A is for Accountability-Galatians 6:1-6

Galatians, New Testament, Sermons

Galatians 6:1-6 (2 Sam 12:1-14; Gal 2:11-14); Key Verse: Gal 6:1

“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.”

The ABCs of Christian Life. This Sunday begins a sermon series entitled “Practical Christian Living–The ABCs,” with each letter of the alphabet representing one important practical aspect of the Christian life:

  • A (accountability).
  • B (beauty).
  • C (community).
  • D (delight).
  • E (equality).
  • F (freedom).
  • G (grace).

This is not set in stone. As with every letter,

  • C could also be constancy, church, confession, Christ crucified, critical thinking;
  • E could be experiential living, evangelism, ecclesiology, eschatology;
  • F could be friendship, fellowship, etc.

It should be noted that there is never a precise formula or exact steps or a secret code for successful Christian living. It is because Christianity is primarily NOT a strictly regimented lifestyle but an intimate loving relationship with the triune God (2 Cor 13:14).

“A” is for Accountability. Without accountability, our Christian life will more easily suffer from or digress toward pride, ego-trips, self-righteousness, arrogance, complacency, unaddressed blind spots, prejudices and bias that remain persistently, if not permantly. Accountability will be discussed in four parts:

  1. Why it’s important
  2. How to do it
  3. What not to do
  4. Who did it best

Main theme and question: Do you have a Nathan? Are you a Nathan to others?

Warning about the misuse and abuse of accountability: As I have often done this year, I asked for feedback and critique of my sermon before I preach extemporaneously on Sun: Critique my sermon on accountability. I was warned about how easily accountability can and has been misused and abused. For instance:

  • We should be very prayerful and careful about who we confess our sins to, because an immature or unwise person might misuse what is shared with them.
  • Without realizing it, we might be controlling and manipulating others to do what we want and expect, all in the name of love, shepherding or even accountability.

This is true. Things fall apart. Things that were once good become bad. Things that were once fresh and new become old and tired. Things that were once inspiring and encouraging becomes oppressive and discouraging. May we prayerfully keep this in mind if and when we seek to be accountable to others and for others.

Even a man after God’s own heart needs a Nathan. David was a man after God’s own heart (1 Sam 13:14; Ac 13:22). Yet he stumbled in sin by commiting adultery and murder. He was stuck with no way out until Nathan came along and called him to be accountable (2 Sam 12:1-14).

Even the rock upon which Christ would build his church needs an accountability partner. Peter preached the first Easter sermon at Pentacost, which led to 3,000 people accepting the gospel and becoming Christians (Ac 2:41). He was the leader of the first church in Acts, which eventually conquered the world. Jesus called him the rock upon whom he would build his church (Mt 16:18). But when he was under pressure from the older Jewish Christians to compel the Gentile Christians to accept Jewish customs, he withdrew from eating with them (Gal 2:11-12), for they ate food that was not kosher, according to the Mosaic law. This compelled Paul, a junior apostle, to publicly rebuke and call him out for not acting in line with the truth of the gospel (Gal 2:14). Imagine that! Even Peter, the head of the early church, needed to be accountabile in order to be set free from legalism.

Everyone without exception needs to be accountable. It does not matter how young or old, or how long you have been a Christian. Both a prominent OT leader (David) and a NT leader (Peter) needed someone to call them to be accountable and to repentance. I pray that God will lead you, especially if you are a Christian, to seek someone to be accountable to, and also to be accountable for others. Remember again these two questions:

  1. Do you have a Nathan?
  2. Are you a Nathan to others?

I. Why accountability is important

  • Jer 17:9: “more deceitful than anything else and incurable” (HCSB); “desperately sick” (NASB); “most deceitful of all things and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?” (NLT).
  • Gen 6:5: “every scheme his mind thought of was nothing but evil all the time” (HCSB); “everything they thought or imagined was consistently and totally evil” (NLT).
  • 1 Pet 5:8: ” Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.”
  • Prov 14:12; 16:25: ” There is a way that appears to be right, but in the end it leads to death.”
  • Eccl 4:9-12: “Two are better than one,because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down,one can help the other up. But pity anyone who fallsand has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm.But how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be overpowered,two can defend themselves. A cord of three strands is not quickly broken.”
  • Mt 7:3-5: “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? “

