Zeal For Truth

This is part of an eight part series on the importance of fellowship. Read the other parts here:

Part 8: Unconditional Love
Part 7: Honesty
Part 6: Fighting Superficiality
Part 5: Sanctification
Part 4: Why You Need It (Yes You)
Part 3: Dealing With A Dead or Dying Church
Part 2: Accountability
Part 1: Introduction

One day, I hope to write about my three years with the US government. But part of my requirements were three four-hour long polygraph/interrogations and a subsequent three hour interrogation over a period of months. I knew for over a month in advance when these meetings were going to occur and I knew that to whatever they asked they would get an honest answer. They would know if I lied and would then probe deeper and deeper into that lie until everything came out. They were incredibly persistent.

Imagine walking around your normal life with the knowledge that within a couple months you were about to confess your deepest darkest secrets to a power which could prosecute you for them and expose you to the whole world. There were times when the US Government knew more about me than even my wife (this was summarily remedied). There were times that I was so ashamed and fearful that I cried and cried in front of men and women with nice black suits.

It felt like torture. I would finish one, and before even making it back down the elevator, the dread and foreboding over the next one would be reborn. Knowing that in a couple more months, I would be back in that same building, and things even more deep and dark would be brought to light.

But I am also very grateful (in hindsight of course) for that experience. I learned that it isn’t the end of the world if people know what you’ve done. Life moves on. The sun still shines. But I also feel this experience prepared me for learning to be more open and honest with others about my spiritual needs.

Accountability with God?
Even until recently, I have always been sceptical of people allowing too much intimacy with others. It seems like such a cliché - men sitting in a circle lamenting that they struggle with pornography, couples talking about the fact they argue and don’t even like one another at time, women praying for one another and crying in a big blubbery circle… In many ways, these are the kind of things that came to mind when I thought about accountability.

And, quite frankly, aren’t my problems between me and God? If I had a problem with pornography, for example, shouldn’t I just wait for an angel to appear to me or something and tell me I’ve gone to far? Wont God just make me lose money or something if I am being to greedy. If I’m too proud, won’t God put me in the hospital or something so I have to depend on people?

So many Christians have the view that because God is a God of the individual - and he is - that ultimately things like correction, rebuke, encouragement and fellowship are going to come more directly - through quasi-mystical experiences or circumstances where God seems to speak in a very personal way.

We Need One Another
We live in a world where independence is valued. Our view of God and the Holy Spirit has been adapted to this value and tinkered with - so that we can go to church and be with people, but ultimately not allow them any kind of position where we rely on them. We no longer see the church as a mechanism that God uses to minister to us - no, he will do this directly through revelation or “the Holy Spirit.”

If someone is struggling with a sin, then they should be left alone and they need to allow “the Spirit” to guide them. If someone is in error, we hope “the Spirit” will convict them. If someone is unsure about a decision - they should be “guided by the Spirit.” We have, by relying on a false set of attributes for God’s Holy Spirit - made him into the image of the church, and shirked off our responsibilities to one another at the same time.

The church - the group of believers in the area where you live - is there to be a direct means of God intervening in your life. That sentence may offend people who are wrapped up in their own privacy and individuality. The church, of course, is not the only means of God’s intervention - but by ignoring fellowship - even if we claim we are doing so in favour of “God himself”, “the Word” or “The Holy Spirit” we are ignoring a vital way that God has said he will minister to us.

The Holy Spirit’s ministry is to point towards Christ. He may convict you of sin directly, but he may also use means to do this - primarily other believers.

The Core of Accountability
Accountability has a few core requirements:

• humility - we have to be willing to acknowledge that we are sinners to ourselves and also to others. We have to give up the idea that we should be able to project a certain confidence, righteousness, correctness, smartness or purity to others. We must give up the idea that we are not better than other people and that it is all right for other people to know this. We must accept that we can be wrong.
• a correct doctrine of indwelling sin - we must realise that, while not ideal, we are sinners. We will sin. We will spurn grace. If given the choice, even after being saved, to reject God for some kind of sinful indulgence, we will choose sin. We make this choice every time we sin as Christians. We are sinners by nature and so it is not a big shock or surprise if we confess to one another that we struggle with sin.
• a correct doctrine of salvation -we have to realise that salvation has come by grace, and not because we’re good enough. As Christians, we all know this. But do we understand and apply it? Just as we did not gain our salvation because of what we’ve done - we cannot lose it because of what we’ve done. Grace is a unilateral contract that God has made with us which we could not break if we tried. God, in his unfailing and steadfast love, has chosen to love us in spite of what we have done and he is not shocked that we continue to attempt to reject his grace.

Once we realise these things, and those barriers of pride, fear and ignorance are broken down in our hearts - the idea of sharing with others where we need help is no longer radical or shameful. It becomes necessary and essential.
Continue reading ‘The Importance of Fellowship: Accountability’