Responsibility (2)

From a good acquaintance I received a response to my previous weblog. He begins like this:

Your latest contribution about responsibility is disappointing as far as I’m concerned. Crucial passages of Scripture are not mentioned. You rightly point out that the word itself does not occur in Scripture, but that does not automatically mean that the concept itself is unbiblical.

There is undoubtedly a kernel of truth in this last point. Yet when we devote ourselves to using “sound words,” we will be suspicious from the outset of extrabiblical words and concepts. It should give us pause when we assign great biblical value to a word, while the Bible itself does not even know the word… The letter writer continues:

“Responsibility” (verantwoordelijkheid) is a perfectly well-defined concept in Dutch, and a great deal of biblical material fits that definition. Responsibility = the obligation to give account.

If this were the only meaning of “responsibility,” I would have no difficulty using the word. In that case, its meaning would be identical to “accountability.”

… And there is not a creature which is not apparent in its sight. Now all is naked and bare to the eyes of Him to Whom we are accountable.
Hebrews 4:13

As surely as God is not under obligation to give an account, so surely man is under that obligation. The point, however, is that “responsibility” has another meaning as well, and that leads to the opposite conclusion. In the Koenen dictionary, under verantwoordelijkheid (“responsibility”), we also find the following definition: personally ensuring the successful outcome of something.

Who personally ensures that things turn out well? Is that man? No – quite the opposite, I would say. Man tends rather to ensure that things turn out badly! There is only One Who personally ensures the good outcome of everything, and that is God Himself. That is why man is called upon to hand over his cares to Him Who is able to bear them. He also guarantees the good outcome. In that sense, then, God is responsible. The letter writer continues:

We then see that humanity in general is judged before the great white throne. There people are judged according to their works. In short: each must give account for his deeds, and insofar as there was something wrong with those deeds, there are degrees of punishment. Those who have committed greater sins receive heavier punishment. Scripture is crystal clear about this (Sodom / Capernaum, etc.).

The believer must give account for both his good and his bad deeds before the “judgment seat of Christ.” The believer receives no punishment, but reward. Here too there is “measure.” Those who have tried harder receive greater reward. Paul calls on believers to be diligent in good works, with a view to the reward.

In short: giving account is a central concept in the Bible. Each time, Scripture is crystal clear that the nature of man’s deeds has CONSEQUENCES. That means nothing less than that man is responsible.

Scripture indeed speaks in clear terms about judgment, punishment, and reward. The deeds of man have consequences. Man owes an account to his Creator. “for whatsoever a man may be sowing, this shall he be reaping also”. All this Scripture teaches. But nowhere is this connected with an ambiguous concept such as “responsibility.”

To summarize:
If “responsibility” means the obligation to give account, then man is absolutely “responsible.” But if we define the word as personally ensuring the successful outcome of something, then the word applies first and foremost to the Creator Himself.

In short: “responsibility” is a word that does not occur in Scripture, is ambiguous in meaning, and is therefore above all a hindrance when we put the truth of Scripture into words.

Share: