1. Alas, the concept of "mutual responsibility" relative to mankind is almost a lost concept today, even among too many professing Christians. All men affect others and, to a degree, we are each responsible for one another (cp. Rom. 14: 7). Cain was the first to reflect the selfish human autonomy thinking when he asked, "Am I my brother's keeper?" (Gen. 4: 9).."

2. There is in the general sense, a brotherhood of men taught in the scriptures (cp. Acts 17: 26 ff.). This "mutual responsibility" and moral awareness and reciprocity circumstance is clearly observed in the relationship Christians are to experience one with another. Paul expressed it this way: "So we, being many, are one body in Christ, and every one members one of another" (Rom. 12: 5).

3. As we establish a stage for the introduction of "Achan, a Study of Mutual Responsibility," allow me to mention one important role of the "Old Testament." The many examples found in the Hebrew scriptures are profitable for us today (I Cor. 10:1ff.). Hence, our study of Achan. I John 3: 11, 12

4. "10: And the LORD said unto Joshua, Get thee up; wherefore liest thou thus upon thy face? 11: Israel hath sinned, and they have also transgressed my covenant which I commanded them: for they have even taken of the accursed thing, and have also stolen, and dissembled also, and they have put it even among their own stuff. 12: Therefore the children of Israel could not stand before their enemies, but turned their backs before their enemies, because they were accursed: neither will I be with you any more, except ye destroy the accursed from among you" (Josh. 7).

5. In the case of Jericho, Israel was warned not to, "…take of the accursed thing" (the spoils of war, Josh. 6:18). We read, though, that this command had been violated. "But the children of Israel committed a trespass in the accursed thing: for Achan, the son of Carmi, the son of Zabdi, the son of Zerah, of the tribe of Judah, took of the accursed thing: and the anger of the LORD was kindled against the children of Israel" (Josh. 7: 1).

6. Notice the plural noun and pronouns in the case of who sinned, "Israel,“ "they." Without question, "Israel hath sinned“ (Josh. 7: 10-12). Yet, upon closer examination, we are told that it was an individual named Achan who had sinned (Josh. 7: 1). The particularity of Achan's sin is provided. Upon a search of Israel as to the sin, Achan was discovered and he confessed his sin (Josh. 7: 7ff.).

7. “21: When I saw among the spoils a goodly Babylonish garment, and two hundred shekels of silver, and a wedge of gold of fifty shekels weight, then I coveted them, and took them; and, behold, they are hid in the earth in the midst of my tent, and the silver under it.” He saw He coveted Joshua 7: 21 He took the accused He and Israel punished He saw He coveted

8. “6: And when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes, and a tree to be desired to make one wise, she took of the fruit thereof, and did eat…” (Gen. 3) Genesis 3: 6 A thing of beauty Vainglory She saw She coveted

9. Genesis 3: 6 A thing of beauty Vainglory She saw She coveted Joshua 7: 21 He took the accused He and Israel punished He saw He coveted

10. Notwithstanding the fact that it was Achan who had committed this flagrant trespass, the whole nation of Israel is held responsible and it was not until Israel had addressed Achan and his sin that Israel was again blessed of God. I submit that herein lies a very relevant and powerful lesson for God's people today, one that most certainly involves "mutual responsibility."

11. Allow me to emphasize and further explain this mutual responsibility as seen in the instance of Israel and Achan by sharing some cogent quotations from the Pulpit Commentary. "The crime of this one man is imputed to all Israel on the principle of the organic unity of the nation. As the body is said to be diseased or wounded, though the malady may lie only in one of its members, so his trespass destroyed the moral integrity of the whole nation. We are reminded of certain ways in which a community may be implicated in a wrong actually done by only one of its members."

12. "Commentators have largely discussed the question how the sin of Achan could be held to extend to the whole people. But it seems sufficient to reply by pointing out the organic unity of the Israelitish nation. They were then, as Christians are now, the Church of the living God. And if one single member of the community violated the laws which God imposed on them, the whole body was liable for his sin, until it had purged itself by a public act of restitution (see Deuteronomy 21:1-8)."

13. "The very words 'body politic' applied to a state imply the same idea – that of a connection so intimate between the members of a community that the act of one affects the whole. And if this be admitted to be the case in ordinary societies, how much more so in the people of God, who were under His special protection, and had been specially set apart to His service?" (Pulpit Commentary, Vol. 3, excerpts from both the exegetical and homiletic sections).

14. An examination of Paul's teaching to the church at Corinth exemplifies this same idea of "body politic." While the church at Corinth as a whole was not engaged in the specific fornication addressed in chapter five of the first epistle, they (as a body) are still held responsible.

15. "1: It is reported commonly that there is fornication among you, and such fornication as is not so much as named among the Gentiles, that one should have his father's wife. 2: And ye are puffed up, and have not rather mourned, that he that hath done this deed might be taken away from among you. 3: For I verily, as absent in body, but present in spirit, have judged already, as though I were present, concerning him that hath so done this deed, 4: In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, when ye are gathered together, and my spirit, with the power of our Lord Jesus Christ,

16. “…5: To deliver such an one unto Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus" (I Cor. 5, cp. 2 Thes. 3: 6).... "6: Your glorying is not good. Know ye not that a little leaven leaveneth the whole lump? 7: Purge out therefore the old leaven, that ye may be a new lump, as ye are unleavened. For even Christ our passover is sacrificed for us" (I Cor. 5).

17. The principle of mutual responsibility is actually observed throughout the scriptures and its presence is precipitous to many truths and requisite acts. For instance, we read how one is responsible for the "wicked" and "righteous" who go astray and to fail to warn them is to incur their blood (Ezek. 3: 17-21). Paul articulated this same truth (Acts 20: 26, 27).

18. The church at Thyatira is held answerable for the element of evil among them and the church as a whole is told to "repent" (Rev. 2:18-28, see also Pergamos, Rev. 2: 12-17).

19. Achan is judged by the word and his deeds (Josh. 7: 16ff. cp. John 12: 48, Rom. 2: 6, Jesus shall be our righteous Judge, 2 Cor. 5: 10, 2 Tim. 4: 8).

20. Achan is punished and evil is put away from Israel and they go on to be victorious in taking the land (Josh. 7ff.).

21. Let us learn from Achan the nature of the unity that God intends to characterize His people. Let us also be aware that we are our brother’s keeper and that each is to do his part to help another and to keep the church pure.