Discipleship

Accountability

An essential element of training is accountability. Have you ever seen a successful school which did not require the student to show that he had learned the subject? Accountability may be in the form of an exam, completion of a project, a presentation to others, or may take many other forms. But the essential element in all is the same. The student must show responsibility. He must show that he is learning. This accountability is for the student's own good. He or she entered the school and willingly submitted to its requirements, with the stated purpose and desire of learning. In order to learn, the work assigned must be done. What is there to be gained by not doing the work? It is a waste of time and money for both student and teacher if learning does not take place. A serious student welcomes a place of accountability and will even demand it. He wants to know whether or not he is learning.

These things may be obvious in the natural domain, but how do they apply in the spiritual? For us to be able to make application, there is one area we need to review. Whom did Jesus tell to make disciples? Was it men or angels? "And He Himself gave some to be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, and some pastors and teachers, for the equipping of the saints for the work of ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ" (Ephesians 4:11,12). Perhaps we would have chosen angels to do the work, but God gives grace to men. This is His choice, His plan, and He always does things in perfection. No matter how many problems it seems to present to us, our place is not to change God's plan, but to understand it and walk in it. If we obey God, He will see to it that our needs are met--He is God.

The reason we have trouble making application of what we know to be good teaching is that we view men separate from God. But when we are brought into union with Christ, we are not separate from God. We are one with God, and we are living His life. God always moves from this position. When He puts demands upon us, it is always with the understanding that we are in union with Him, and He expects us to draw upon that union for the grace to meet every situation. Union with God lifts us out of the natural into the spiritual. We are no longer dealing with just man, but God indwelling every member of the body of Christ. Instruction that is coming to us is coming from Christ. Every teacher is instructed to speak "as an oracle of God." The teaching then is not natural but spiritual. It is the word of God to meet the need of the moment. It is light upon the pathway. It is coming from the Lord, and the human vessel is but a channel that God has chosen to use. This takes spiritual eyes and ears to see and hear.

The student (the hearer) must also be in union with God to be able to discern the word of instruction coming to meet the need. The Holy Spirit in the heart of every member gives the anointing to be able to teach and recognize. Without this anointing, we will not recognize teaching as coming from the Lord, and the results (if any) will only be natural. In other words, we will not be left with God.

Accountability, then, must have these two elements working. That is, the teacher must be speaking the word of God, and the student (hearer) must recognize the word of God. In other words, we must know that God is speaking to us. As good students, those desiring to learn and grow, we should desire to be held accountable for what God is speaking to us, even more than the natural student does. We want to be "doers of the Word, and not hearers only," deceiving ourselves (James 1:22). After all, we do want to make progress in our training, don't we? If we do, we should not have any trouble willingly submitting to that accountability.

How does this work out? If I know what God is speaking to me, then in that word is a place of obedience. Here is where my brothers and sisters can help me. Can I tell them what God is speaking to me? Do I desire their prayers? Can I ask them to help hold that word before me? Can I ask them to care for me? Am I afraid of being held accountable for the word of God to me? If so, why? If God is at the very center of that accountability, it will remove all fear, and faith can walk in this place. Love expresses itself in care, and perfect love casts out all fear. I am my brother's keeper and he is mine. Do I believe that?

What does it mean to be held accountable? As parents, how do we hold our children accountable? We give a place of instruction in an area that requires obedience. Then as watchful parents, we see that this new place of obedience is acted upon. We give reminders. We call attention to a place of forgetfulness. We encourage. Normally, if our relationship with our children is proper, this is all that is required to see a new area established.

If our relationship with our heavenly Father is proper, should this also not be the normal pattern? Let us use a specific example to make this clear. Suppose that I see I have not been watchful when giving a command to my children, to see that it is carried out. In some way, the Lord brings this to my attention. But because of insensitivity and lack of discipline, I am not accustomed to seeing that my word is carried out. Here is where my brothers and sisters in the Lord can hold me accountable. I tell them of this area that I am desiring to see strengthened, and ask them to help me by calling it to my attention if I do not follow through on my commands to my children. This example would be particularly applicable to husbands and wives. Should we not welcome this kind of help from each other?

A very important aspect in all of this is that we want help from our brothers and sisters. If we have hearts of humility, this should not bother us. We want to make progress in God, do we not? Why not go to brothers and sisters and ask for help? This is not forced, but comes from a heart filled with God's love. Perhaps we have had failures in the past where we felt pressured, or felt that others came into our lives in a wrong way. We cannot stay in this place forever or we will die. We need to forgive, get our eyes back on Jesus, allow Him to fill our hearts with God's love, and move on. We should learn from the mistakes, but we cannot allow the mistakes to keep us down. We may have been knocked down, but if we are drawing from God, we will not be knocked out. God has chosen to use men, imperfect though they may seem to us. Let us rise with faith in what God can do, and humble ourselves under His mighty hand. He has said that if we will, He will lift us up, and He will never fail us.

Next: The Grace That Teaches Us