must study doctrine, not only by knowledge, but also by discipleship; after all, if our readings and knowledge are not put into practice, what good is it?This is how knowledge begins to grow. And if we avoid learning and studying the Bible and some of its difficult doctrines, what good is it?It’s also a serious danger. If we don’t have a solid approach to doctrine, we can’t teach anyone anything. Notice that in verse 7, Paul challenges Tite so that doctrine is not only learned and taught, but also illustrated.
So that’s the ‘why’. In Part 2, we will look at the “how”: what a relationship of responsibility should look like; as well as some tips to help you develop smoothly.