Accountability

A friend left for Fort Worth early Monday morning. He made a commitment to the Lord before he left that he would share the gospel with at least one person each time he stopped along the way. He called me mid-morning and left a message, “Hey, call me. I need an accountability partner.” I could only imagine what kind of temptation he was facing.

I returned the call and he told me about his promise to the Lord. He wanted me to hold him accountable to that promise. He called me again last night on his way home. He has shared his faith with someone each time he has stopped for food or gasoline or anything.

I find that I can make promises with ease. Good promises that reflect good intentions. But as good at making promises as I am, I’m better at breaking them. Especially promises I make to the Lord. I need someone to hold me accountable.

Accountability requires transparency and I’m about as good at that as I am at keeping promises and commitments. David wrote these words in Psalms. “Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Psalm 139:23-24 NIV). That is transparency before the Lord.

Being transparent before the Lord is much easier than being transparent before our friends and family. The Lord KNOWS everything. My friends and family know only what I reveal to them. I can hide NOTHING from God but my friends and family know very little about me.

Why is transparency so important? Why does accountability matter? My friend traveling to and from Fort Worth put it like this. “How can I share the gospel with someone when I know I have unconfessed sin in my life?”

O God, search me, test me, know me, lead me.

And may I find at least one person with whom I can confide for the purpose of accountability.