My Journey of Faith
My journey toward understanding church accountability began in one of the first Sunday School classes I attended. The lesson was from Matthew 18, which said,
"If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. "But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED. "If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. "Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven." (Verses 15-18)
Though the lesson was taught and the portion of scripture discussed and understood on numerous occasions, no one was willing to carry out our Lord's command.
Accountable To One Another is Treated Like an Option
It has been fifty years since I attended my first church. Upon moving to South Carolina, we attended a sister church to which we served in D.C. for fifteen years. After multiple attempts to speak with the elders to ensure we were on the same page, I was told that if we weren't, I could always leave. We did!
It would seem that in today's church, we can take or leave what God says according to our personal preferences. How is the previous passage practiced in your church?
In the second church where we became members, I believed what the pastor said was true. When the time came to execute accountability, I was told, "I have been a Southern Baptist all my life, I am not going to change now."
Accountability To One Another Practiced and Observed
In 2001, I attended the Grace Community Church Shepherd's Conference. I sat in a class and heard how they practiced Church accountability there. I was stunned and delighted! I stayed for the Sunday service, where before the Lord's Supper, the pastor read a list of people being put out of the church. Two other times, I attended services there and saw the same thing. Experiencing a church that teaches, hears, and does has put a smile on my face and a song in my heart, not because people were treated poorly, which they weren't, but because God's word was being obeyed.
Accountability to One Another Questioned
Understanding the ramifications of our Lord's command to be responsible to one another, Peter said, "Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?" What Peter misunderstood was to place unforgiveness in the mix. Where there is love, there can only be forgiveness. Accountability has to do with Christ, which is in His church. To permit sin to be unchecked and a part of our lives is to misrepresent the holiness of Jesus Christ. Second, by not raising the awareness of a believer's sin, it is to leave them in the bondage of sin. There is no love in that.
Lastly, the only way accountability can escalate from more than one person to the whole church is if the believer will not acknowledge the sin or acknowledging it refuses to turn from it. Such actions can place salvation in question. I have walked with many for a long time, as working to overcome sin can be a long ordeal. Jesus did not avoid the process of walking alongside one another. He set what He always does in order: deal with sin. Jesus never looks the other way and wants us to do the same.
Accountability To One Another Disobeyed is Sin
Avoiding our Lord's commands is not an option. It is a sin. Therefore, any church that refuses to practice our Lord's command in Matthew 18 is in sin. When a believer approaches such a church, behaving in such a manner and being treated as though they are out of line, there is more sin to be considered. Each of the following statements by Paul was not meant to be recommendations but God's commands.
1 Thessalonians 5:19-22, "Do not quench the Spirit; do not despise prophetic utterances. But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; abstain from every form of evil."
Jesus' command does not give anyone the right to run over another person but to approach them in love, patience, and forgiveness if they've sinned. Examining what took place carefully is a mandate. Looking away is not an option.
Consider carefully whether it is a stumbling block for believers to behold Christ's Church and see sin allowed by those who testify to Jesus, say they know Him, and deny Him by their actions and the church that will enable it to occur.
"And whoever receives one such child in My name receives Me; 6but whoever causes one of these little ones who believe in Me to stumble, it would be better for him to have a heavy millstone hung around his neck, and to be drowned in the depth of the sea."
Matthew 18:5-6
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