Understanding Accountability in Discipleship

Good morning and welcome to Ex-Baptist Church Worship. I'm looking at the screen and I see some faces familiar to me and I just want to say that prayers are especially going out to all of you. Welcome. This morning, following the theme Ex-Baptist Church has been doing regarding Discipleship. I want to talk about accountability. I want to share about accountability, but my objective is not how you can hold accountability. So, more importantly is after the message, you take it with you, you pray through, and you think about a loving God. who has given us this feature of accountability to bless us and not to kind of restrict us. So let us pray first before I carry on. We thank you, Lord, that you are a great God. And your love is truly... magnanimous and great. Out of your kind heart and your concern for everyone, you call us. Because of your love, everyone at every stage can turn our eyes to you, to give you thanksgiving, to give you praise, and also to receive from you all that you want us, which is always the best for us. So will you just speak to us through your words and at this moment of sharing. We pray all of this in Jesus'most precious name. Amen. We all can agree and define what is discipleship or what discipleship means to us. We can all have the knowledge about discipleship. Yet the truth is, we will not go very far, even if we have the best discipleship processed. For discipleship to be effective, we really need to have accountability. For discipleship to take the long term and to see the result of it, we need to have accountability. So again, let me say, my objective is not to teach you. how to hold each other accountable. That we can do at another time and it's also a process of learning. But for today, I want you to get you to reflect seriously about our need, my need, your needs to give accountability and in the areas that is needed. And when I say areas that is needed, I'm not talking about just Christian values, I'm not just talking about in the church, but I'm talking about everywhere, in every area. And most of it, you know. You alone know where you need to give accountability. Let's start by looking at two passages and see the critical need to have accountability. The first passage is from 2 Samuel. Chapter 11 is on the screen, so you don't have to turn to them, but if you have your Bible, you wish to turn to them, you can. Let me just kind of narrate the story to you, because it's familiar, but you can read it and then just see how it speaks to you. In Samuel chapter 11, we have King David. He's a king and he was doing very well and he was fighting the Ammonites at that time. And then it was springtime at a time when kings go off to war. It's very interesting because kings go off to war in spring because they can feed their horses and it is a good time. It's not like in raining times where you can get stuck and all that. And to gain victory, they usually go to war in springtime. But this spring, David did not go to war. He sent his commandant's generals out. Joab being one of them and all the king's men. The whole of Israelite army is this, clearly. And they went and to continue to fight the Ammonites. But he, what did he do? He remained in Jerusalem. He just remained in Jerusalem. Then one evening, he got up. And because it's hot, he walks on the roof, he walks around the roof, and from the roof he saw a beautiful woman breathing. The woman was very beautiful, it says. This is where things start to happen. He sent someone to find out about her. Nothing wrong with that. Walking on the roof and not going to walk is already a small problem, but that he saw a beautiful woman, there's nothing wrong with that. And he sent someone out to find out about her. There is nothing wrong about that. But the man said something of importance. He said, isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite? Mark the word. It seems that it's reported to him that this is a married woman. This is a married woman. But David sent messengers to get her. So she came and slept with her. She purifies herself from her uncleanness. Why is it in brackets? Because it actually tells us that at that stage, she was not pregnant. because she's having her menopause. I'm sorry, she's having her period. So what happened is that she's not pregnant. But then when she went back home, the woman conceived and sent word to David and said that I am pregnant. So that begins a whole series of things which you can read for yourself. I'm going to jump down a little bit later. David found he got caught. And the only way he can think of is to get Uriel, the husband, to come back, a very loyal servant, to come back from war. And he planned to have him killed. And how did he send him to the front and everything? Eventually, he was killed. And then we read in 2 Samuel 12, verse 13. This is what happened. Of course, God knew everything that was happening. So God sent Nathan to confront David. Then David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord. And Nathan replied, the Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. Now, don't mistake this because in between it is, he was confronted very strongly and very, very clearly. the sin