Accountability Partner - This is a Christian person who you would be totally honest with at all times. This person would know of your struggles, sin, temptations, and shame. This person would point you back to Christ in a godly, caring way. This person would not get caught up in the sin with you, but rather hold you accountable for your actions. What does this look like? And how is holding someone accountable different than judging someone?
I've had a few people in my life that call me out on my messes. At the time they acknowledge my sin and mess, they tell me about it and it hurts. It feels awful at the time. This is not pleasant. This is accountability. This is someone loving me enough to set me straight. Sin leads us away from God. Sometimes the sin is so pleasurable and subtle, we don't realize we are being mislead down the wrong path.....until it's too late. What happens when we are lead astray? We fall and hurt our witness for Jesus. This makes me sad. An accountability partner can help me not get too far from my Father. The key to a good relationship with an accountability partner is an open and honest one. Being able to share secrets and struggles with another you trust is wonderful, but that person has to be let in to be able to do what they have to to keep you straight. If you won't share with the person, there is no point. They are not mind readers and don't have secret access to God on your behalf. They need information that only you can give. Then the hard work can begin.
I had a friend once that I thought was a good enough Christian friend to me, that I could tell things to and hold her accountable. In turn I wanted her to do the same for me. However, when it came down to it, when I recognized she was not on the right track, I told her about it. I did this in a loving way of course and asked her to do the same for me as I wanted someone to look out for me too. She didn't accept this as a good thing. She accepted it as a "judgement" and wasn't too happy with what I was saying or why I was saying it. I tried to explain that once we make a profession of faith in Jesus, get baptized, and become a member of a local church, we are obligated to watch and help each other stay on track. This is not judging in a way she thought. This was love. Me loving her enough to help her stay in fellowship with our God. Me loving her more than myself to help her. Me looking out for her best interest in Christian love and accountability. All this was misunderstood......so I backed off and didn't say anything anymore.
I've had a few instances of times where I was dead wrong in how I acted toward people in my church family. I got called out on this a few times by people looking out for me. People loving me enough to tell me and help me get straight with God. People who know what it's like to get off the path and how to get back on. See....when we choose to sin and feel we don't need anyone to help us, we are being arrogant. There is no place for arrogance in the Christian life. We think we don't need anyone and "only God can judge me". This is true. In the end God will judge us, but for me, I would rather someone tell me I'm screwing up in this life and get right with a holy God BEFORE my judgement day comes. The judgement he hands out isn't roses and rainbows.....if you know what I mean. My good elder friend at church reminded me the other day that all sin needs confessed and repented of.....daily, sometimes hourly. To do this....go to 1 John 1:9. "If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness". Confess and repent. Simple as that. Having someone help us do this is amazing and just what our God wants us to do. We were never meant to go through this life alone. We need each other. We need each other to stay straight. We need accountability. We are to be in a Christian community of believers so we can all hold each other accountable.
Further verses - James 5:16
Galatians 6:1-2
Hebrews 3:13
No comments:
Post a Comment