Being Held To Account

Life is short, but not so short that it doesn't leave a footprint in time. What we do--however small--affects those around us. As John Donne put it so eloquently in Meditation XVII, "No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main."

But there are those activities in which we may involve ourselves that reach farther and influence more widely than those closest to us. The good Dr. Donne continued in his thought to say, "If a clod be washed away by the sea, Europe is the less, as well as if a promontory were..." The loss of a single clod of earth diminishes the land, but a loss of a promontory is clearly much more noticeable. That doesn't make the promontory more important, or even significant, than the clod in the Grand Design; however, its presence--and therefore its loss--is noticed on a grander scale.

So it is with man. God values us equally, but commissions us differently. We're gifted (Romans 12:6-8; 1 Corinthians 12:8-10; Ephesians 4:11) toward the fulfillment of that commission--not for our own glory, but for the edification of others (1 Corinthians 12:7; Ephesians 4:12). We are exhorted to use those gifts to their fullest (Luke 12:48), yet always aware of our accountability in exercising them (1 Corinthians 3:12-15; James 3:1).

It is to write, as it is to teach, to preach, to serve in public office--indeed, to extend ourselves in any manner beyond our own circumstances in a way that influences common understanding. We must be always aware of our purpose and our accountability; we shirk them at our own peril. That should never dissuade us, however, from accepting the commission laid before us.

And so I write.