Accountability is a cheap and weak substitute for an amazing love relationship
with an incredibly loving Father. You know what the difference is between having
relationship with Jesus and having religion? Religion is all built on using
external means to conform or change outward behavior. Relationship with Jesus is
all about the Holy Spirit living on the inside of us and changing us inwardly
until over time those inward changes show outwardly. It's about Him changing the
heart, not about us changing our actions. As the heart changes, the actions
follow. We can't save ourselves, and we can't change ourselves. That's why
outward conformity only leads to misery and legalism. It is only through
relationship with Him that we are changed. And the relationship is the priority,
not the outward performance.
The problem I have with
accountability is that it misses the whole point. The issue is not my behavior,
it is my heart. If I can not or will not hear God for myself or can not sense
His conviction in my life, how is conforming to the moral standards of others
going to bring me any closer to the Father? If God is not enough to change my
heart, what makes people think that they will be?
If I have to look to
people to be my conviction and to keep me on track, doesn't that reveal that
there is a bigger problem in my walk with God? Which is more important, doing
what God says or what people want? Which is of greater value, people telling me
what God is saying, or for me to hear Him for myself. And which is true
obedience, living in relationship with Jesus and following His lead, or making
sure my actions measure up to the standards of the group?
The issue is my heart.
Accountability only deals with outward actions. Only God deals with the heart.
