The Accountability Factor

As I continue down this road of learning to interact more intimately with Jesus, I realize I have the need for accountability. I need someone that will help me to not just fall by the wayside, and go back to my old, more structured patterns.

Except for a running partner I had for 15 years, I have only had one time when others held me accountable. But it was that accountability that pushed me out of my comfort zone and enabled me to take a risk that changed my life.

When I moved to TN 7 years ago, I left a youth group at my church, and several young women that had become very dear to me. As only young people can be, they were excited for my new adventure, and wanted to be in on it. I had read about something called Women at the Well, and thought I would check it out when I got settled in. I told "my girls" about this, and they thought it would be awesome. So they would check up on me-frequently-to see what I had found out. It was actually their excitement that helped me up that long driveway to the Well, to ask if I could volunteer. Thanks to these girls, I was a regular volunteer less than three months after we moved.

My adult friends didn't offer this kind of support. They wanted to give me time to settle in--hang curtains and that sort of thing. Give me time to adjust to my new surroundings. Who knows, I might still be adjusting if it weren't for my friends, Hannah and Kristi!

I think accountability has gotten a bad rap. It's not like a hammer, beating people over the head with a Bible verse. It goes hand in hand with encouragement. It's showing compassion, but not compromise: empathy, not sympathy. To be an effective accountability partner, I need to be a great encourager. To do this, I have taken some lessons from Barnabas, the Son of Encouragement. (Check him out in the book of Acts.) Here are 5 qualities that help me become a better encourager/accountability partner.

1) People are more important than things. Barnabas sold a field and gave the money to the apostles to provide for the early church. If I put people first, harmony follows.

2) Believe in people. Barnabas believed in Paul long before anyone else did. Because Barnabas was with him, Paul was able to minister widely to believers.

3) Allow people to grow out of needing you. Don't try to make or keep people dependent on you. Although Paul needed Barnabas at first, as time progressed, Paul didn't need anyone to vouch for his character, and Barnabas accepted that.

4) Allow people to fail. Remember when Mark disappointed Paul by going home for a while? Paul and Barnabas had such a fight over that, they each went their own way. Paul went with Silas, and Barnabas left with Mark. But in several of Paul's later letters, he asks for Mark, since he was such a help and support to him. Something must have happened to Mark, and I can't help but think that Barnabas was a part of that.

5) Finally, we don't have to see the end result. Barnabas was able to see change in Mark, but I bet he would have come along side of him without that guarantee.



So, I am using this blog as a type of accountability partner. Something to help me not fall back into my old habits. And Kristi and Hannah, feel free to check up on me any time! I love you guys.