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"Accountability is the Missing Link in Holiness" James 1:13-21

Holiness for All the Saints #7

by The Rev. Clancy Nixon

February 24, 2008

Church of the Holy Spirit

Ashburn, Virginia

www.HolySpiritAnglican.org

The title of my talk today is "Accountability is the Missing Link in Holiness." I

believe deeply in accountability. Of all the spiritual disciplines I practice, my weekly

meeting with an accountability partner has been easily the most helpful spiritual

discipline of all to my growth in personal holiness. God uses many spiritual disciplines in

my life, and I would not give any of them up: daily Bible reading, prayer, fasting, soaking

in God's presence, retreats, solitude, service, mission work, Holy Communion, and many

more. Even so, if I were forced by evil circumstance to choose only one spiritual

discipline, it would be accountability with another Christian brother. It may be that

accountability has been so important to me because I am so weak; I know my own

propensity to sin.

My mentor in my thirties, Ron Soderquist with Campus Crusade,

met with me every week for eleven years, seven of those years just the two

of us. That relationship, those meetings, changed my life. I thank God for

Ron. Most of my adult character was shaped in those meetings with him.

Ron helped me see the blind spots in my character that I could not see,

like my pride and selfishness. He helped me discern my calling to full-

time ministry, and he helped me to really learn the Bible. One important

reason I am successful in reading my Bible every day is that I am accountable to report to

my accountability partners every week whether I have been faithful in my Bible reading.

I very rarely miss my accountability meeting, because I know how powerfully God has

used those men to discipline and sharpen me, and how God uses me in the lives of other

men when we share vulnerably, invite correction and receive encouragement.

Patrick Morley says that a good definition of Accountability is "to be regularly

answerable for each of the key areas in your life to qualified people." (Man in the Mirror,

The Bible points us toward accountability. Morley said that Accountability is the

Missing Link (in Holiness), because the scriptures point to it. Listen to these scriptures:

"Brothers, if someone is caught in a sin, you who are spiritual should restore him gently.

But watch yourself, or you also may be tempted. Carry each other's burdens, and in this

way you will fulfill the law of Christ" (Galatians 6:1-2). "Two are better than one,

because they have a good return for their work: If one falls down, his friend can help him

up. But pity the man who falls and has no one to help him up" (Ecclesiastes 4:9-10)!

"Wounds from a friend can be trusted, but an enemy multiplies kisses" (Proverbs 27:6).

"As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another" (Proverbs 27:17). This spiritual

discipline of accountability is more effective than any other at helping me to put off the

sin in my life.

Last week I gave you a strategy to overcome temptation. I said that oftentimes,

your conscience tells you through some physical manifestation in your body that you are

being tempted to sin. You need to know yourself well enough not only to know what

your areas of vulnerability are, but also to learn how your conscience works in you,

however that alarm goes off in your own body. When you do become aware that you are

being tempted, then I advised you to stop, to reflect, and to ask yourself what the lie is

that you are tempted to believe about this sin. Bring God's truth to bear on your

temptation. Jesus said in John 8, "You shall know the truth, and the truth will set you

free." One dear sister in Christ wrote me this week to say that she used this strategy

successfully to avoid a fall into sin! Praise God.

That is a good strategy when you know you are tempted. But what can you do

when you are being tempted, but you aren't aware of it, because you are ignorant that sin

is crouching at the door? What if no alarm is going off inside you?

What you do is to invite someone of the same sex into an accountability

relationship with you. This isn't simply about fellowship over coffee; it's not only

seeking counsel; it's not just asking them to pray for you; it's asking someone you trust to

hear your confessions, to speak into your blind spots and to hold you accountable for

your progress. It gets very old confessing the same sin week after week! Trust me, I've

been there. Most men I know are so week in their vulnerable areas that they need help to

grow in holiness. I know I am. Women are the same. Let's hear a video testimony from

Pam Rogers....[on audio version of sermon online]

Hebrews 3:13 tells us another strategy to overcome temptation getting

encouragement from others. Hebrews 3:13 says, "Encourage one another daily, so that

none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness." Accountability isn't only about

confession and correction it's also about encouragement. We tell each other, "You can

do it! You can overcome your anger; you can reach the full tithe; you can have eyes only

for your wife! I believe in you; I believe that God will help you become obedient." We

need each other to walk in truth. Accountability is the Missing Link in Holiness.

