What is responsibility?

Even since my brother got his first job offer, my dad has been very happy.  He started to be very generous with money (buying an uber-bike for my brother, etc.), and calls us frequently to share about what he learned.  He said that there’s nothing more satisfying to a father (either the Heavenly father or the earthly father) than to know that his children had all grown up and can take on responsibilities.

Recently, Felisha’s dad is scheduled to deliver a sermon in the Chinese congregation about a chapter in The Purpose Driven Life.  The chapter talks about pleasing God, and gives a basic example of Noah obeying God and builds the arc, and so he and his family got saved.

Being a close friend with Felisha’s dad, my dad shared with him a little about his thoughts.  He said, who pleases God the most in the entire history? doubtlessly Jesus, but why? Because Jesus willingly and voluntarily took up the cross.

I think that is the best definition for responsibility: to voluntarily took up the cross.

Why does Noah pleases God? I believe it is not because he built the arc, but that he preaches the gospel for hundreds of years, and did not lose his faith even though no one believes him.  Why is Jeremiah one of the major prophet?  Because he preached the word of God his entire life, although only one man listened and follow him (even his own family betrayed him).  Even when their work bare no fruits, they still faithfully do what God told them too.

What is the cross? The cross is not that you put in some effort then you immediately see the result, the cross is not that you endure for a while then you receive the crown of glory, the cross is when in the midst of torment, in the depth of despair, when even you don’t believe the promise of the glory and honor that will come after, you still hold on just because you know it is the will of God.

Many of us has lost this determination; with the worldly comfort that comes from advancing technology, with the abundance of resources and means of enjoyment, we have grown more and more impatient, more and more demanding of immediate result.  We will only work hard if we see an A on the next quiz we take, we will only continue go on a diet and keep exercising if at the end of the day we lost a pound.  When the hard work doesn’t seem to pay off, when all we’ve done seems to be in vain, we’re quickly discouraged and just backoff in despair.

Are we not Christian? Don’t we believe that the Holy Spirit dwells in us? Don’t we believe that although no good seems to come out of our work, that God is still watching, and He is pleased at our self discipline? And don’t we realize that alone is enough for us to keep on going?

My roommate at Berkeley (also my close high school friend), Edward, is one of the most hard working person I’ve met.  He is not particularly smart, but semester after semester he takes classes so hard that even I step off from, he overload himself with works that I consider unbearable.  He works harder than anyone I’ve ever seen, but because of the difficulty he never got the grades he wanted.  But he kept on going semester after semester, always challenging himself.

Yet he is not a Christian.  We once talk about what we think about the future, he said that everyone in this world will realize one day that we’ll just die and vanish, that there’s no meaning in life, and everyone will need to learn to accept that.  I cannot believe that with such a perspective on life he can still endure and keep up his hard work better than us who claims to have hope for eternity.

May God forgive us for our shallow sight, and may God gives us strength and be an example to the world instead of the other way around.  And may God have mercy on Edward and give me boldness, that one day I can bring him into the truth.

Amen.