Monthly Bulletin

"And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. Then the Lord God called to Adam and said to him, 'Where are you?' So he said, 'I heard Your voice in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; and I hid myself.' And He said, 'Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree of which I commanded you that you should not eat?' Then the man said, 'The woman whom You gave to be with me, she gave me of the tree, and I ate.'" — Genesis 3 vs 8-12

Irresponsibility is defined as not answering to authority, lacking a sense of accountability, unable to respond to conscience. It also means to be rash in behaviour, unstable, undependable, loose — most of the church people today are loose, they have no control of their thoughts, words or actions, no respect to authority and leaderships. Most Christians are very loose. Irresponsibility means also immoral, lacking in morals, disobedient to authorities, disobedient to parents. Irresponsibility also means unpredictability — you cannot predict an irresponsible person. Irresponsibility means to transfer blames — people who blame others for their non actions or unproductive lifestyle are irresponsible.

Today, we will blame Adam for all of our problems — nobody will say I am referring to him or her, it is Adam's fault. Note that I have only read the Bible and the dictionary so far so it is not my words. God gave Adam very clear and simple instructions: eat everything but don't eat this one. But from what we read in our text, he blew it up. Is that irresponsibility or not?

Let us see where it all started. Genesis 1 vs 26: "Then God said, Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." This was a great responsibility!

The word dominion here does not mean subjugation as some people does, or subjecting others to a second class status — it means to provide management, to make it better, to take full responsibility, to be in good charge. God put Adam in the garden with all the blessings, but he can only sustain it if he can keep some simple instructions, if he can be responsible to obey them.

Genesis 2 vs 15-17: "Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. And the Lord God commanded the man, saying, Of every tree of the garden you may freely eat; but of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall not eat, for in the day that you eat of it you shall surely die."

Simple instructions! When God called him, Adam, where are you? He started hiding, giving excuses and blaming someone else. The woman you gave to be with me gave me to eat. What? Irresponsibility. That is how we behave too — check your life. 2 Corinthians 13 vs 5 says: "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? Unless indeed you are reprobates."

vs 6 said: "But I trust that you will know that we are not reprobates."

Nothing is as destructive as irresponsibility — no commitment to anything or anybody, carefree and careless lifestyle. Africans are the worst offenders in this. Friends, take some responsibility for your life. Be there when you said you will be there. Do the things you promised to do. Keep the agreements you agreed on. Say a thing and mean what you say. Say the truth always no matter the consequences — be responsible.

Matthew 5 vs 37 says: "But let your Yes be Yes, and your No be No. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one."

Pentecostal churches have become rascals, without any rule at all — that is why many people are now afraid of their pastors and church leaders. Take responsibility for your growth, both spiritually and mentally. It is your responsibility. Apostle Paul told the people of Philippians in Phil 2 vs 12: "To work out their salvation with fear and trembling." You are the one to work it out — not your pastor. Stop blaming others, stand up yourselves and do something positive, be proactive, be involved. Engage your life to something bigger than you. If they can do it, you too can do it — they are human beings, nobody jumped down from heaven. They were born just like you were born.

There is a price to pay — pay it. It is uncomfortable for everyone. Men, it is your responsibility to take care of your wife and lead children. Yes, do it — others are doing it. Be responsible. Your wife is given to you to help you, but you must build her up to the capacity that she can be able to help you, until she is better than how you met her. She cannot help you if she needs to be better than you to be able to help you better.

Women are like the processing factory — whatever you give to them, they process it and multiply it and give back to you better. If you give her your seed, she will process it and give you back a child. If you give her a house, she will process it and give you a home. If you give her your grocery, she will process it and give you a meal. And if you give her your problem, she will process it, multiply it and give you back double trouble. So men, if you do not like what you are getting, then change what you are giving — and that is the same for life generally.

Let us take responsibility for our lives and the things committed to our hands. There is a saying: "To whom much is given, much is also expected."

And if you ever wanted to succeed and be something and amount to anything in your life, you must learn to take responsibility for all your responsibilities. Nothing happens on itself — people like you make things happen. Be that person! Take the responsibility! Do not be like Adam!