Guess what?! I\u2019m 50% more accountable to God this year than I was last year! <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not that I\u2019m particularly thrilled about it, but it\u2019s a reality I can\u2019t ignore. Not without grave consequences anyway. Let me explain\u2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Not including myself, I\u2019ve now got 18 members at this little church, the last 6 of whom were added since mid-February. In other words, our membership roster has grown by about 50% this year. Now, Hebrews 13:17 reminds me that I will \u201cgive an account<\/em>\u201d for all eighteen of those members. So, if you\u2019re one of them, congratulations, I am now personally responsible to God for how you turn out. <\/p>\n\n\n\n (Woe is me).<\/p>\n\n\n\n Accountability, however, isn\u2019t unique only to the pastor<\/em>(s) of a church, it\u2019s expected of the members<\/em> as well. Again, Hebrews 13:17 says, \u201cObey your (church) leaders, and submit to them<\/em>\u201d. It appears that, by sovereign arrangement, your leaders<\/u><\/em> are accountable to God<\/em> for you<\/u><\/em>, which makes you<\/u><\/em> accountable to your leaders<\/u><\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n (Woe is you).<\/p>\n\n\n\n What, exactly, does \u2018accountability\u2019 mean anyway? Well, the Cambridge dictionary defines it as \u201cbeing responsible for what you do, and able to give a satisfactory reason for it<\/em>\u201d. That said, you and I both have somebody in our life to whom we must explain ourselves. We are to be certain that they<\/u><\/em> are satisfied with the choices that we<\/u><\/em> are making. This means that we don\u2019t live our life as we please any longer. It means that we take others into consideration when making personal decisions from now on. It also means that there will be divine consequences if we persist in selfish, independent living. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Membership here means many things, but among them is accountability. <\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Biblical accountability is an itchy garment we\u2019re all meant to wear. God has woven it into the fabric of the church, and it\u2019s as comfortable as burlap. Yet refusing to put it on just because of how it makes you feel, is entirely juvenile. Those who won\u2019t, are like spiritual children with no qualms about running around naked in public. They might be enjoying themselves in the moment, but they are oblivious to the fact that somebody else is being held responsible for their behavior.<\/p>\n\n\n\n It\u2019s a concern when this kind of lifestyle goes unaddressed. Those who hold too tightly to their personal freedom are destined to chronic irresponsibility, prolonged immaturity, and shallow relationships. Independence isn\u2019t a mark of Christian adulthood after all, it\u2019s proof of spiritual infancy. The reason you\u2019re not growing up<\/em> is because you won\u2019t put accountability on<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Individuality is the air we breathe. Freedom is our life-blood. Answering to someone else is counter-intuitive, counter-cultural, and (in many churches) counter-orthodox<\/em>. Accountability is a foreign practice in numerous American ministries. But apart from it, you\u2019ll never be anything more than an \u201caverage Christian<\/em>\u201d, and we\u2019ll never be anything more than a run-of-the-mill fellowship. It\u2019s time to trash our old clothes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The first step in taking responsibility for yourself is to acknowledge that someone else is responsible for you. The next step is to love them enough to make yourself accountable to them. Doing so will transform you into a healthier person, and us together, into a stronger church. Accountability propels us toward maturity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cA culture of accountability makes a good organization great\u2026and a great organization unstoppable<\/em>\u201d \u2013Henry Evans<\/p>\n\n\n\n Membership here means many things, but among them is accountability. Not because we like<\/em> it, but because we need<\/em> it. Responsibility and accountability are a prickly garb. But only when you put them on will you realize how well they fit. You and I were made to wear them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether our church grows by another 50% next year or not, I hope we\u2019ll recognize the importance of what God has said in Hebrews 13:17, \u201cHave confidence in your leaders and submit to their authority, because they keep watch over you as those who must give an account. Do this so that their work will be a joy, not a burden, for that would be of no benefit to you<\/em>\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Scripture and statistics both indicate that I\u2019m more accountable this year than I was last year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n Is the same true of you?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Guess what?! I\u2019m 50% more accountable to God this year than I was last year! Not that I\u2019m particularly thrilled about it, but it\u2019s a reality I can\u2019t ignore. Not without grave consequences anyway. Let me explain\u2026 GROWING PAINS Not including myself, I\u2019ve now got 18 members at this little church, the last 6 of … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":11614,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11613","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pastors-notes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11613","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11613"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11613\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/11614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11613"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11613"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.jfbduluth.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11613"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}OLD CLOTHES<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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