Accountability

I think I’ve finally found a topic that’s less popular than the blog I did on Submission a while ago: Accountability.

It seems to me that society today suffers from a fear of accountability. I believe that not wanting to be held accountable drives a lot of bad behaviour and erroneous belief. This is more than the natural human tendency to “get away” with things.

I believe it is this denial of accountability that is at the base of most atheistic beliefs and behaviour. It drives an ever-increasing scale of excuse-making and blaming and has escalated into an attitude of public mockery without any substance of reason (I’m reminded of Richard Dawkin’s invective call to his followers (with regard to Christians) to “mock them, ridicule them, in public … with contempt”).

As much as we don’t like accountability, we need it. Our justice system cannot function without it. Indeed, some believe that they need to personally hold others accountable when the justice system is perceived to have failed. This accounts for the “protests” after the Michael Brown grand jury decision that somehow end up with stealing and damaging the property of people that had nothing to do with the shooting.

Whether we like it or not, we are accountable. We are accountable to parents, teachers, siblings, governments, anyone who has authority…and ultimately, God. Psalm 10:13 says: Why does the wicked renounce God and say in his heart, "You will not call to account"? Did you catch that? It is wickedness to actively deny or fight accountability, to believe that God will not hold us accountable.

We convince ourselves that God doesn’t exist, because once He doesn’t, there is no one ultimately to hold us accountable. We can bluff, plead, lie, evade, argue, “get a good lawyer to get us off” when the party keeping us accountable is a human or a human organisation. We can’t do that with God, He doesn’t play by our rules. We can’t do that with our heart, or conscience either, because that part is the bit of God we have in us and isn’t fooled either. And, we face death, and any thought/belief of an afterlife means an encounter with God and being held accountable.

That’s where Brittany Maynard’s quest for a dignified death under her own terms fails. She got through all of the accountability barriers, except for God. That’s where officer Darren Wilson and Bill Cosby will be held accountable, if not in this life.

How do you feel about accountability? Is there something right now that you’ve gotten away with that the higher court of conscience is not fooled by? It might be wise to go to the highest court first and get right with Him, and then set about allowing accountability to set us free from the secrets that bind us.

Deceived by the Heart

Jeremiah 17:9 - The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?

I thought of this verse today when reading about the grand jury decision on the death of Michael Brown.  I read the testimony of officer Darren Wilson, and have seen the protests, both when Michael died, and now, after the decision not to prosecute officer Wilson.

The Michael Brown case is news because Michael was black and officer Wilson is white.  Reading officer Wilson’s testimony, there are elements that would tend to explain and even justify what he did (the grand jury saw this, as well), but, the one question that officer Wilson can’t answer with any certainty is: would the outcome have been the same if Michael Brown was white? 

Not to compare the two, but the accusations of rape against Bill Cosby are also in the news.  I couldn’t help but notice that most of the women that have come forward fit a certain pattern at the time of the alleged assault: late teens, and white.  Given what we have heard so far, what conclusion can we draw about Bill Cosby:  that he, a black man, sought out white teenaged girls to assault, that he was an “equal opportunity” predator, or that he is an innocent man that is a victim of false accusations?  Bill can provide an answer (at least to himself) that differentiates the first two from the last, but discerning between the first two (if he is guilty) would be much more difficult.

Racism is but one aspect of a wicked heart, and look what devastation it can cause.  And, if we examined our actions (especially our sinful ones), what other destructive motives would we find?  I believe this is what the Holy Spirit, through Jeremiah, was getting at. And, He gives us the answer in the very next verse:

Jeremiah 17:10 - I Jehovah search the heart, I try the reins, even to give to each man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.

Brittany, and Hope

I noted the passing of Brittany Maynard the other day.  Brittany is the lady that chose to end her life at 29, due to a diagnosis of brain cancer. She made headlines because of her choice, and the world tracked her as she made it through her bucket list on the way to a planned ending on November 1^st.

Brittany generated a lot of opinions on her choice, from euthanasia proponents to right-to-lifers, from atheists to religious.  But, all have to agree that she had the choice, and, since none of us have walked in her shoes, opinions largely only promote your own point of view. 

I, like most people, felt a great sadness when reading her story. What saddened me the most about her choice is that it indicated a loss of hope. 

Hope can come in more than one flavour.  In Brittany's case, the most immediate hope would be for a cure, maybe a long shot, but stranger things have happened.  Jim Kelly, former quarterback of the Buffalo Bills, has undergone an epic battle with the big C, and he was recently pronounced cancer-free.  This may not last, but I guarantee Jim’s pretty darn happy about it, and glad to be alive. 

