Accountability: It does the soul good
Let's play a little game. I'll give you a bunch of facts and you try to guess the person I'm thinking of.
Ready?
1. He was one of the most powerful persons in the world throughout all of history.
2. He claimed to be a devout Christian.
3. He was the leader of a great military.
4. He ignored international law and launched a preemptive war.
5. His war was against an enemy whose threat was either inflated or fabricated.
6. He used nationalism and the flag to shield himself from accountability.
7. He spied on citizens and encouraged everyone to report suspicious behavior.
8. He defended holding prisoners without charges in the name of war.
9. His war resulted in the death of thousands upon thousands of people.
Alright, that ought to be enough. What's your guess?
[insert theme music from Jeopardy here...]
Okay, time's up. If you guessed Hitler, you're in the wrong millennium. I'm pretty sure if you think hard enough, you'll be able to figure out who it is.
Hark, what's that sound? I do believe that's the sound of a bazillion eyeballs rolling around as if to say, "not another idiot!"
A lot of Christians automatically protect their leaders, often over-zealously. When a leader is accused of doing something wrong, many Christians will automatically dismiss the accusation and assume that it is completely unfounded, then attempt to silence or ridicule the accuser. However, accountability is an integral aspect of being a Christian. We are to keep each other accountable, even our leaders. Leviticus 19:15 says "You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly."
There are several verses throughout the Bible that teach accountability. Verses such as Lev. 19:15, Deut 19:15-16, 1 Timothy 5:19, Proverbs 28:13, and 1 John 1:9 all provide good guidelines for dealing with accountability and sin.
Being a leader is a challenging task, no matter the scale. Praying for our leaders is an important part of being a Christian. No matter how much we like or dislike our leaders, we need to pray for them. However, keeping our leaders accountable is simply common sense. Blindly protecting our leaders is as ridiculous as blindly dismissing scientific evidence that shows the Earth is much, much older than 6,000 years old.
Keeping each other accountable is a powerful way to keep our relationship with Christ strong. Accountability will keep us from sinning and it will give us strength in numbers - when Satan attacks, the whole accountability group will be there to support you.
Ready?
1. He was one of the most powerful persons in the world throughout all of history.
2. He claimed to be a devout Christian.
3. He was the leader of a great military.
4. He ignored international law and launched a preemptive war.
5. His war was against an enemy whose threat was either inflated or fabricated.
6. He used nationalism and the flag to shield himself from accountability.
7. He spied on citizens and encouraged everyone to report suspicious behavior.
8. He defended holding prisoners without charges in the name of war.
9. His war resulted in the death of thousands upon thousands of people.
Alright, that ought to be enough. What's your guess?
[insert theme music from Jeopardy here...]
Okay, time's up. If you guessed Hitler, you're in the wrong millennium. I'm pretty sure if you think hard enough, you'll be able to figure out who it is.
Hark, what's that sound? I do believe that's the sound of a bazillion eyeballs rolling around as if to say, "not another idiot!"
A lot of Christians automatically protect their leaders, often over-zealously. When a leader is accused of doing something wrong, many Christians will automatically dismiss the accusation and assume that it is completely unfounded, then attempt to silence or ridicule the accuser. However, accountability is an integral aspect of being a Christian. We are to keep each other accountable, even our leaders. Leviticus 19:15 says "You shall do no injustice in judgment; you shall not be partial to the poor nor defer to the great, but you are to judge your neighbor fairly."
There are several verses throughout the Bible that teach accountability. Verses such as Lev. 19:15, Deut 19:15-16, 1 Timothy 5:19, Proverbs 28:13, and 1 John 1:9 all provide good guidelines for dealing with accountability and sin.
Being a leader is a challenging task, no matter the scale. Praying for our leaders is an important part of being a Christian. No matter how much we like or dislike our leaders, we need to pray for them. However, keeping our leaders accountable is simply common sense. Blindly protecting our leaders is as ridiculous as blindly dismissing scientific evidence that shows the Earth is much, much older than 6,000 years old.
Keeping each other accountable is a powerful way to keep our relationship with Christ strong. Accountability will keep us from sinning and it will give us strength in numbers - when Satan attacks, the whole accountability group will be there to support you.
posted by gapid at 6:48 PM
1 Comments:
Yeah so anyway when are you going to write about computer programming? :P
I agree that as Christians we need accountability. I even agree that our Christian leaders need accountability and that they shouldn't be given carte blanche power... However, I will say that just because a Christian leader leads people into a war and people die doesn't mean the war is unjust. I think as Americans we are too quick to forget the thousands that died on 9/11 and thousands that died under Sadam’s rule, and the thousands of innocent people that are killed because of terrorists.
How many wars did God ordain in the Bible? How many innocent people died because of those wars? Look at 1 Samuel 15:1-3 for example.
Samuel said to Saul, "I am the one the LORD sent to anoint you king over his people Israel; so listen now to the message from the LORD. This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'I will punish the Amalekites for what they did to Israel when they waylaid them as they came up from Egypt. Now go, attack the Amalekites and totally destroy everything that belongs to them. Do not spare them; put to death men and women, children and infants, cattle and sheep, camels and donkeys.'"
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