Service/Accountability Series: Part 6 – Accountability Through Service
Instead of having the feeling that we are accountable to an individual or group who is “above” us, would we not feel more comfortable being accountable to someone who is in relationship with us as our “peers” but whom we respect?
With most bosses there is a distance, almost a self imposed alienation, because of the pyramidal hierarchy of leadership we have come to know in western civilization. Even the westernized church has fallen for this type of leadership. Some seminaries teach not to get close to your parishioners because you will be moved every five to eight years. The Gospel is all about an intimate relationship made with God through Jesus Christ and what he did on the Cross. The “family of God” is all about relationships with each other, yet the higher up in leadership one climbs in church hierarchy the more distant one becomes from God’s people.
The five fold pluralistic model I presented in my last blog breaks down these barriers of distance. One becomes intimate friends with other people who have different points of view and passions than oneself, but are willing to use their gifts to serve you. It is dynamic to have someone motivated about the “new birth” and the birthing process around you, someone to nurture and disciple your daily walk, someone to teach you the Logos Word, and someone to translate it into the Rhema or living Word, and even someone to guide and coordinate everyone’s gifting toward serving you! Would not your natural response be to submit to their service?
How does this submission look like? Basically, the giving back of your gift to impact their life causes a bonding, or a relationship, through Jesus Christ. If you are accountable to four different points of view and passions than your own, there is a better chance of someone seeing you drifting off the mark and gracefully brining correction before there is a crisis. Your service to them also opens their eyes to your point of view or passion bringing unity in uderstanding.
I have been taught that sin is “missing the mark”. There are times that I have sinned, missed the mark, because I did not have a true spiritual shepherd walking me through daily tasks in my life to guide and demonstrate how to walk in faith and love. I have missed the mark when making the Logos Word the final word through my legalistic interpretation, only to have someone theologically correct me or someone point to the Rhema or living out of the Word. I have missed the mark because I did not have someone give me proper over sight, helping me work with the different passions, points of view, and mindsets to bring unity instead of division. I have sinned……
There are four steps to accountability: 1) Stop, 2) Look, 3) Listen, 4) Be Obedient To What You Have Seen and Heard! The Cross demands accountability: Vertically – Stop, look to the Father, listen for His heartbeat, listen to His still small voice, then be obedient to the revelation that you have seen and heard. That is how Jesus functioned as a human while on earth. Horizontally – Stop, look to others in the Church, the Body of Christ with different points of views and passions, listen from their perspective of point of view though different from yours, then be obedient to what you have seen and have been told.
The result: Accountability at a new and greater level than the Church has experienced in centuries. A balanced, protective, growing discipleship that will continue to develop a believer into being more Christ-like, more maturing into the image of Jesus Christ. That is the accountability that the Church needs today.