Accountability Wednesday!

First, I would like to thank many of my readers from all over the United States for your encouraging emails. You have no idea how important it is for me to know that someone besides my darling wife is reading my stuff! I especially appreciate the constructive criticism. Please feel free to "front me up" if you see anything that strikes you in the wrong way. This afternoon, I would especially like to thank Chris, my wife for pointing out that Amazon was advertising books that promoted atheism on my website! Hopefully, we have that fixed now.

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I both love and dread Wednesdays. Why? Because at high noon every Wednesday, I have the privilege of sitting down to lunch with my accountability partner, Tom. Why do I love it? After the meeting, I return home with a new resolve to live the Christian life with a passion! Why do I hate it? During most meetings I feel like a little kid going to the woodshed. For those of you who aren't old enough to know what the "woodshed" was used for, it's the place where little boys and girls receive a well-deserved butt whipping!

My wife and I are the parents of six great kids. Several years ago, we had the opportunity to share with young families, in a teaching environment all that we knew about raising kids. (This was about 15 years ago, and all I can say is, if I knew then what I know now!) One thing that we did learn was the value of a spanking! Besides the Biblical mandate to administer corporal punishment to our children, God in His wisdom made it so that the spanking produces incredible side benefits for the kids. (Once, my baby, who is now 12 years old, told me thank you for spanking him. He said, "I needed that!") The benefit? God made it as a relief to the conscience and He gives us the understanding that the administrator of the spanking really loves us. Remember what he said in Hebrews 12:5b-6 “My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”

I need to make this point very clearly. All Christians need accountability. I don't care if you are a pastor, a missionary or a seminary president. If you don't have someone in your life that you have given permission to tell you the unvarnished truth, then necessarily you are NOT walking in God's will. How can I say that? Let's face it, who in your life is the most likely to give you a pass when you sin? Who in your life is most likely to rationalize your bad behavior? Who is most likely to sinfully allow you to make positive comparisons between your life and the lives of other people you know? It's the person that greets you in the mirror every morning of course! Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is deceitful above all things and is desperately wicked. Who can know it?" Proverbs 14:12 "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death." Proverbs 12:15 "The way of a fool is right in his own eyes, But a wise man is he who listens to counsel." Is this clear enough?

So what is the point of this article? D. L.'s accountability lesson for 6/27/07:

I spent the whole of last summer in California doing consulting work. I was working on commission, so I needed to drum up my own business. The project was much more extensive than I had imagined, so I ended up being away from home for nearly five months. When I returned home, I continued to work as an outside account executive. That's a euphemistic term for "salesman".

Finally, after months of phone calls and emails to potential clients, (32 calls and emails to ONE prospect!), I earned some commission! Last week my big paycheck was due and nothing came. Yesterday, I received an email from the company's chief executive letting me know that he wanted to renegotiate my pay. I wrote him a very aggressive email, marking out my turf and then I carbon copied it to everyone I knew! After I sent it, an associate of mine told me that he thought that it was inappropriate for me to involve others in my situation and after struggling with the man in the mirror, I came to believe that he was right. I immediately sent a letter of apology to the chief as well as to the folks that I included in the carbon copy. Some of you may have guessed it. He asked me to dissociate from the company. Worse than that, there is no indication that I'm ever going to get the thousands of dollars that I'm owed!

Today at noon I met with Tom my accountability partner. He let me whine for a few minutes, but I could tell from his knowing smile that he was going to hit me with the truth, (whether I wanted to hear it or not!). First, did I owe the chief an apology for dragging disinterested parties into the dispute? Answer: YES! Why? Matthew 18:15 “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother." We could niggle over whether or not the chief is a "brother" or whether the proper application for this situation is Biblical discipline, but I am sure that I owed him a private conversation, before I informed anyone else. (Thanks Tom, for pointing out this sin!)

Second, yes, from a human perspective, the chief is wrong for not keeping his agreement. However, I need to fan through the Bible to determine what my REAL rights are. I have a right to be condemned to hell by the righteous God of the universe. I have a right to fall on my face and worship Him. I have a right to beg His forgiveness for my selfishness. I have a right to ask the forgiveness of the chief and the people that I dragged into this mess. Darn! I was hoping to find a passage on revenge or fire and brimstone. No such luck!

Lesson number two from my partner Tom: Confession. What is confession? It must be important or God wouldn't have made this statement: 1 John 1:9 "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and righteous to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." Confession is agreement. I must agree with God that I missed the mark. I must repent. What is repentance. In the Greek language, repentance is a military term for "stop going in the direction you are headed" and not only this, but "start marching in the opposite direction."

First, confession. I am doing that before you, (James 5:16 "Therefore, confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The effective prayer of a righteous man can accomplish much"), and before God. Second, repentance. Regardless of the results and with no hope for gain, I owe the chief an apology.

Thanks Tom, for my lesson this week.

His servant,

D. L. Culiver