that he has committed. I highlight this part here is to tell you that it is very important to note that it was not the end of David. It was not because he had committed adultery. It's the end of his career. It's the end of his kingdom and everything. It is not also because God is so forgiving. God just let go of everything. There are consequences. But note the love of God. Take away the sin. You are not going to die. But there were consequences that followed. This is the first passage I want you to bear in mind. And you see the importance of accountability. How a crisis resulted when small, small things creep into our lives. The second passage we want to look at is from 2 Kings 5, verse 19-20 and then 23-27. Again, this is about Elisha. There is a commander by the name of Naaman. He had leprosy and he had it for a long time. He was successful in every way except that he had leprosy. And then a maid or lady servant helped him by saying, Hey, there's this prophet of God. Go to him and then he can heal you. Which happens to Naaman. He was healed completely. The story was that he was reluctant. He was arrogant. He just don't care. He expected to be given respect. He expected Elisha to come out to meet him. But Elisha didn't. Anyway, he got healed. And then... He offered out of real gratitude. He offered to pay or to give gift to Elisha. But Elisha said, no. He said, go in peace. Elisha said. Go in peace. I will not take anything from you, not any gift at all. So after Naaman has realized that Elisha won't take it, he traveled away. But as he was going away, in verse 20, you read about Gehazi, the servant of Elisha. This man was watching everything and he's supposed to serve Elisha. And he would have observed everything that Elisha has done. And would have known why, or at least seen the master refusing the gift. He says, my master was too easy on Naaman. this Aramean by not accepting from him what he brought. So as surely as the Lord lives, he said, I will run after him and get something from him. There was a kind of, if I could use the word, disagreement inside the heart in Gehazi, with Elisha. You know, sometimes like we don't speak it out but inside our heart there is this thing that is going on. I don't agree with you. And therefore I'm going to go my own way and do it my own way. So he ran after him. Now what happens in verse 23 onwards is that he met Naaman again. Naaman was going away. He caught up and Naaman saw him coming from afar and said, hey, what's happening? What's happening? Is there something wrong and all that? He said, no, no, no, no, nothing is wrong. And then he tells a long story full of lies, used Elisha's name. His story was, he said, two persons has come. And then they need clothes and they need money. And then he said, would you just give them something? And he says they have come to Elisha actually. He didn't say come to me or anything like that. So he used Elisha's name to give it more impact. And then that's where this Naaman is already very generous and then he urged Gehazi to accept the gift. It is very interesting to see Naaman's character change from a proud person who thinks that he should be served by Elijah to come out and heal him. And here he urged Gehazi. He said, accept this gift, go back. In fact, if you read carefully, from afar he saw and he was very concerned. He said, has something happened and everything. So the story went on. Gehazi got the gift and he went. In verse 24, he said, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He gave the things to the servant, bring it to the house and then hide it. Definitely for him. Then he sent the man away. I'm just wondering what these two men and other servants would have been thinking, looking at Gehazi. They would have also, I believe, present when Elijah rejected the gift. And they're now going after this, seeing Gehazi going after Naaman to get this and then keeping it quietly. What would have been going on? The things get worse in verse 25. He went in and stood before his master Elisha. After getting everything, hiding it away, he went away, stood in front of his master, the prophet, an anointed man of God, there and as if nothing has happened and as he's just carrying on his normal duty, as a servant waits upon a master. Then Elisha asked, where have you been Gehaisa? Where have you been? And then his answer was very simple. I have not been anywhere. I have not been anywhere. Lies start to come out to protect himself, to save himself, whatever he was going on in his mind, thinking that it will never be found out. Nobody's gonna find out I will get a wish comes free and then Elisha said to him was not my spirit Let me say here. It's not just about Elisha's spirit. It's about the Holy Spirit Prompting it is God revealing secrets things that has happened, that Gehazi has done, that nobody knows. Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? And then of course, it goes to show how Gehazi's punishment was that he became leprous, white as snow throughout his life. In these two passages, in the first one, it's quite clear that David could have saved himself or escaped a crisis. If he has made himself accountable to Uriel maybe, to the servant who came and said, is this not the wife of Uriel? In Gehazi's case also, if he has made himself accountable to the servants, you know, just seeing everything that's happened. He would have escaped also the crisis. But both of them faced a crisis. These two passages, I like to highlight the following points regarding accountability. First is why we need accountability. Accountability is a, if I could use the word, dirty word. Just like discipleship, just like mentoring. We don't like it. It gives us an urge and especially accountability. Because we have sometimes a wrong idea and a wrong concept about God when it comes to accountability. Or of people who ask us to offer accountability. Why do we need accountability? Number one, very clearly we see from these two passages, we are prone to sin. And we will sin. We are fallen people. We are prone to sin and we will sin. It is not about King David and Gehazi only. We all have our secret weaknesses. And sometimes we think sin is what only when we are caught with. But our secret thoughts, our secret weaknesses, anger and everything else, bitterness, unforgiveness, secret, not mentioned, not to anyone. Alright? Those are the things. that tells us we need accountability. Even if our weaknesses are never discovered like in the case of David and in the case of Gehazi, and it's forever for our lifetime never discovered on this earth at all, we must remember eventually we become accountable to God. Accountability to God at the end of ages is clearly stated in the Bible all the time. And also I want to remind us here, we are not talking about lust or sexual sin. We are not talking about greed and money and everything. It can be any area of weaknesses. Example, white lies, laziness, selfishness. wrong perceptions. We say we have principles and everything, but what? We have philosophies, but what are they based on? So this, of course, includes, when we talk about witnesses, it includes Bible reading. So too often we talk about, we think only it's about Bible reading, it's about prayer, it's about fellowship. It is not about this. Very often we need accountability because we are so prone to sin and the Bible describes it. The second reason we need accountability is because it is God's safety net for us. It is God's safety net for us on our discipleship journey. Because even the most loyal, the most faithful... Disciples will fall into sin at times. We are not talking about excusing it, but that is the reality. And before even that happens, God provides us a safety net. What do you mean by safety net? God places it there, accountability, the safety net, before we fall. And to save us, And after our fall, to keep us from death, God ensures that when we fall, that it is not the end of everything for us. God ensures that when we fall, He's not going to say, you are responsible, you deserve it, and I leave it to you, and all that. The safety net is placed there. And that's accountability. It's to help us avoid falling. And in case we fall, we will fall. It is there to help us recover. Remember the word recover. Accountability is not for condemnation. It's not to say I'm better than you. It is redemption to bring someone back. That's the extent of God's love. Let me share with you an illustration about trapeze. You know, trapeze, they swing around and everything and all that. I can say a lot about it and all that. But strappies always have a safety net below. Only the most daring one will not do that. But generally, you go to circus, you go to any show, there is always a safety net. Either a safety net or they are harnessed. There's harnessed holding them up while they do their act and all, everything. So beautiful. But the truth is, if we are like a disciple, inexperienced, young, walking towards a destination, There will be time we will fall. Just like an inexperienced tripeast or learning to be a tripeast, want to be professional, will fall sometime. The net is there. They fall down all the way and it's not the end. Too bad you make one mistake, too bad you die. But the net is there. And when the net is there, they fall down, they get up. They climb up. that rope ladder again and they do it again and they may fall again. They do not deliberately fall because they want to get better. King David's actions of not leading the generals to war and taking it easy in his own palace. And then committing adultery and then committing murder. And with all the lies and everything and all the testimony that he has given. According to scriptures, he deserved death. He is a king. He deserved death. And that is why just now I read to you. That the prophet, I mean the Nathan went to him and said, you will not die. That's the love of God. That's talking about safety net. Gehazi, for example, he disgraced his master. A prophet. He disgraced the commendable action of God's anointed by saying that Elisha was too easy going. And then he acted greedily, becoming a bad testimony to everybody, especially to Naaman, the new believer. Naaman was a new believer. If you read carefully, you see his attitude at the beginning and at the end is totally different. He should have been... facing death. Instead, he only had leprosy. Consequences are there, but God did not intend to put us down and to do