Why responsibility?

"Gird up your loins. Answer me like a man!" Job 38

At TMQ, we have 4 traits that we try to embody to help guide us in our mission to serve Christ. One of them is responsibility. One of them is not discipline, as you might expect.

So, there are two questions: Why responsibility? Why not discipline?

Today, on Answering the Call.

Discipline is a virtue not found among many people, especially in today’s world. We have entertainment, food, and any pleasure at our fingertips all day long. One example of this was when I was on a flight from one place to another, and shortly before take off they announced that the WiFi was out and could not be accessed. While we were in the sky, however, the guy next to me pulled out his phone and tried to load Instagram a few times every minute. The entire flight he did this. He kept pulling down the screen to get the feed refreshed, but it just wouldn’t… he didn’t have service. But he couldn’t stop himself. He had no control over this impulse.

Now, this is a pretty extreme example. But it isn’t much different than my habit of watching YouTube shorts for awhile before going to bed. Or my habit of staying in bed until the last possible second so I am only barely late to work, instead of being five to ten minutes early. Discipline is a difficult trait/virtue to attain and keep.

Additionally, the people you might think are disciplined, might not be so disciplined. I thought my oldest brother Keaton was extremely disciplined because he never ate unhealthy foods.¹ Until one day I learned the secret: he just didn’t buy unhealthy food. If candy wasn’t in the house, he didn’t eat it. He couldn’t. My wife and I do the same thing with bread. I do it with social media. If I don’t have the apps on my phone, is it really discipline?

It’s kind of like putting something a toddler wants out of reach. They literally can’t access it, so they can’t have a problem with it. Does that count?

Well, not really. Discipline is something like being able to say “No” constantly. Now, to be sure, the Bible does talk a lot about temperance, which is key to the ‘everything in moderation’ rule. Drinking alcohol is not a sin, but being drunk is. Obsession is a sin, just as well, and is a result of a lack of temperance.

Discipline has its place, and is by no means a bad trait. It is something to aim for. It is something to be cultivated. I believe that discipline is a byproduct, not the sole aim.

Responsibility, on the other hand, is something else. It is a direct calling in the Scriptures.

God tells Job to “Gird up” his loins like a man. Part of being a man is to take responsibility. God was answering Job’s questions. So it was kind of like, “You asked, here’s the answer, take it like a man.”

And to follow Jesus’ words:

Then He said to them all, “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.” Luke 9:23

Jesus’ calling for each of His followers is to deny themselves (temperance) and then take up their cross, which is to accept responsibility for our walk with Christ. We take responsibility for our lives: our actions, our choices, and everything in between.

Additionally, responsibility is spoken about by my favorite psychologist, Viktor Frankl, in his landmark book, “Man’s Search for Meaning”:

“Freedom, however, is not the last word. Freedom is only part of the story and half of the truth. Freedom is but the negative aspect of the whole phenomenon whose positive aspect is responsibleness. In fact, freedom is in danger of degenerating into mere arbitrariness unless it is lived in terms of responsibleness. That is why I recommend that the Statue of Liberty on the East Coast be supplemented by a Statue of Responsibility on the West Coast.”

— Viktor Frankl, Man’s Search for Meaning

Here at The Modern Quest, we are building that Statue of Responsibility. One post, one day at a time.

Responsibility means you acknowledge that you are in control and in charge of certain aspects of your life and it is your sacred duty to be a good steward of those things.

And once you realize that, once you accept responsibility for your life, then discipline will follow.

What are the things in your life you need to accept responsibility for and what are the steps you need to take for responsibility to become a reality?

1. At least not while he was competing in Crossfit.