Galatians 6:1-3 (NIV)
Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you may also be tempted. Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ. If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.
From the time that you are born, you seek independence. When you exit the womb, you do so kicking and screaming, as medical professionals pick you up and cut you free of the lifegiving cord that tethered you to your mother. As we get older, that craving for independence only grows. You likely tried to start walking before you really knew how to. You probably started trying to run before you had mastered walking. As you grew and matured, entering your teen years, your push for independence likely resulted in some level of rebellion.
We have a natural inclination to think that we should not be accountable to anyone. Today, society pushes statements such as “no one can judge me.” “I’ll be my own man or woman,” is a battle cry that most of us hold onto as tightly as possible. However, those statements are not Scriptural, which means they are not God’s design for His people.
Instead, God wants us to experience accountability, not only to Him, but also among our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ. This concept requires us to put our own fleshly inclinations aside in the name of truly experiencing the type of life that Christ wants us to live.
Today, discover more about God’s design for accountability, and humanity’s natural inclination to stay away from it. From the very beginning of time, humanity has been hesitant to accept responsibility for our own actions, and have tried to stay away from relationships that push us towards accountability.
The First Attempt to Evade Accountability
Genesis 3:12 (NIV)
The man said, “The woman you put here with me-she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it.”
“Adam, where are you?” God’s words must have hung heavy over the Garden of Eden. Just before His daily appearance in Eden during the cool of the day, Adam and Eve had broken the one rule that God had given to them. The world’s first couple had free reign to do what they wanted to in the Garden of Eden, but they were not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil.
It wasn’t that God was trying to hold them back. Instead, He knew what was best for them, just like He knows what’s best for us. The tree was there because He wanted (and continues to want) humanity to have free will.
Adam and Eve ran to hide. They had realized that they were naked when the first sin prompted them to experience shame. God knew where they were hiding, as He could see everything. When Adam and Eve finally responded to His call, Adam started making excuses. Take a close look at what he said: “This woman that you put here with me.” Adam blamed the only two living creatures that he had ever known when he blamed God for putting Eve in the garden and blame Eve for forcing him to eat the fruit. Meanwhile, Eve blamed the serpent. Neither of them wanted accountability with God.
From that moment on, humanity has tried to avoid accountability and responsibility. From that moment, we have done everything we could to try to stand on our own, forge our own path, and create our own success.
God punished both Adam and Eve with expulsion from Eden. He also created new rules that would govern their existences from that point forward. Not only did we inherit Adam and Eve’s sinful nature, but we also picked up their tendency to avoid being accountable to God.
Being Accountable to Others
Matthew 6:6-7 (NIV)
Then Jesus went around teaching from village to village. Calling the Twelve to him, he began to send them out two by two and gave them authority over impure spirits.
After Jesus had called the 12 disciples, He spent time with them, teaching them and equipping them for the task that was set before them. It’s important that we remember that the 12 disciples were normal people just like we are. Christ didn’t go around calling the 12 most “super spiritual” people that He could find. He called fishermen, a tax collector, a man who wanted to overthrow the government, and other ordinary, fallible people.
The fact that God chose the ordinary people of the area to completely change the world should certainly encourage us. It speaks to the fact that Christ isn’t looking for what we can bring to Him. Instead, He simply wants us to bring ourselves so He can use us for His divine purpose.
Christ’s decision to send the disciples out in groups of two wasn’t so they wouldn’t get lonely in their travels. It was so they could hold each other accountable. When we experience true accountability with our brothers and sisters in Christ, we’re truly tapping into discipleship the way God designed it.
It’s important that you have people in your life who are pursuing the same type of life that you are. It’s crucial that you find people who have taken up their cross and are following Christ. When you do that, you can share your victories and your struggles with someone who can help you along the way. When you make a mistake, having someone who is committed to accountability means that you have someone who can point out your mistake in love and help you get on the right track.
The Facts About Accountability
God didn’t create any of us to be cut off from others. After He created Adam in the Garden of Eden, God declared that it wasn’t good for Adam to be there alone. With that in mind, He made Eve. Eve was there not only to fill in Adam’s weak spots, but the initial design involved the two of them helping each other stay accountable to God. Obviously, that didn’t go as designed as we discussed in our reading about the first sin.
While it can be difficult to open yourself up to others in the name of being accountable to someone else, it’s God’s design. If you’ve ever made the decision to improve your physical conditioning, you may have noticed that it’s easier to commit to going to gym if you have someone to go with. Not only is that smart for your own safety, but it also helps when you don’t feel like going on a particular day. Your gym partner can encourage you to go work out even when you don’t feel like it. The same can be said about spiritual accountability partners.
Most importantly, we must hold ourselves accountable to God. While God is unseen in the natural realm, we can know His will for our lives through His Word. Even more powerfully, He has given us the gift of His Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit lives inside us, and He provides us with correction when we falter. It’s important that we remain teachable and pliable, allowing ourselves to be molded into the people that God wants us to be. That is accountability.
A Closing Prayer:
Heavenly Father, I want to be a better disciple, and I know that doing so means that I must be accountable to others and to You. Surround me with people who can help keep me on the right path and allow me to do the same for them. When I stumble, correct me. In Christ’s name, Amen.