The Responsible Man

If there is one great lack in adult men, Christian and non-Christian, it is integrity. That is a word that encompasses honesty, moral soundness, purity, uprightness and the willingness to take responsibility. It is this aspect of integrity that is addressed here. After a person receives Christ, responsibility should be an expected characteristic. Responsibility is one of the characteristics of a selfless man. Irresponsibility is one of the characteristics of a selfish man.
God has assigned responsibilities to kings, governors, masters, husbands and fathers. We are held responsible by God, whether or not we are acting responsibly. If we do not fit any of the above positions, we should be in training to be responsible. It is part of manhood.

We have had a worldly view of manliness. It is determined by testosterone and it results in fighting, drunkenness, and licentiousness. In many cases, the emphasis on these characteristics keeps a man from accepting responsibility -the real evidence of manhood.

Adam was irresponsible when he said to God, "The woman you put here with me she gave me some fruit from the tree and I ate" (Genesis 3:12, NIV).

Adam blamed the woman and God. God replied in Genesis 3:17:
To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat of it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life.” (NIV)
Men have been blaming their wives ever since, and their children, and their bosses and everyone but themselves.

Abram was also irresponsible:
As he was about to enter Egypt, he said to his wife Sarai. “I know what a beautiful woman you are. When the Egyptians see you, they will say, ‘This is his wife.’ Then they will kill me but will let you live. Say you are my sister, so that I will be treated well for your sake and my life will be spared because of you.” (Genesis 12:11-13, NIV)

Abram anticipated being killed by the Egyptians to get his beautiful wife. He had her tell a lie and say she was not his wife, but his sister. Pharoah took her and treated Abram well and made him rich. Pharoah and his household were afflicted with serious disease because he took Abram’s wife to be his wife. When Pharoah found out, he gave Sarai back and kicked Abram out of the country. About 20-25 years later, Abram, now called Abraham, did the same thing again with another king of another nation, only this time he lied instead of having Sarah lie. The king of Gerar, Abimelech, took her. God told Abimelech that he was as good as dead for taking a married woman. God protected Sarah. He had not touched her. Read the story in Genesis 20. This irresponsibility was passed on to Isaac. He lied to the same king about Rebekah. The unbelievers had a greater conscience about this than Abraham and Isaac. They had scorn for the irresponsibility of the believers (Genesis 26). Sarah and Rebekah were weaker and innocent.

Irresponsibility is a special kind of sin. It is a sin that holds other people responsible, someone weaker and maybe innocent. Irresponsibility is like lying. It is a cover, a means of self protection. It is selfishness to the extreme. We see it in disclaiming fatherhood, not paying child support, blaming others, wife beating, verbal abuse, not providing, and not giving love and protection.