Circles of Responsibility
Okay, so now we know that the task of a Christian’s man’s good work is to guarantee the wellbeing of those around him. So the question is, who are these people who are “around” him?
Before I answer this question, remember, I am not at the moment dealing with how he guarantees the wellbeing of those around him, just who these people are. I will discuss the how in my next blog.
So who are the people “around” a Christian man for whom he is responsible? I like to think of this topic in terms of concentric circles, with the innermost circles having greater priority over the outer circles. This doesn’t mean that the outer circles are less important, just that the needs of those in the inner circles should be met before meeting the needs of those in the outer circles.
First Circle of a Christian Man’s Responsibility – Himself
A Christian man is responsible for making sure he is self supporting and not a burden on others. “No man hates his own body,” Paul states in Ephesians 5:29, “but nourishes it and cares for it.” The goal of providing for our own needs is normal and central to our existence. “These hands of mine have worked to supply my own needs,” Paul told the Ephesian elders in Acts 20:34. In Galatians 6:5, he exhorts the Galatians, “Every man must bear his own burden.”
Conversely, upon learning that some of the Thessalonians were not working, Paul reminded them of the rule he had previously given them, “If any man will not work, neither let him eat” (2 Thessalonians 3:10).
Of course, there are times when a man cannot find work, or is disabled. Or it may be that his wife is the chief breadwinner and they have a mutual agreement that she be so. The latter has been the case in our home for the past few years. Just as Jesus was supported by women of means (Luke 8:1-3), so God has blessed my wife with a wonderful career that enables me to focus on men’s ministry.
But in ordinary circumstances, If there are no other sources of income and work is available, then a man must go out, get a job and be self-supporting.
Second Circle of a Christian Man’s Responsibility – His Wife and Children, if He’s Married
It should go without saying that a Christian man is responsible for supporting his wife and children. Unfortunately, in our culture men have often abdicated their roles as husband and father, abandoning their wives to raise their children on their own. Sometimes this selfish, self-centered male mentality has seeped into the church to the degree that Christian men may ignore the needs of their spouse and dependent children.
But scripture is clear that a Christian husband and father is to be willing to lay down his life for his family in the same way that Christ gave himself for the church (Ephesians 5:25).
Third Circle of a Christian Man’s Responsibility – His Extended Family
A Christian man is next responsible for providing for the needs of “his own.” Paul writes in 1 Timothy 5:4, “If a widow has children or grandchildren, these should learn first of all to put their religion into practice by caring for their own family and so repaying their parents and grandparents, for this is pleasing to God.” Then he goes on to make the following severe exhortation in verse 8, “But if anyone does not provide for his own, and especially for those of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”
Households in New Testament times were normally multi-generational and also could include slaves and work associates. Ancient society held the owner of a home responsible to provide for the basic needs of all those within his home. Even non-believers today generally care for members of their extended family when they are in need.
When a Christian man doesn’t fulfill the obligations that even non-believers generally do, Scripture says he has committed apostasy and is worse than an unbeliever. In other words, failure to provide for “one’s own” is one of the worst sins a Christian man can commit.
Fourth Circle of a Christian Man’s Responsibility – “Pressing Needs” in His Church.
Up to this point, both non-Christians and Christians generally fulfill their obligations in these first three circles of responsibility – obligations to themselves, their families and their extended families. But it is the fourth and fifth circles of responsibility that particularly distinguish a Christian man from an unbeliever.
Upon salvation, a Christian man has entered into a covenant with God – the New Covenant – and has been made a member of the body of Christ through faith in Him. In addition, hopefully this Christian man has also joined a local church. As part of his New Covenant obligations, a Christian man has a responsibility to meet “pressing needs” in his church: “Let our people learn to engage in good deeds, to meet pressing needs, that they may not be unfruitful” (Titus 3:14).
I discuss the nature of pressings needs in another place, but to summarize, pressing needs refer to emergency needs where there is imminent danger to life or property; long term needs, such as the widowed and single parents; and catastrophic needs that result in total dependence.
A Christian man, then, not only has a responsibility to meet his own needs and the needs of his relatives, both distant and near, he also is responsible for finding out what the pressing needs are in his local church and then meeting them.
Fifth Circle of a Christian Man’s Responsibility – His Neighbor
Finally, a Christian man has a responsibility to people in his immediate neighborhood or someone in dire need whom he may run into during his normal course of life. “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” is the second most important command in scripture, Jesus stated (Luke 12:31). Of course, the story of the Good Samaritan that follows this declaration is the definitive story on the command to love one’s neighbor.
In this story, Jesus defines neighbor in the broadest possible terms. Essentially, a neighbor is anyone we come across who is in dire need whom we can help, even someone whom our society would consider an outcast and/or an enemy.
But often, by giving the term “neighbor” a broad definition such as this, we tend to forget the more narrow and concrete sense of neighbor, i.e. the person who lives next to us. I like to point out that neighbor means neighbor. We can think abstractly about our neighbor across town or even our neighbor in other countries. But the more common use of the term refers to the person or people who live next to us, or very near to us.
…And Blessing
These, then, are the five circles of responsibility every Christian man has surrounding him. But they are not only circles of responsibility, they are also circles of blessing. As a Christian man meets his responsibilities in each circle, immense blessing flows to him. As he becomes self supporting, supports his wife and children, meets needs in his extended family, the needs in his church, and the needs in his neighborhood, blessing after blessing flows to him in the form of prosperity, loving relationships, mutual support, a stable and secure community, self confidence, love, and even aid in times when he himself is in need. His life becomes a living example of what Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive” (Acts 20:35).
So how are the people in your Circles?
We’ve summarized our circles of responsibility. Now we need to do something very important: we need to review each circle and list those in them who are in need. Again, don’t worry about how to meet these needs. Just take a minute to make a list of what the needs are. When it comes to your church, you will probably have to ask your pastor to help you with the list, but be diligent.
Once you have your list of people in need from your family, your extended family, your church and your block, you now know what the Bible refers to when it talks about “every good work.” That phrase is mentioned three times in scripture (2 Timothy 3:17; Hebrews 13:21; 2 Corinthians 9:8) and it has a specific, technical meaning. It refers to the work that needs to be done so that you and your church can say, “There is not a needy person among us” (Acts 4:34).
In my next post, I’ll talk about the “how” of meeting these needs.
This post first appeared in NewCommandment.org.
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