away with us. Accountability does that. It's a safety net of God. That's the love of God. Difficult. Not pleasurable, but it shows God's love for us. The third reason. Accountability keeps us on track. It is along when we practice accountability, it keeps us on track and keeps us from going off course. It keeps us aligned and every once in a while realign us so that we can reach the destination. It is to help us move forward towards the destination. Just like in the trapeze like that The safety net is there not for you to fall and then just fall on the net and say nothing else It's for you to go forward again. It's for you to climb up the rope ladder again and try until You become good and so the safety net is to help us move forward. God's way of helping us move forward, not stagnate. Move forward to the place where we become spiritually matured. Spiritually matured. That's why we need accountability. Who are those who need accountability is our next question. Why we need is dealt with by who? Number one, those holding responsibilities. It is not about the responsibilities that you have to do, the list of it or how important it is. It's not about a list of things to be done. No. When we said those holding a responsibility, what we need to think about and what we need to look out is how you carry out your responsibility. Allow me to repeat that. How You carry out your responsibility. The process of it all. What was your attitude about carrying it out? How and why did you fail? Why did you fail to do it? It's owning up. It's not giving excuses. It's not blaming someone else. It's not blaming circumstances. It's not blaming time or anything else. So it is the how and why. of responsibility. How did I carry out the responsibility? Was my attitude right? Was I just said good enough already? No need to be excellent. Was there integrity in carrying it out? And when I report a failure on my part, even in owning up, am I telling the absolute truth? When I carry out a responsibility and I did it very well, and the result was very, very good, were there values that were given out? So those holding responsibilities need accountability. Another group that needs accountability are those given authority. And this means pastors. This means church leaders. Ministry leaders. But we cannot stop there. Too often we just think about accountability is in church only. What about teachers in school? How are you carrying out your responsibilities? What about parents at home? How are you bringing up your child? Are you giving the best? What is your motive behind it? Are you moving forward? What is your goal? What's your destination? And people in authority or given authority? needs to be held accountable, needs to give accountability because they have greater impact on others. Consider the negative impact of King David and Gehazi. For King David, it was his family, generation after that. For Gehazi also, generations after that. It extended to the generations and therefore those with authority and those with responsibility, needs. to give accountability. The higher we claim in our corporate world, the higher we claim in our spiritual life, the more authority we get, the higher we get. pastors, senior pastors, theologians, right? And then the bigger your church is and the more you hold it and everything, actually the more isolated we become, really. Not deliberately, but more. isolated we become. And because of this higher position and higher authority that we have, less and less people, let me just say this, dare to question us. And there lies a danger. Few people like and want to question someone who's in authority. And because of that, less people dare to question us, accountability becomes even more critical. No one is immune to sin. No one is immune to falling. We are all vulnerable. We are all vulnerable. The person who disciples is vulnerable. In other words, the disciple is vulnerable. The disciple is also vulnerable. And both disciple and disciples need to practice accountability. And they need to practice by the same standard. Pastors and members have the same standards. to be applied in terms of accountability. A third group of people I think who needs accountability are those who wish to grow and not stagnate. To become better disciple, to grow in spiritual maturity. I mentioned that already. You practice until you become better. It's not that straight away you become. Accountability is like what we call iron sharpens iron. And in Bible Proverbs 27, verse 17, clearly says, As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. It has nothing to do with status. It has to do with man to man, face to face. It has nothing to do with status and anything at all. But iron sharpens iron. As a disciple, when you disciple people, you become aware of your need for accountability. Because everything you said, you got to think about, did I practice that? Am I okay? Is this my weakness? So let's go down, then what is accountability? Let's go down, what is accountability? Let me start sharing what is not or what often is mistaken for accountability. That's why it becomes, I call it a dirty word. It gives us a smirk on our face. What it is not for us. Let me just share what it is not. It's not