That's not my job.

Responsibility - accountability, the state, fact, or position of being accountable to somebody or something (Encarta Dictionary).

Irresponsibility - (it would seem to follow that an opposite response of responsibility would fit here) [Maybe not]

If I could make a broad generalization, I think all humanity is responsible to some degree. There seems to have been a sweeping change over the last 50+ years. A growing narcissism has crept into our culture and there is still responsibility but it is directed toward the self. Yes, I hear your argument growing. I hear you thinking, "Not everyone is this way." Please revert to the sixth and seventh words of this paragraph.

Where once there was a great care and pride for our nation, our nationality, our state, our town, our churches, our family, now the prevailing thought is, "What's in it for me?" Sadly, the inward focus of many in the world has produced a segmented society that fails to connect, fails to care deeply about another's plight, and fails to recognize their own dysfunction.

Back in the late 60s and early 70s I would hear my parents talk about individuals having a syndrome that sounded quite dispicable. They would often say people suffered from "the I, me, and my disease". Simply put, folks who suffered this malaise were focused on one thing....themselves.

As postmodernity and pluralism have eroded truth and corporate responsibility to a pile of dust, we're left in the wake of a culture that spouts claims based upon a nihilistic view. With truth conveniently swept aside, then my claims are as valid as the next person and what is good for you isn't necessarily good for me. The result of this is a world that is exploding and imploding at the same time. No truth exists because billions of truthes exist. Conversations about God and holiness are replaced with tirades about hypocrisy, judgmentalism, and oppression. How did we get here?

With community responsibility set aside for more personal appetites, greed, power, and violence rise unchecked. Taking things by force is common and that includes a life. We're living in a world addicted to self. But wait! Don't sell the ranch just yet!!!

Responsibility and respect still exist. There are still women and men who live to serve and care for others. There are still folks who believe in personal responsibility that interacts with the greater culture and where our connectedness requires us to get along and figure things out. These people comprise the Church (the body of Christ). Here is the truth and the evidence.

“My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, that

all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the

world may believe that you have sent me." (John 16:20-21, NIV)

Jesus prayed for you and me. He wanted us to get it, to understand it, and ultimately to share it. What is it? It is the power and unity of the Holy Spirit of God. Apart from this we are left to swirl in our own little self-made and maintained realities. Jesus said, "I am the Way the Truth and the Life." (emphasis added) In 2016, let His truth guide you, your choices,and your relationships.