The deeper hope troubled me more. Brittany’s choice indicates that she had no hope of something better after this life. This hope requires faith, and puts restrictions on our choices.

I’ve not faced what Brittany faced, but I know that any situation in life can be easier to face when you have that hope that stems from faith. On one level, it helps you to cope when you have that something in the future to look forward to.  And, as you progress through life and you reach each of those things you were looking forward, that one last thing to look forward is that your life will go on after you die.  This requires faith.  I hope Brittany had this, I can’t imagine how she faced that moment without it.

I’ve heard the terms “death with dignity” and “death on your own terms” in conjunction with Brittany’s death.  I don’t believe that death is, or can be, dignified.  I’ve heard of too many people that endure indignity (chemotherapy, hardship, humiliation, pain and torture) just to stay alive.  And, as far as death on your own terms, well, your birth wasn’t, so why would you expect that your death will be?

I’m glad Brittany got to do her “bucket list” before she died.  But, the hand that filled the bucket is now gone, and, like a bucket imprint of sand on the beach, it slowly washes away.  The world has moved on to another story, and the people that Brittany loved and that loved her are the only ones that remember.

Here’s what lasts:

So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three (1 Corinthians 13:13)

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen (Hebrews 11:1)

Lent, and Giving Up

Lent is almost upon us.  Even if you are not in a religion that practices Lent, you probably know about it.  It’s that time when fish sandwiches suddenly appear and get promoted on fast food menus.  It’s that time when you are supposed to give up something.

I struggle with Lent.  I usually set myself up for failure by planning on giving up a lot of things, which gradually peeter out, usually within the first week.  I view it as the second chance at New Year’s resolutions (which, by the way, work probably as well as Lenten “give ups”).  Usually, my “giving up” ends with giving up on giving up J

It may help to take a step back and take another look at Lent.  Lent starts 40 days before Easter and is meant to be a time when we focus on the life of Jesus, particularly on His death and resurrection, and to bring home the fact that He did this for me.  The giving up comes in as we try to identify with the suffering of Christ, albeit in a meagre way.

It’s perfectly ok to give up chocolate, and potato chips, and TV for Lent, and good luck to you if you do.  But, if you make it through Lent unscathed, I’ll almost guarantee that a glut of chocolate and chips and TV will result on Easter Monday.  And, you’ll have come through Lent ok, but no closer to God.

I’d like to propose that this year, we all look at our lives and identify things that are keeping us from God. The obvious here is sin, but there may be other things (like social media, for example) that are not sinful, but may lead us down a path away from God.  These are the things, I believe, that we need to target and “give up”.

It’s been said that it takes 21 days to make or break a habit.  Lent has 40.  So, Lent offers us the chance, once a year, if we use it right, to change our lives for the better, and come out of it closer to God. 

Happy Lent.  Can’t wait to see the new you after Easter!

Love the Sinner, Hate YOUR Sin

I ran across this quote from Mark Lowry the other day on Facebook:

“Love the sinner, hate the sin? How about: Love the sinner, hate your own sin! I don’t have time to hate your sin. There are too many of you! Hating my sin is a full-time job….How about you hate your sin, I’ll hate my sin and let’s just love each other!”

Great quote.  It reminds me that I don’t hate my sin near enough (I tend to excuse, justify, dismiss) and that I hate everyone else’s too much (even when their sin is something I’m doing too). 

The problem with hating another’s sin is that it often leads to hating the sinner. It can also lead to a superiority complex that is contrary to who God wants us to be.  Jesus made it very clear in the Sermon on the Mount that sin is sin, there are no degrees, and no differences before God.  He saw no difference in the sins of Hitler and those of the apostle Paul (Paul even said, in 1 Timothy: “Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, of whom I am the foremost” (verse 15)).

What’s the answer, then?  I think it may be in these lines from the Casting Crowns song, Love You With the Truth:

“When we love, we earn the right to speak the truth, when we speak truth, we show the world we truly love.”

The answer is there, love.  The answer always seems to be love.  But not my kind of love, God’s kind of love.  It is the answer that granted me salvation and adoption into the kingdom of God. It is the love of mercy, forgiveness, grace and healing.  It keeps me and sustains me and is the source of life.

None of this is easy. I find it “easier” to speak the truth, but almost impossible to do so in love.  The problem is that you can’t start with the truth, you have to start with love.  Hating the sin isn’t the starting point, it’s then too easy to stretch that to hating the sinner.  You have to start with love, real love, genuine love… God’s love.