Faith....who's responsible?

As said before, I am going to go back and randomly grab some things from other locations and put them all here.

Has anyone ever thought about who is responsible for a person’s faith? I mean I know that we are each responsible for our own, but are we indirectly responsible for the faith of people around us?


A part of me says that I think we are, somewhat indirectly responsible. At least to the degree that others watch us and our walk and if we know they struggle with something or if we know they have a burden about something, and we take the ‘It’s not my problem’ mentality are we not then responsible for putting a stumbling block in front of them? To me this is a clear issue.

Maybe it’s best said with an example—Person A struggles with cursing, Person B is aware of this struggle as they are friends. They are hanging out and watching a movie that Person B suggested would be awesome. The movie is filled with dirty language. Person A is uncomfortable because they feel as though their friend who they look at to help them be held accountable is throwing the very thing they struggle with up in their face. Person A confronts Person B and says hey, you know I struggle with that and here you put it right in front of me. How are you helping me overcome this? You are only causing more difficulty. Person B takes offense to this and tells Person A that the struggles they have aren’t their responsibility and they should deal with them on their own.



I know that’s a bit confusing with the Person A and B, but you can see the general idea. The Bible is very clear that we are not to put stumbling blocks in front of our brothers or sisters. “Let us therefore no longer pass judgement on one another, but resolve instead never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of another.” Romans 14:13 (NRSV) Or if some prefer, here’s the same verse from The Message “Forget about deciding what’s right for each other. Here’s what you need to be concerned about: that you don’t get in the way of someone else, making life more difficult than it already is.”



All of this to say that as of late, I have been disappointed in some people who are in a position that is watched and scrutinized more than many, and yet they seem like they just flat don’t care if the people around them are struggling. Have we really come to a point in this world where we are so selfish that we honestly do not care what happens to the person standing next to us? My prayer is that we may all be reminded in whatever way necessary that God is in control, not us and that He has charged each of us who are believers to set the example for everyone around us and to hold one another up in prayer and accountability. Thoughts???