Focus: The Problem of Irresponsible Believers
Text: James 4:17 – Therefore to him that knoweth to do good and doeth it not, to him it is sin. [kjv]
Introduction
In our previous series, we have been taught that every believer is saved unto responsibility. Once we are saved, there are some expectations from us as believers. We agree that not every believer is responsible enough to carry out the duties which we have listed in prior teachings. Today we shall look at the problems associated with being an irresponsible believer. The book of James 4 vs 17 tells us that anyone that knows the good that he/she ought to do and does not do it, commits sin. This means that a believer that knows his responsibilities as a believer and fails to perform them commits sin. The word “sin” herein may not be in relation to lying, anger, pride, immorality and the likes; it simply means that the person is doing the wrong thing. Note that even though this sin is not a sin unto death, it is one that keeps the believer in perpetual infanthood, i.e. such fellow would remain a baby in spiritual things and experience no growth.
Every man is responsible for himself. [Ez 18 vs 20] Do not keep saying that your father’s/mother’s righteousness is still saving you, because you have your own righteousness to work with. Do not say that the goodness of your father is keeping you because you have your own goodness to pursue. Awaken to your responsibility! This is synonymous with the analogy of a man who used his strength and resources to build a house, but he has a lazy son who refused to work in the expectation that he would inherit his father’s house after his father’s demise. The African community is of the belief that when the son finally inherits the house, he would sell it off and waste the proceeds. Why? The reason is that the son did not understand the process, and so he is not responsible enough to ensure continuity of same. There are quite a number of believers who are not responsible enough for the continuity of Christianity on earth. Beloved, it is never enough to only be counted with the numbers; it is enough to be an effective member of the family of God. You must be a major contributor to the continuity of kingdom assignment on earth. In truth, there is no need praying for some people to be wealthy, because their wealth will make no impact to the body of Christ. Likewise, there is no need to groom or invest in some people’s talents and skills because they will not use such talents in service to God. God’s investments in the lives of some believers are a waste because such believers are irresponsible believers.
There was a man in the Bible called Demas. Paul acknowledged him as someone that was important in the body of Christ. [Col 4 vs 14] Paul even described Demas alongside others as his fellow labourers in the vineyard; [Phil 1 vs 24] but all of a sudden, Demas became irresponsible and departed to Thessalonica. [2 Tim 4 vs 10] Thus in the New Testament, Demas was categorized as one of the believers that had backslidden and abandoned their responsibilities to the Kingdom. Many believers had begun well in Kingdom responsibility, but have backslidden and have become irresponsible Christians.
Irresponsibility involves neglecting your responsibility, assignment and divine expectations. Today’s believers leave church because they were offended by another believer in church, and so they halt their service to God. They forget that when believers halt/neglect their responsibilities, heaven is not happy and their destinies enter a stagnant or slow motion mode. It is crucial to emphasize that if you consistently follow the nine responsibilities that were outlined in the previous teachings for a period of one year, your life will surely experience a shift. God is still in the business of lifting people, but He is incapacitated in lifting men that have not done what they should do. The gospel truth is that God will not do for man what man ought to do for himself.
WHY ARE BELIEVERS IRRESPONSIBLE?
- Ignorance [Eph 4 vs 18] – the devil has blinded the hearts of many believers and darkened their understanding, and so they are no longer concerned about the kingdom or things that should advance their lives. Some believers even see you as “too spiritual” when you preach to them about the responsibilities of a believer.
- Laziness towards spiritual things – Many lazy believers can be likened to the sluggard in the Bible who desire many things but obtain nothing. [Prov 13 vs 4] For instance, a man with zero spiritual life [no fasting or prayer life] wishing to raise the dead or heal the sick will be incapacitated from doing such. Most times, Christians forget that every move of God is traceable to a responsible believer who was lost somewhere in God’s presence. Beloved, nothing happens by chance, as there is the place of preparation. You cannot sit in a place, not doing anything and expect things to happen. You have to be diligent in the things of God; because the diligent man is a man whose hands touch realms, dimensions, and the reality of God. Such man is diligent in prayer and seeking God. A diligent man determines to get things done no matter the obstruction he encounters on the way.
- Spiritual Death – Many irresponsible believers are already passing through a phase called spiritual death. [2 Thes 1 vs 9] Some are already suffering from condemnation and death. Many believers have been caught up by guilt because of the sin they fell into. Hence, they find it difficult to pray as a result, and they keep running away from the church. Spiritual death will keep pushing them away from God and the place of prayer. In fact, one of the most difficult sets of people to minister to, are those who are spiritually dead because the minister will be required to force some life into them to revive them. Just as a dead man cannot hear anything, it is difficult for a person that is spiritually dead to understand spiritual things. They are ignorant of the operations of the enemies, and cannot also discern the presence of angels in their environments.
