Portmore Lane Covenant Community Church

As I reflect on the past year and the start of a new year, two words come to mind.

The first word is Responsibility (RESPONSE + ABILITY).
The second word is Accountability (ACCOUNT + ABILITY).

Today, I will look at Responsibility and give my take on the matter.
I broke this word up into two separate words – “Response” and “Ability” so we can delve deeper into it.
According to the Collins Student’s Dictionary for the Caribbean, the definition of ability is “the possession of the necessary skill or power to do something”.

All of us have been given some ability by God to do something, whether small or great. We may have acquired this ability over time and through various experiences and opportunities that God has allowed us to encounter in our lives. We may have been endowed supernaturally in one moment, as mentioned in the Bible about Timothy, in I Timothy chapter 4 verse 14.
Whatever way we have received this ability, we all have some ability and the Bible gives us no room for excuse.

To enforce my point, take a look in the Bible, in the New Testament, in the First Letter to the Corinthians. In chapter 12, we hear the Apostle Paul telling us that all of us have different gifts bestowed on us by the Holy Spirit (verses 7-11). The rest of the chapter is devoted to explaining that these abilities are given for interdependency, unity, and the benefit of the whole Church. He takes time to explain that we should never think that anyone and their gift is insignificant to the whole body (church). It is important then, for unity in the church and a proper use of our abilities, that we should not go to either extremes of underrating ourselves and our abilities, nor overrating them either. That goes for the individual about self and also the whole Church in relation to an individual.

The Apostle Paul argues the same point in his letter to the Romans, chapter 12. The same points of God bestowing gifts and abilities upon believers in the Church and its importance for unity, interdependency and development of the individual believer as well as the whole Church. In both cases he lists some supernatural gifts and natural abilities that God has bestowed on persons in the Church. This is so for both the local church fellowship and the Universal Church.

But Paul did not stop there. He mentions some responses to these abilities in Romans chapter 12 verses 6-8, as does Peter in I Peter chapter 4 verses 10-11.
Peter tells us we are given these abilities because of God’s grace (undeserved favour) so that God may be praised through Jesus Christ.

The Collins Dictionary defines response as “a reply or reaction” and the word respond is to “reply favourably”.

It is clear from the Bible references above, that God expects us to respond to the abilities He has given us to the benefit of the common good of His Body, the Church.

If you are good at understanding and explaining things and can impart knowledge in a simple and effective manner then you can respond by teaching Bible class or Sunday School or in the Church’s educational centre.
If you are good at getting things done in an orderly way and can coordinate the work and activities of others you could respond by serving as an administrator for any of the ministries in the church or help out in the office. The worship team, Educational Centre, Evangelistic Ministry, Sunday School, all need to be managed by people with such abilities.
Maybe you are good at planning and executing birthday parties, weddings, outings and social events. You are the person that the church will need to plan its conferences and seminars, outreach meetings, socials and corporate prayer meetings.

If you take an inventory of things you have successfully done in the past, skills you have acquired over the years, a natural flair and passion for some area of interest and a tendency to get the commendation and appreciation from others who have benefited in some kind of way from a particular ability of yours, then this may well be your gift from God to others.

To identify and respond to the abilities God has given me is one of my goals for 2008. What will be your response? Drop me a line and let me know by your comments what is your take on this.
Next time I will share on Accountability.

Happy New Year!