This diagram is called the Johari window. It describes what you and others know

about yourself. Quadrant one describes the public part of yourself what you and others

all know about you, because it is obvious to all. Quadrant two describes the things others

know about you, but that you do not know. This area contains our blind spots - we would

not know about this stuff unless someone told us. Quadrant three is for things known to

us, but not to others; the things we have successfully hidden from others - the skeletons in

our closet. Quadrant four contains those things about ourselves that are known only to

God. These are the "unknown unknowns."

The Johari Window illustrates why accountability is so effective in helping us

grow in holiness. In accountability relationships, we self disclose our Quadrant III

skeletons in the closet, and so we deflate their power over us. We also receive input on

our Quadrant II blind spots. Listening Prayer is the only way I know to get at Quadrant

IV sins, which you can do for yourself, and your accountability partner can do for you.

Let's look at Quadrant II in the Johari Window, which is also known as the "Bad

Breath Area." As Amir says, "You can't share the Word of Life with the Breath of

Death." Those are the things that other people are aware of, but that you do not see.

Ordinarily, you can't smell your own bad breath. You need someone else to tell you, but

the problem is, often times people are too embarrassed to tell you when you have bad

breath. Either they are too embarrassed for you, or they are too embarrassed for

themselves. If they are too embarrassed for you, they don't want to make you feel bad

about something of which you are unaware. If they are embarrassed for themselves, they

think they don't know you well enough to offer criticism about your personal hygiene. If

they are too embarrassed to comment on your bad breath, they are certainly not going to

comment on what they see as the defects in your character.

You need a structured accountability relationship to consistently get to the hard

issues. I encourage each of you to get a hold of this brochure from our book table, called

Life Transformation Groups. If you will meet one hour a week with one

or two others, this format will help you grow in holiness, in prayer, in

evangelism, and in Bible reading. No kidding, I guarantee that you will

grow in all of those areas! Every week, I get asked about my anger

issues. So will you it's part of everyone's process. I'm working my

memory verse here - James 1:20 says, "Man's anger does not bring

about the righteous life that God desires!" If you want to learn more

about how these groups work, I encourage you to read this book by Neil

Cole, Cultivating a Life for God.

Accountability is the Missing Link in Holiness. I believe in this process so much

that I'll say that this is the most important step you can take toward holiness. What do

you look for in an accountability partner? Two things only: find someone else 1) who

desperately needs Christ, and 2) who will be faithful to meet with you every week. Ask

God in prayer to show you someone to meet with. Stick with it, and watch and see what

God does!

Accountability down here helps us prepare for the account we will one day give

up there. That account of your behavior is not the criterion for your salvation. Thank

God, no matter how unholy your behavior, if you believe and confess that Jesus Christ is

the Lord who died for your sins, you will be saved. (Romans 10:9) If you are born again,

the account that you will give to the Lord Jesus of your behavior in this life will

determine the rewards you will receive in heaven. The Lord wants to reward you. Use

this means of grace, this spiritual discipline of accountability, to come up higher. You

can do it! You can look more like Jesus this year than you did last year. Accountability

is the Missing Link in Holiness. Let's pray.

Thank you, Father God, for those who have held us accountable in our lives.

Thank you for our parents, our teachers, our superiors in the workplace, our pastors, our

police, our boards of directors, our bishops, our spouses, our accountability partners. We

confess our weakness, Lord, and we acknowledge our need of you, and our need of our

brothers and sisters in Christ. Change our hearts, O God. Help us, Lord, to desire to look

more like your Son. Give us joy at every opportunity to be conformed to the image of

your Son. Amen.