Recent events have brought to my mind the idea of accountability. Jean-Claude Duvalier is brought up on charges in Haiti but will he actually be held accountable for not just the funds that disappeared but for the people that disappeared under his rule. Zine El Abidine Ben Ali fled his country of Tunisia after the people rose up to finally protest his long-standing dictatorship. And now Egyptians are protesting Hosni Mubarak’s nearly 30 years in power and what it has or has not done for Egypt.
As Christians we often have this internal barometer of justice and of right and wrong. Whether we base it on biblical, societal or personal grounds, we have a desire for proper accountability. This can happen closer to home in more commonplace things like snow removal from our streets. Edmonton’s mayor apologized for the city’s current response to the snowfalls we have had.
We desire to hold people and governments accountable for past actions. We try to bring accountability for current actions. However, I believe that we, as followers of Christ who seek first His kingdom and righteousness, should be most interested in an accountability to the future.
We need to be living with our eyes focussed forwards towards our destiny. It’s the difference between who I am today and who God intends me to be that needs to be worked on. Not in the faithless manner of being bogged down in the present or the past but with the faith-filled belief in a God who can bring me into my destiny.
I am not saying that people do not have consequences for their actions. Nor am I saying that accountability is wrong. I am saying that as Christians who believe in forgiveness of sins (1 Jn. 1:9) and that there is no condemnation to those who are in Christ (Rom. 8:1; cf. Jn. 3:17), that we need to have a different focus.
Let’s consider some people from the Bible. David is a man who committed adultery and then murder to try to cover it up. Abraham lied on numerous occasions about his relationship with Sarah, even so far as to allow her to be in compromising places. Paul was directly involved or oversaw the killing of many Christians. And yet we hold these men in high regard for their faith and walk with God.
Future accountability is something I will develop to a better extent in a Sunday morning message. For now I would like you to consider some Scriptures. Consider Paul’s encouragement: “Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and wreaching forward to those things which are ahead, I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 3:13-14, NKJV) The writer of Hebrews, after spending considerable time speaking of faith and the heroes of the faith, wrote: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a huge crowd of witnesses to the life of faith, let us strip off every weight that slows us down, especially the sin that so easily trips us up. And let us run with endurance the race God has set before us.” (Heb. 12:1, NLT) Runners in a race focus on the goal and, in context, the sin that so easily trips people up is unbelief or lack of faith.
I want to encourage you to walk with a greater sense of destiny in these days. Be more focussed on who you are becoming than who you currently are. Don’t be tripped up by a faithless view of the present but be lifted up by a faith-filled view of your present and your future.
Journeying together with you,
Pastor Merril
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