Accountable

The Bible records the first murder when Cain took the life of his brother Abel. When God challenges Cain to the whereabouts of his brother, he replies " am I my brother's keeper?". Cain in this one statement denies two things, firstly he is denying accountability of his action of murder. Added to this he is denying responsibility for the care of his brother that he should have shown. While many do not commit the sin of murder, most of us have denied something we should have been held accountable for. In fact it becomes clear that God calls us to be held accountable for the actions of our fellows. Christianity is about community in action, and we are accountable for our care and concern of those around us. "Am I my brother's keeper?", the answer is "yes I am". Yet this is a two-way street, not only must I be accountable for the actions of others, but I must be willing to be held accountable by others for my own actions. This is often the biggest problem. We rarely go to someone and ask them to hold us accountable, we rarely give people permission to step into our lives and speak. Yet this we must do, we must find people who we trust, and who are given permission to call us to account for the actions we are taking. In a runaway society, where deniability is prevalent, I ask dear reader are you being held accountable?

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