who's really responsible?

Our last Sunday night in Amsterdam, I met a man named Jim. He's English, and has been living in Amsterdam for several years. He's been struggling with his faith in God, so we spent some time talking about that.

Once again, I heard one of the most common questions; "If there is a God, why doesn't He do something about things like war, murder, abuse..?"

I'm always at a loss when someone asks a question like that. But Sunday night, I had a revelation. God left us in charge. When God created man, He made our duty clear "..fill the earth, and subdue it, rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, and over every living creature that moves on the ground." He entrusted us with this earth and everything that lives on it, including each other. So if the world's a mess, it's not God's fault, it's ours. He left us in charge, with clear instructions that we're to look after one another. And we're failing. It's not God who's made this world like it is, it's man. We've failed to take care of each other, and failed to take care of the earth at large.

It's like when a parent gives his child his first car and says "she's your responsibility, so take good care of her." Six months later, the backseat of the car is filled with fastfood wrappers, there's pop stains and cigarrette burns on the front seats, the car hasn't been washed, hasn't been given a tune up, hasn't had an oil change. Can the kid go back to his dad and say "Dad! Man, why did you give me such a sh*#ty car?!" No, he can't. The car is a mess because the kid failed in his responsibilities.

So it is with us. Only we haven't been given a car, we've been given a world. We've been entrusted with the well-being of living things. And we're failing. So if we're looking for someone to blame for the condition of our world, we need not look to the Heaven's, but in the mirror.