A loaf of bread and dishes in the sink.

I have an observation to make.

Please bear with me as I make this observation and then go on for several paragraphs about this observation... apparently it has become a pet peeve of mine.

I have observed that we are living in the "it wasn't me" society. I am finding more and more that it is hard for people to take responsibility for their actions or finding their responsibility in any situation that might come up.

This is far beyond a teenager walking past a cookie on the floor because that cookie wasn't theirs therefore why should they pick it up...

This is far beyond a child saying "well they started it" when they are in a fight with a sibling....

On two separate occasions I witnessed ADULTS paralyzed with confusion or denial about two separate incidences.

1. Dishes: Let me set the scene for you... I had just spend the night with the youth at the church during a lock in after a busy Saturday retreat. I slept probably two hours total that night if you added all the time together that my eyes were actually closed. Needless to say I was a bit sleepy. I had the bright idea months earlier to have the youth sleep over at the church on Saturday night so we could all go to worship on Sunday morning together. Sunday morning came and I was so so tired. Right before worship started I had an adult come up to me paralyzed with the fact that there were dirty dishes in the sink. Seriously the words were uttered "There are dirty dishes in the sink and I don't know what to do with them". Assumptions were made that the youth must have dirtied up these dishes and therefore it was my responsibility to clean them. I was faced with a choice... do I utter the phrase "they weren't mine" or do I set a good example and just wash the dishes. I did neither... instead in an angry rage I stomped into the kitchen and cleaned the mysterious dishes that were in the sink.

2. Bread: A week after the mysterious dishes I was faced with the same predicament of this social it wasn't me phenomenon. There I was in a grocery store on a Sunday afternoon (if you are looking for a definition of hell it might include a grocery store on a Sunday afternoon). After getting a few much needed items, I headed down the bread isle to get some bread. The isle was packed and between the noise of screaming children, a woman on a cell phone, and the Backstreet Boys playing over the stores loud system, I heard a noise that was familiar to many bread isles. The noise of a fallen loaf. There in the middle of the isle about ten feet in front of me, was a loaf of store brand wheat bread. I stood in a moment of silence and glanced at the loaf and then stood in observation as I watched everybody else in the isle roll their carts past the bread trying not to make any sort of eye contact with the fallen loaf. Are we too good to pick up the loaf of bread? I didn't do any fingerprint testing on the loaf and all of the busy shoppers in isle 7, and I didn't have a chance to look over the stores security cameras to determine who actually made contact with the loaf... but who is responsibility is it to tend to the fallen loaf? I took matters into my own hands and placed the loaf back on the shelf next to its shelf-mates.

This lack of attention and the development of the "it wasn't me" attitude intrigues me.... as well as how we react and respond during those times.

Why is taking responsibility for things so hard to do?

Two scriptures come to my mind when it comes to responsibility:

Genesis 3:8-13 Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden. But the LORD God called to the man, "Where are you?" He answered, "I heard you in the garden, and I was afraid because I was naked; so I hid." And he said, "Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?" The man said, "The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it." Then the LORD God said to the woman, "What is this you have done?" 
 The woman said, "The serpent deceived me, and I ate."

• Both Adam and Eve had some sort of responsibility in this situation and yet they blamed one another and the serpent instead of taking responsibility for their actions. This really made me think about ways that I don’t take responsibility for my actions. It is so easy to pass the buck these days and blame things on busyness and stress than to actually take responsibility for my part of situations. The funny thing that this scripture points out is that even though God knows what we do…. we still lie about what we say and do. It is easier to tell partial truth to even ourselves than to tell the whole truth to the person who is the biggest example of truth.. our Creator.

Luke 10:30-37 In reply Jesus said: "A man was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, when he fell into the hands of robbers. They stripped him of his clothes, beat him and went away, leaving him half dead. A priest happened to be going down the same road, and when he saw the man, he passed by on the other side. So too, a Levite, when he came to the place and saw him, passed by on the other side. But a Samaritan, as he traveled, came where the man was; and when he saw him, he took pity on him. He went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he put the man on his own donkey, took him to an inn and took care of him. The next day he took out two silver coins and gave them to the innkeeper. 'Look after him,' he said, 'and when I return, I will reimburse you for any extra expense you may have.

• What would you have done if you passed this man on the street? (honestly). Do you think that the Levite and the Priest thought “I didn’t do it” “it wasn’t me” or “If I ignore this it will go away”? I have a hard time really thinking about what I would do in this situation. On one hand I would like to say that I would help... but it is hard to really know what I would do. What do you think the Levite and Priest were thinking? I tend to believe that there are more Levites and Priests in this world than Good Samaritans.

The difference between Adam and Eve and their actions and the actions of the Levite and Priest is that Adam and Eve had responsibility in their situation. They made a decision that was wrong and then suffered a consequence because of it. The Levite and Priest although they were not responsible for beating up this man… they decided to step over this man and walk the other way…. And therefore still made actions that were wrong. Although the robber was ultimately responsible for beating up this man… the Levite and Priest were just as responsible because they did nothing about it.

What is an example of things done in the world we live in today that is just like what happened in the Good Samaritan scripture? Who do we walk over and ignore instead of help? It can really be as simple as doing dishes or picking up a loaf of bread and as complex as finding a good home for an abandoned pet or standing up for something you believe in.

I have determined that although the world may be suffering from "it wasn't me" I don't have to suffer with it. I can step out of observation mode and take my pointed finger and put it to good use. I am now actively looking for dishes and loaves of bread to tend to. We are called to be Christ-like with our actions and our words.

Take time to listen to how many times you say "that isn't mine" or "it wasn't me" or "they started it" or "its their problem". I have to warn you this is a big eye opening experience. We all have responsibility over our reactions to each and every circumstance that we are in.

The way we react and respond to situations in our world is a direct reflection on how we react and respond to Christ's love in our lives.

My prayer is that we all learn to take responsibility for our actions and reactions and stop stepping over the blessings and opportunities that may be disguised in our path.