Accountability

That’s not a very popular word these days. It goes against the grain. Especially in America, where two of our culture’s core values are freedom and autonomy. Accountability is surely no way to attract crowds and build a big church!

But accountability is an indispensable component in discipling. We must mutually submit to one another and hold each other accountable for the most important commitments in our lives.

John Wesley practiced accountability in his class meetings, which “encapsulated several of the key principles of New Testament Christianity: personal growth within the context of an intimate fellowship, accountability for spiritual stewardship, ‘bearing one another’s burdens,’ and ‘speaking the truth in love.’”[1] Perhaps you have heard of the famous question, “How is it with your soul?” In other Wesleyan venues, this general question was broken out into specifics such as, “What known sins have you committed since our last meeting? What temptations have you been met with?”[2] and so on.

 In my judgment, Wesley’s method was consistent with Ephesians 5:21, which reads, “Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ” (NRSV) and James 5:16, “Confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective,” and many other scriptures.

The Bible is clear that we are to submit to one another out of respect for Christ, that we are to confess our sins to one another. So I don’t have an issue with accountability. But such is simply not fashionable these days. American values conspire against accountability, and it’s certainly no way to grow a church.

So I want to tell you about a church where the members are mutually accountable to one another. Last Sunday some of my students and I visited Onward Church in Fishers, Indiana. Onward was planted just over three years ago, by Pastor Gary Stump, who resigned as pastor of a mega church (which was based on the attractional model) that he had planted a decade earlier. He realized that while he had succeeded in making about 1,500 church members, he had utterly failed to make disciples. So he planted Onward Church on the discipling model.

Here is where accountability comes in. As my students and I entered the worship area, we each received this card:

Accountability!

Part way through the service, Pastor Gary asked everyone to complete the card. He allowed a few minutes for this to happen, then asked the people to drop the card in the offering basket. Accountability!

You see, it is simply not good enough to preach and teach biblical truth. We must take the next step and ask each other how we’re doing at living what we say we believe.

After worship, I asked about the results: What are the members of Onward Church reporting on these yellow cards? Ed Watson, director of small groups, told me that they surveyed the membership on each of the first three Sundays of this year, and that after eliminating duplicate responses, here is what they reported for all of 2014:

1. How many people would you estimate you have shared your faith with this year?
654

2.   How many people have expressed a decision to place their faith in Christ?    
101

3.   How many people have been baptized this year?   
16

4.   How many people/groups have you led through the T4T short-term discipleship lessons?  60 people/14 groups

5.   How many people/groups have you led through the “Thru the Bible” study material? 
76 people/ 15 groups

6.   How many groups are you currently leading? 
16

7.   How many of the people that you led have started their own group?
12

Accountability! Disciples holding each other accountable for what they believe! I don’t know about your church, but my church members surely would not have been able to report these kinds of numbers.

There are multiple factors that go into making Onward Church what it is, and accountability is only one of those factors. But I know that Pastor Gary would say that it is an indispensable factor! Without being accountable for sharing their faith and discipling others, they would not have been nearly as effective in their individual and corporate ministry as they were last year.

It is time for a fresh revival of accountability among the people of God.

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[1] D. Michael Henderson, A Model for Making Disciples: John Wesley’s Class Meeting (Anderson, Ind.: Francis Asbury Press, 1997), 14.

[2] Ibid., 118.