Edition 71
The Buck
Last Edition Recap
How have you applied the last edition to your life?
Opening Prayer
Lord, we don’t fully realise the importance of being active servants; teach us to truly fulfil our personal calling. Amen.
Introduction
“Passing the buck.” We all know the phrase. In old-time poker games, a silver dollar marked whose turn it was to deal. This marker, nicknamed “the buck,” moved around the table from player to player. Nobody kept it; everyone passed it on. President Harry Truman famously reversed this concept with a sign on his Oval Office desk: “The buck stops here.” No more passing responsibility. No more shifting blame. The decisions and their consequences ended with him.
There’s a story from the 1940s about an IBM employee who made a catastrophic mistake costing the company one million dollars. Convinced he’d be fired, he typed his resignation letter and walked into founder Thomas Watson’s office. Watson’s response stunned him: “Fire you? I’ve just invested one million dollars in your education, and you think I’m going to fire you?”
This illustrates a profound leadership principle: When your team succeeds, you celebrate with them. When your team fails, you take the blame. True leaders don’t pass the buck; they absorb it. They transform failure into education, mistakes into investments, blame into breakthrough.
Yet in our churches, we’ve perfected the art of passing the buck. “We pay the minister to do ALL the work,” we say. We arrive expecting everything ready, everyone served, every need met – by someone else. We’ve somehow convinced ourselves that Christian service is someone else’s responsibility. The minister preaches. The worship team sings. The ushers greet. The administrators organise. And us? We attend. We’ve turned the Body of Christ into a spectator sport where one person serves thousands rather than thousands serving the One who saved them.
Chat Point 1
How would you describe the difference between taking responsibility and passing blame in spiritual matters?
What fears or excuses prevent Christians from accepting their personal ministry responsibilities?
How has the consumer mindset (“we pay others to serve”) damaged the church’s effectiveness?
What would change if every Christian stopped passing the buck of service to others?
How does accepting responsibility for our faith transform us from spectators into participants?
Read
Luke 22:42; Matthew 27:24-26; 2 Corinthians 5:11-21; 2 Corinthians 6; 1 Corinthians 12
Key Focus
Matthew 27:24-26 – “When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. ‘I am innocent of this man’s blood,’ he said. ‘It is your responsibility!’ All the people answered, ‘His blood is on us and on our children!’ Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.”
Chat Point 2
What stood out for you about the contrast between Pilate washing his hands and Jesus accepting the cross?
How does Pilate’s buck-passing reveal the cowardice of avoiding responsibility?
What connection do you see between Jesus stopping the buck and our call to Christian service?
How might the church look different if leaders followed Jesus’ example rather than Pilate’s?
What stops you from saying “the buck stops here” in your area of spiritual influence?
Final Thought
The scene is devastating in its clarity. Pilate, holding all earthly authority, washes his hands. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he declares, passing the buck to the crowd. He had the power to stop the injustice, commanded armed forces that could have dispersed the mob, possessed authority to free an innocent man. Instead, he grabbed a basin of water and passed responsibility to others. History’s most infamous buck-pass.
Meanwhile, Jesus faced the same crowd, the same injustice, the same moment of decision. In Gethsemane, He had prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done.” He could have called legions of angels. He could have disappeared into the crowd. He could have argued His innocence. Instead, He let the buck stop with Him. Every sin, every failure, every buck passed since Eden – it all stopped at the cross.
This is the stunning reversal of the Gospel. Humanity has been passing the buck since Adam blamed Eve and Eve blamed the serpent. We’ve perfected the art of deflection, made excuses an art form, turned responsibility-dodging into religious practice. “The minister should visit the sick.” “The church should feed the hungry.” “Someone else should share the Gospel.” We wash our hands like Pilate whilst Christ’s body bleeds for our buck-passing.
But 2 Corinthians 5 declares we are “Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us.” The ministry of reconciliation hasn’t been given to ministers alone – it’s been given to all who’ve been reconciled. The buck of the Gospel stops with each of us. We can’t wash our hands of evangelism. We can’t pass the responsibility of service. We can’t delegate discipleship.
Watson kept that million-dollar mistake-maker because he understood investment. How much more has Christ invested in us? He didn’t just risk a million dollars; He paid with His blood. He didn’t just keep us on the payroll; He made us co-heirs. He didn’t just give us another chance; He gave us His Spirit, His authority, His mission.
The question isn’t whether the buck will stop somewhere – it will. The question is whether it stops with us in faithful service or stops with us in faithless excuses. Every time we say, “Someone else should,” we’re washing our hands like Pilate. Every time we say, “Here I am, send me,” we’re following Jesus. The buck of the Gospel, the responsibility of the Kingdom, the privilege of service – it all stops here, with us, today.
My Action
What key insight or learning from this session resonates most with me, and what do I sense God is inviting me to do in response?
Shared Prayer
What are your prayer requests?
Closing Prayer
God, our sin stopped with Jesus who took our blame; help us stop making excuses and start serving You faithfully. Amen.
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In-Between Chats: Personal Reflection
What specific ministry responsibility have you been passing to others that God is calling you to accept?
How can you move from hand-washing deflection to cross-bearing acceptance this week?
What would happen in your faith community if everyone decided “the buck stops with me”?
Edition Writer: Rev Kevin Zondagh
Methodist Minister, Personal Development Specialist, Life Coach, Relationship Coach and Executive Coach. Founder and Owner of Exemplar Coaching Pty Ltd and CoffeeChatConnect. "We should have the desire to custom design the only life we have. After-all, we buy designer everything. How much more should we Live by Design, not by default?"