Okay now here's the second thing, so for example a different thing - a businessman. His metron includes not only his own life, and marriage, and family and whatever, it's also his business. When I was teaching, my metron included a classroom; so a policeman, they have a measured area of influence, so a policeman can only operate in a certain area. Everyone, God's measured something to you, so you need to ask yourself: what am I responsible for? Today the cry is: give me my rights, give me my privileges! The rights of this, and the rights of that, and all kinds of rights, but God says: no, find out, and inquire what you're responsibilities are, because with that comes privileges and authority. Now let me share a couple more things about your metron or your responsibilities. Your metron ends exactly where someone else begins; so I'm responsible for my stuff, but if that's their stuff, they're responsible for it - it's none of my business. I've got to be responsible for my bit, not for someone else's bit; so in a marriage, the husband is required to be responsible for certain things - but not everything.
He's not responsible for his wife's feelings, they're her feelings. She's got to own them, do something about them; otherwise he'll always feel: what have I done to upset her now? Why is she never happy? [Laughter] Do you understand? There's some things you're responsible for, some things as a Pastor I'm responsible for certain in relationship to members of the church; but then there's an area where it stops, and your bit begins. I can't come in there and tell you what to do in that, that's your thing. I can offer counsel advice, but you are responsible; and the problem comes, if I invade your areas of responsibility, I become dominating, overbearing, and all kinds of problems happen; or if I don't actually fulfil my responsibilities, another problem happens. In New Zealand, our difficulties with men are either: they control and dominate, and the women are left very weakened and never come forth; or they're very irresponsible and passive, and the women are forced to carry things God never intended them to carry. It affects them negatively, and that is a major problem in New Zealand - passive men; partly because of the spirit dynamic of the nation, partly because of break-downs in family roles and whatever. But at the end of the day, none of those things cut it. If you're irresponsible, you're irresponsible, full stop. There are consequences for it.
So as a Christian, we're called not to just drift along in the way we were, and the way we were raised, and carry on the sins of the fathers. We're called to discover what God called me to do, and then do my best to do it, to fill it. That make sense to you? Turn to someone next to you and say: I think he's talking to you. [Laughter - I think he's talking to you.] It can't be me, I know I'm doing okay! [Laughter] There's usually with these kinds of areas, everyone thinks: well I'm doing okay, it must be someone else. I wish so and so was here, to hear this message. [Laughter] I know someone who really needs to hear this. [Laughs] But it's for you. See, I wouldn't be bringing - it's for me too, for all of us. It's what God's trying to talk to us about. Okay then, so whatever is your metron; here's another thing you need to understand about your responsibilities is: whatever God has given you responsibility for, He permits you to take initiative. He expects you to take initiative, and be creative in what you do with it. I better say that again. Whatever God has entrusted you to do, you don't have to pray about it all. He expects you to be creative, and take the initiative. You don't have to talk to Him about it all the time, because you're in charge.
If you're in charge, you do it. He lets you do it. You got a house, you can paint it whatever colour you like, as long as you're happy to live in there, and you can do it when you like. You don't have to pray: now God, I wonder could you lead me and guide me, when should I paint my house? If the paint's peeling, paint it! [Laughter] Some people are just so impractical in this area. If your car's dirty, clean it; if the lawns are overgrown, cut them. [Laughter] Look after what God gave you. Treat it like it belongs to God. You've got a lot of ways of doing it; for example, I could go out with hand clippers and cut my lawns, but it would be a very long, slow job. I could get a motor mower and do it. I could buy one of those sit-on mowers and do it - be a bit of overkill. I could ask one of my sons to do it, or I could pay someone else to do it, whatever. There's a lot of ways you can get the job done. My deal is, God didn't say: you've got to cut the lawns; He just said: you're responsible for them - either way, get it done. Be creative, take initiative, make it happen. Do you understand that?