They are oblivious to the happenings around them and everything seems normal to them. Bethren, it is abnormal to be normal. This is why the songwriter sang “Holy Ghost, don’t let me be normal.” The truth remains that the world is not as physical and natural as it seems. - Spiritual Attacks – Many believers become irresponsible as a result of spiritual attacks. Anytime you give numerous excuses for not being in church or neglecting spiritual activities, it is a sign that you are under spiritual attacks. Many believers give excuses that they cannot be serious with the things of God due to the nature of their work or businesses. However, if it is the nature of your work or business, it means you have control over it; and if you have control over it, it means that you can factor God into your process and timing. Also, the moment you let your business to control your time and all aspect of your life, that business is your God. Anything that controls your thinking, reasoning, direction, and movement such that you have no control over it, then that thing has become your God. It is not in God’s design that anything should control us. God expects us to keep, manage and control anything that is in our care. But when you are unable to take charge, it means there is an attack on your spirit man; and the enemy is preventing you from seeing solutions where necessary. Thus, there is a spiritual attack that makes Christians irresponsible and those attacks should be addressed.
- Irresponsible Company – Scriptures teach us that anyone that walks with the wise shall be wise; but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. [Prov 13 vs 20] A man that walks with a companion of fools will be wasted. Brethren, if all your friends are of the opinion that “church na scam,” you will soon realize in the long run that even your own life is a scam. When a believer refuses to grow and take responsibility, God will raise up another to do his work.
- Worldliness – The Bible admonishes us to love not the world, neither the things that are in the world because if any man loves the world, the love of the Father is not in him. [1 John 2 vs 15] Some believers do not want to be associated with God. Others do not want to pray too much so that their friends will not say that they are acting like God, if they pray too much. But, each time you tell yourself that you would not do things because of the world, then there is a problem. What are the things in the world? They are:
[a] The lust of the eyes – many are carried away by beauty. Once you are carried away with the lust of the eyes, the world will hinder you from prayer. I heard of a female celebrity who said she spends 7 hours to wear makeup before she goes for an event. Brethren, this is a demonic possession.
[b] The lust of the flesh – the flesh keeps calling you to things that are satisfying. Little wonder that many Christians can no longer fast. Some develop ulcers only during fasting seasons, and they get better when the fasting is over. The lust of the flesh has the ability to keep one in perpetual bondage, because the Bible tells us to say we are strong even in times of sickness. God does not want us to claim sickness, depression, sexual immorality and other things that serve the flesh. Keep away all things that service the flesh from your life,
[c] The pride of life – Some persons see themselves as too big to serve, and this has denied them of God’s blessings and the grace and power of God. The reason being that those people claim class when they ought to pray and receive, and they see themselves as too big to serve God and carry out the assignment they are given.
Distraction – There are a lot of distractions for the Christians of today. [Heb 12 vs 1] We are in a social media world and so the world is very distracted of lately. I was telling a group of students in a school that when they pick up their phones, there are enough distracting activities to keep them busy from 7am to 7pm, or even for the whole 24hours in the day. The world is so distracted that many people no longer need to watch TV; the internet has everything you need. Beloved, be careful of the content you access because the truth remains that the information/online materials you feed yourself, has no relevance to your destiny. What you feed yourself with is what you become. All these distractions keep people from praying. One sister said whenever she wakes up at night to pray, she starts pressing her phone. Some believers should be banned from their phone for one year or more, as a form of retreat.
- Not mindful of heaven – Set your affection on the things above, and not the things on earth. [Col 3 vs 1] The attention of many believers is not on heaven; in fact there are believers that do not like hearing that there is heaven. But heaven is the ultimate goal of every believer, and it is a disaster for a believer to miss heaven. Consequently, Christians are no longer responsible because heaven is no longer their goal and they don’t look up to God anymore.
- Being fleshy and not spiritual [Rom 8 vs 1]
- Modernizing God – Scriptures say that Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. [Heb 13 vs 8] There is no new God, God is God and remains the same holy God. You cannot modernize God, i.e. you can’t try to change or update God to a modern God. Likewise, the Bible remains the same old book with new message; it cannot be changed by man. God is still the same God that Elijah prayed to for rain in the Old Testament; and He is still the same God that Jesus prayed all night to in the New Testament. This is why a believer cannot say that he/she does not need righteousness, prayer, etc again, because God has not changed and so his principles remain unchanged.
- Disregard for God [Rom 1 vs 28] – People do not regard God that is why they do not think that they have any responsibilities toward God.
- Pride – Pride is a destroyer and you must never allow pride to be in you.
Conclusion
God is looking for responsible believers and you and I cannot afford to be irresponsible. Hence we have to wake up to our responsibilities.
Prayer
Lord if I have in any way been irresponsible in my service to you, have mercy on me in the name of Jesus
