Hebrews 13:17 Obey those who rule over you, and be submissive, for they watch out for your souls, as those who must give account. Let them do so with joy and not with grief, for that would be unprofitable for you.
If you are like me, the older I get, the more I fatigue. Fatigue in turn wreaks havoc on my spiritual discipline and my ability to run the race well.
Paul states that he disciplined his body and brought it into subjection lest when he had preached the Gospel to others he should become disqualified (1 Cor 9:27). The last thing in this world I want for myself is to be disqualified in this race for eternity. I know this race is a battle against my flesh (Gal 5:16-17) and against principalities and powers (Eph 6:12), a race in which my very life is at stake.
This sobering thought has led me to contemplate my predicament with fatigue. As I have done this, the idea of accountability to other men has become increasingly logical and even vital in my life.
Obviously, we will all be held accountable to Christ in the end equation (2 Cor 5:9-10). But, at times, this accounting seems distant and surreal, especially when you are getting battered in the crucible of life. Being accountable to other men is more immediate and can be just as powerful.
Most of the time we tend to think of accountability in the “do not’s” of the Bible. For instance, many men use accountability groups to help them with their sexual purity, “do not look at a women to lust after her”.
Have you ever considered using accountability in the “do’s” of the Bible? How about with the command to “Preach the word! Be ready in season and out of season. Convince, rebuke, exhort, with all longsuffering and teaching.” 2 Tim 4:2? Have you ever asked your accountability to hold you accountable to share your faith with someone new each month, each week, or maybe even each day?
I asked my accountability group just that. I committed to them that I wanted to be active in evangelism every day I was at work. Not that I had to be sharing the whole Gospel message every day, but that I had to be a laborer (Lk 10:2) & I had to be planting some seed, seeing if God would water it. If I did not do this, for each day that I was not planting seed at least once, I had to donate a certain amount of money to charity for that “lost” day.
Initially, it was easier to hold to my commitment because it was fresh in my mind and I was energized. One day, about a month ago, though, the wheels were falling off at work and God proved to me the vital importance of accountability.
It had been a rough morning where everything seemed to go wrong and I had not taken any opportunities to plant seed, even though they were available. In fact, I was not even thinking about my commitment, potentially to the detriment of my bank account. I had a couple of moments at lunch to catch a breath and I remembered my accountability pledge. I did not want to, nor did I feel like engaging people with the Gospel that day, but I knew I had to. As I feebly tried to be a man of God that afternoon, God worked wonders. That afternoon, in the span of two hours, because of accountability, God allowed me to participate in three people receiving Christ as their Lord and Savior. Wow, astonishment and praise to Him, Who will use the smallest of efforts to His glory!
I have had to pay once so far, but in the end, I have profited so much more than that which I have lost. May God bless you, and He will, as you consider being held accountable to share the Gospel of peace. “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace, who bring glad tidings of good things!”
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