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“Pick me up and throw me into the sea” he replied, “and it will become calm. I know that it is my fault that this great storm has come upon you.”
~Jonah 1:12 NIV
Jonah as in Jonah and the whale, the one from the bible. We all know the story, basically it goes like this, God asked Jonah to do something, Jonah said no, so God used a little persuasion to change Jonah’s mind. But that’s not what I am going to talk about….
Reread the quote, I’ll wait….
Did you see it, did you catch what Jonah did? He took responsibility. He said, “Hey, I know its my fault, toss me into the sea and all will be well, its ok, I will understand.” Now do you see it? In today’s world this is a shocking thing, someone taking responsibility. He could have said, “Hey, it’s not my fault, God is doing it. God wants me to do this thing for Him, and I said no, so God is doing this to me, not my fault.”
Sad to say, but that would be the modern Jonah, one that takes no responsibility, one that blames others for their actions, one that sees no connection between their actions and the reactions around them.
If we just look back over the past year, here in Detroit we have several examples:
And of course we have the national example of President Barack H. Obama
What ever happen to responsibility? When did it go out of style to stand-up and take the blame? As leaders that’s we we are called to do, be it a leader of a nation a city or a home, we are called to take responsibility.
Obama, Kilpatrick and the unions are quick to take credit when things go well, but once shit hits the fan, as the old saying goes, they head south, and fast!
We need stand-up leaders, we need people who are willing to say, Yep, it’s all on me” even if it’s not…
God Bless
Paul
An American Point of View 