{{2011_12_20_t1.jpg}} {{2011_12_20_t2.jpg}} {{2011_12_20_t3.jpg}} [[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/de/doku.php/jn_de_2011_12_20|Deutsche Version]] [[Start|| Wiki Start]] [[topics_collection_iii|| Topics Collection iii ]] ======How To Be Responsible ...====== Tuesday, December 20, 2011. Are you responsible for something? Perhaps you are leader of a section in a company. Or you are responsible for some particular activity in your church. Or you lead a group in the sports club. How are you managing your responsibilities? {{2011_12_20.jpg }} **Trouble With Responsibility ...** Responsible behaviour means that someone takes care of something. A responsible person will put care and effort in to make the best of the project. Responsibility usually includes to take care of people, to make plans, to guide coworkers, to make sure everything is in place, everything works, all works well! But as soon as you have a larger project, you are no longer responsible yourself alone. There are others, who are also responsible. They also need to take care. There are suppliers. There are other groups, institutions, companies who are taking part in the whole project. If they todo not deliver, you might not be able to do much. Then, it is also a feature of responsibility that you need to clearly state the problems. It can even be an act of responsibility to stop the whole project - if it turns out to be unrealistic! I also see a responsibility in communication. You should communicate what you plan to do when. But that is also a difficulty, if you cannot fully plan your day due to many external things coming in from different sides. If your schedule is determined by others, how can you act in a responsible way? One key point here is to say "no" and to say "that is out of my range". That can be quite a challenge, in particular when it is something you like a lot ... {{ 2011_12_20_2.jpg}} **God's Responsibility ...** Can we talk about God and responsibility? Is God acting in a responsible way? Or is he just letting things run as they are running, with all the mess we see in the world? How is God related to responsibility? In the New Testament God is described as the great father. He is treating humans as his children. He wants to take care. He is taking responsibility for them. He is doing what is needed to help them. We sometimes want God to help in a particular way. But he has already analyzed the situation and acted accordingly. That is the Christmas story, in combination with Easter and with Pentecost. God saw that mankind needs a fresh start, without guilt, without fear, in freedom of choice, in faith, in trust. Christmas provides this fresh start in Jesus, the Christ, born as a little baby. (Roland Potthast) [[http://www.jesusnetwork.eu/en/doku.php/topics_collection_iii|... more texts]]