“You are standing today, all of you, before the Lord your God: the heads of your tribes, your elders, and your officers, all the men of Israel, your little ones, your wives, and the sojourner who is in your camp, from the one who chops your wood to the one who draws your water, so that you may enter into the sworn covenant of the Lord your God, which the Lord your God is making with you today, that he may establish you today as his people, and that he may be your God, as he promised you, and as he swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob. It is not with you alone that I am making this sworn covenant, but with whoever is standing here with us today before the Lord our God, and with whoever is not here with us today.” (v10-15)
Who here gets excited when I say use word “accountability”? Does it fill your heart with joy, or dread? Does it make you hopeful, or cringe? The older I get, the more I truly appreciate accountability.
Accountability often has connotations, mostly because it is abused or misused by those in authority over us. An authority may say “I’m going to hold you accountable”, which essentially becomes a form of slavery – they force someone to do something their way, even if it isn’t the best way, and often the person hasn’t even agreed to the terms. This is not accountability, it is domination, and should be reserved for our Sovereign God, the one who truly has this authority, who can use it in a righteous way – everyone else should play by different rules.
Peer accountability, as taught in the Bible, is very different – it is voluntary and collaborative. In the passage above, people made the same covenant to God in the presence of many witnesses. That means all people were equal in this commitment, and each one saw the commitment of their neighbor.
Here’s how Paul says it should work: “Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.” (Gal 6:1-5)
Paul is saying that since we’re all followers of God, we’re holding ourselves and each other to the same standard. We can gently encourage each other to keep our commitment to God, and help share that burden if we see someone faltering, but ultimately, keeping the covenant is the responsibility of each individual who made that commitment. We are not responsible to keep someone else’s covenant, nor are they responsible to keep ours.
Accountability comes into play when we invite our brothers and sisters into our commitments, essentially saying: “I can’t keep my covenant with God on my own strength, would you please partner with me in this?” Accountability requires us to give permission to those around us to help bear the burden of our commitments. If we don’t permit others to help us, then they should respect that, but then we solely bear the full burden of our covenant, in addition to the responsibility.
If you want a simple example, this is why so many people have a “gym buddy”. Many people find it helpful to exercise with a partner – not only does it make the experience more fun and enjoyable, we are far more likely to maintain consistency if we know somebody will help keep us accountable to our fitness goals. The same could be said of our spiritual commitments.
My challenge for today is build at least one relationship for spiritual accountability. If you already have one, then we can focus on building our partner up in Christ. Remember, there isn’t any neutrality in spiritual matters: Jesus says “I know your works: you are neither cold nor hot. Would that you were either cold or hot! So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth.” (Rev 3:15-16) So in a spirit of love and grace let’s help each other stay “hot” (or “sharp”, if you prefer the iron sharpens iron metaphor [Pro 27:17]), and help the kingdom of God flourish.
Father God, our Sovereign King, great and mighty are Your name and works. We humbly worship You, the one and only God worthy of praise. Father thank you for the amazing gift of brothers and sisters who also love You. Thank you that you have created the church to build each other up in Christ. Thank you for the beautiful gift of accountability. Please help us to admonish and edify each other in love and grace, as You have called us to do, and please soften our hearts and allow others to do the same for us. All honor, power, glory and praise be unto You, our holy and righteous God, forever and ever, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training