P.O. Box 53055    
Los Angeles, CA 90053   

EXPECT TO BE HELD ACCOUNTABLE

"The Prince of Paris has lost his hat, and No. 3 has it."

"No, Sir, not I, Sir, No. 6 has it."

"No, Sir, not I, Sir, No. 2 has it."

Ever played that game? The object is to answer fast and blame someone else as quickly as possible. We're taught early, aren't we? Blame someone else, anyone else.

The same thing happened way back in the beginning of time. When Adam sinned and God asked him what he had done, he blamed Eve. And then Eve turned around and blamed the serpent.

In recent years playing the blame game seems only to have gotten worse. Let me illustrate for a moment what I mean. Suppose we lose our temper. We swear and take the name of the Lord in vain.

Now, God stands at the door of our heart ready to forgive us. But supposing we say to Him, "That wasn't my fault. I got mad and said those bad words because the door handle broke and I couldn't get into the room."

Although God is willing to forgive us for our outbreak of temper, He can’t, because we won't ask for it. You see, we rationalized that our burst of temper was justified.

The way to receive God’s forgiveness is to repent. To repent simply means we admit we’re wrong. Unfortunately, the word ‘repent’ seems to have fallen through the cracks in recent years. It makes many people feel uncomfortable. They say the word creates negative feelings.

To repent means we feel bad about something we've done. But feeling bad about anything doesn't fit into the current lifestyle. Think of all the trouble and expense we go to these days just to make ourselves happy. We buy clothes to make us happy, we buy comfort food to make us happy, we buy vehicles to make us happy, we buy entertainment to make us happy. And if we’re still not really happy, we paint smiles on our faces and pretend to be happy. No, feeling sorry about anything is not what we want.

And another thing - to repent means we admit we did something wrong, and we don't like to be wrong. So we blame everybody but ourselves.

Have you ever thought that the gospel does one of the greatest favors one could possibly do a human being, and that is to hold us accountable? We don't hold a poisonous snake accountable for biting someone or a lion for eating cattle. That's just the way those animals are. We even call them “dumb animals.” But God doesn't treat us like animals. He holds us accountable. Once we ourselves accept the fact that we are responsible--not our red hair, not our mother or father, not the broken door handle--then our choices are either to repent and let God forgive us or to harden our heart and remain guilty.

If you want a changed and clean life, the way to find it is through repentance. In the Old Testament the message of the prophets was Repent. When Jesus began His ministry, His theme was, "Repent, for the kingdom of God is upon you" (Matthew 3:2 NEB). On the Day of Pentecost, Peter preached, "Repent then and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out" (Acts 3:19 NEB). The great revivals of the 18th and 19th century in Europe and America were all based on a call to repent.

Friend, God’s call to us to repent is not a put down. It’s a call to change, to go in another direction. When you’re driving down the road toward someplace new and you get lost, you look at a map and notice you’re going in the wrong direction. What do you do? You repent. Yes, you turn around and go in the right direction.

The gospel is about change. It's not about status quo. Status quo says, I'm not responsible, I can't help it. It's somebody else's fault.

For those who don't want to take responsibility and repent, there's a word they often use, and that word is "acceptance." In this context, acceptance means, "Here I am--I have some bad habits, I'm dirty and smelly, but I'm not going to change. You'll have to accept me the way I am.

In the Bible Jesus told a story about a father who had two sons. One son was responsible and helped the father take care of his business. The other son decided to ask for his inheritance early. Then he left home to find his own happiness. His youth and poor judgment caused him to squander away his money and left him broke, friendless, and with the most menial job just to be able to eat.

But one day he realized he had been wrong and decided to return to his father. The moment his father saw him coming toward the house, he came out with open arms to meet him. After embracing him, the father immediately threw his robe over him to cover his rags. And then he ordered a feast to be prepared.

Now, tell me. Did the father accept his son? Many would say he did. But, remember, to accept is to leave things the way they are, to learn to live with whatever is. Did the son say, "Here I am. I've done bad things; I've picked up some bad habits. I'm smelly and dirty, but you'll have to accept me the way I am"? No indeed. The son repented. He admitted that he had been wrong, and the father graciously received and restored him to the family.

Like the father in this story, Jesus receives us just the way we are when we come to Him--dirty, ragged, and hungry. But He is not content for us to stay that way. He wants to restore us, to give us a new heart, to clean us up, to make us part of the family again.

Friend, we must be careful not to confuse the word “receive” with the word “accept”. The reason is we are being urged these days to accept many unacceptable things--certain lifestyles, relationships, or habits--to accept them and not to try to change them. But that's not being like Jesus. Because Jesus, like the father in the story, wants to clean us, to change us, and to restore us to His family again. As Christians we can expect then to be held accountable. We can expect to have Jesus change us.

Another word that is misused these days is one that can short-circuit repentance, and that is the word dysfunction. This is a fairly new word on the scene, and it means impaired or abnormal. Certainly, dysfunction is a real situation that needs attention. But the use of the word can also wrongly cover bad habits, predispositions, inclinations, and past mistreatment. In other words, it is often used as an excuse and a crutch rather than as a method of improving. It also tends to place the responsibility for what we are on someone or something else.

If the truth be told, everyone is dysfunctional in one way or another. We've been badly affected by sin and its consequences. None of us has had a perfect upbringing. But if we blame our mistakes and failures on the past, we can never get a new start because we can't change our past. No amount of therapy or penance can erase what happened to us.

So, what's the way out? To say, "That's just the way I am, I'll never change," or to blame parents or spouses, or to declare yourself dysfunctional? No, the way out is to say, "Although I've had things happen to me in the past, I accept responsibility for what I am today."

Now, here's the beauty of the gospel. When we admit we are on the wrong road, we're able to turn around and go in another direction--the right direction. 1 John 1:9 (NEB) says it just right. “If we confess our sins, he is just, and may be trusted to forgive our sins and cleanse us from every kind of wrong;”

But repentance is not just where we begin the Christian life, it's an on-going characteristic of the Christian walk. (Acts 26:20 NKJV). We must live each day in an attitude of repentance. A spirit of repentance is our admission before God of our continual dependence on Him.

By the way, repentance is not something that we bring up from within ourselves. It is a gift that God gives to us when we ask Him. II Timothy 2:25 NKJV says. “In humility correcting those who are in opposition, if God perhaps will give them repentance to the acknowledgment of the truth.”

No, repentance is not something that comes naturally from our hearts. It is something very special that God will give us if we ask Him.

Do you remember when you were young and you, say, hit your little brother? What did your mother say? "Tell him you're sorry." You might have thought at the time, "Well, I'll say it, but I don't mean it." Did you ever do that? Of course, we all did. But once again, mother was right. That little exercise was not as useless as you thought. It's true, you may not have felt sorry at the time, but just saying the words, "I'm sorry" were conditioning you to say them again when necessary, and again, until they became easier to say and finally you meant it.

What can we expect in the Christian life? We can expect to be held accountable. This is a great favor God does for His human children. As Christians, we acknowledge our accountability before God by taking responsibility for what we are and then asking Jesus to receive us and to change us into His likeness.