II. How to be accountable to others

  • Gal 6:1. Is there a habitual sin you need to gently restore a brother/sister from? Are you willing to be accountable yourself? Avail yourself/listen to those who seek to restore you?
  • Gal 6:2: “Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.”
  • Gal 6:3: “If anyone thinks they are something when they are not, they deceive themselves.”
  • 2 Sam 12:1-14. What can you learn from Nathan? Do you have a Nathan? Are you a Nathan to others?
  • Gal 2:11-14: “When Cephas came to Antioch, I opposed him to his face, because he stood condemned. 12 For before certain men came from James, he used to eat with the Gentiles. But when they arrived, he began to draw back and separate himself from the Gentiles because he was afraid of those who belonged to the circumcision group. 13 The other Jews joined him in his hypocrisy, so that by their hypocrisy even Barnabas was led astray. 14 When I saw that they were not acting in line with the truth of the gospel, I said to Cephas in front of them all, “You are a Jew, yet you live like a Gentile and not like a Jew. How is it, then, that you force Gentiles to follow Jewish customs?”
  • Mt 18:15-17:“If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. ” When someone in the church sins, what should you do?

III. What not to do

  • Gal 5:26: “Let us not become conceited, provoking and envying each other.”
  • Gal 6:4: “Each one should test their own actions. Then they can take pride in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else.”

IV. Who did it best

  • Jn 8:29: Jesus said, “I always do what pleases him.”
  • Phil 2:8: “…he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death—even death on a cross!”

Ultimately we fail being accountable to God and to others because of our selfishness. But there is One who was accountable to God and to others…unto death, even death on a cross. He was perfectly accountable to God and to us at the cost of his life. When we realize this and to the degree that we understand this, we too will be compelled to be accountable to Him and to others.

(For Bible study and small group reflection)

ACCOUNTABILITY [The “A” of Practical Christian Living]

“Brothers and sisters, if someone is caught in a sin, you who live by the Spirit should restore that person gently. But watch yourselves, or you also may be tempted.”

(Christianity is ultimately not basic instructions for life but a loving relationship with a Person. There are no basic standard formulas for a healthy, productive and fulfilling life. There are no 7 steps to a happy Christian life that works for everyone. Yet some principles may be helpful, not as a rule or code, but as a guide for practical consideration.)

Here are proposed ABCs that may help us in our journey of faith (please freely think of other words):

  • A (accountability): Gal 6:1.
  • B (beauty): Ps 27:4.
  • C (community): Rom 12:16. Or (constancy): Dt 8:3. Or (confession): James 5:16.
  • D (delight): Ps 37:4.
  • E (experience): Ps 34:8.
  • F (freedom): Gal 5:1. Or (friendship): Jn 15:15.
  • G (gospel of God’s grace): Acts 20:24.

Questions for Reflection (Think about why accountability is important, how to do it, what not to do, and who did it best):

  1. Why is accountability crucially important for every Christian? Read 1 Pet 5:8; Prov 14:12; 16:25; Eccl 4:9-12; Mt 7:3-5.
  2. How do you call someone to be accountable? Read:
  3. Gal 6:1. Is there a habitual sin you need to gently restore a brother/sister from? Are you willing to be accountable yourself? Avail yourself/listen to those who seek to restore you?
  4. Gal 6:2. What opportunities has God given you to carry another’s burden?
  5. Gal 6:3. How do you regard yourself?
  6. 2 Sam 12:1-14. What can you learn from Nathan? Do you have a Nathan? Are you a Nathan to others?
  7. Mt 18:15-17. When someone in the church sins, how should you proceed?
  8. Regarding accountability what should you not do? Read:
  9. Gal 5:25. What is the evidence that you may be conceited?
  10. Gal 6:4. What do you think about yourself?

 

Number of Views: 74