a gathering together and having bonding. That's the objective. bonding is fine, gathering together, having fellowship and being more open, that is all fine. But that is not accountability. Neither is it when you come together, you say, we want to be more authentic and we want to speak the truth. That in itself, by alone by itself, is not accountability. So we go on down the wrong road. We just say, this is accountability. Whether you have done your Bible study, you have worshipped in church, how is your attendance on this and everything like that. It becomes a list of things to do and to be ticked off. That when we get together, yeah, we will speak the truth. Yes, we will have bonding, but I will tick off this one. Did you do your quiet time? Did you pray? How many times did you attend the church? Are you responsible? Did you lie? Did you get angry? So on. We talk about all. of that and we start taking it off. There's no accountability. In fact, that always often, very often, gives a sense of inferiority and condemnation. Or on the other side, it gives a sense of superiority and spirituality, which is all wrong. That's not accountability. It may be a small part only, but that's not accountability. Neither it is to hear words of comfort. We think accountability is, I confess already, then some words of comfort I hear from the other person. It is all right. No one is perfect. You can get better and all that. That's not accountability. And it's not people finding you out. It can be self-confessed. You know it yourself. You confess. Or it can be caught by people and everything confessing it. That's not accountability. I tell you what really is accountability. Listen carefully. It is when a failure or weakness is shared in absolute truth. The person or the two of them or the whole group seek for change and being proactive about it. Proactively seeking for change. Not to remain where it is. Just like trapeze, you fall down on your neck, you don't give up. You fall down onto the neck, you don't just lie down on the neck. You fall down on the neck, you don't just get down onto the neck. ground and go back to other things and give up being the best tribe is James 5 16 is the best verse I can think of for accountability it does therefore it is therefore Confess your sins to each other. Do you see the face-to-face there? Do you see the initiative that comes from the individual? It is self-confession. Confess yourself, your sins to each other. There is no status involved in everything. And pray for each other. Not just pray so that you may be healed. It is about redemption. It is about healing. It's about removing of the shame, of the guilt, walking together side by side. Now just as a sideline, very quickly I just say it here. I think it's very important. This kind of accountability, I know in our mind, all say, very difficult, very difficult. You know, what if this person, you know, I'm so vulnerable, what if this person go on like that? That is why it says, the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. We give accountability with people who are holy and who are walking with God. That's what we do. That's what we want in accountability. The two passages that we look at today clearly indicate without accountability, we are just waiting for a crisis to happen. We have enough examples, right? Daily evangelists and all that. Without accountability, therefore. They don't intend to sin. They don't intend to fall into their sin. They didn't deliberately go there. But as it rises, as a pastor becomes more and more prominent, we will face a crisis without accountability. Accountability is to avoid that from happening, but it is a journey to help us to reach our maximum potential. To reach your very very maximum, where you are spiritually matured. As I start... This morning I said that my objective is not to teach or to say that how accountability should be done. That is we can do at another time, at another place. But I think first is to acknowledge the need. To acknowledge the need to be accountable. Accountability cannot be demanded. It can only be offered. I cannot say, I come to you and look at Billy. Billy, I want to hold you accountable for this and this and this and this. It cannot be demanded. I cannot demand, I say, everybody, every leader, you need to give accountability. I can only tell you it is God's safety net. It is God's way of allowing us to reach our potential. It is a spirit-led choice. A choice that you in prayer, a choice that you really examine yourself. and then a response that you take to God's care for us. To God's care for us. At certain part, in the earlier part, earlier moments, you find that I'm emotional. If you look through it in the tape again or anything like that, it is because I'm emotional because of God's love. Such great love. Don't mistake it as God confining us. Don't mistake it as God condemning us. Don't mistake each other. Just understand it is God's love and care for us. Even though He knows and He expects nothing from us except failures. But He doesn't leave us there. So I pray you would reflect on this message and say, will I seek accountability? And who and how and all those we can take at another time. Let us pray. Thank you Lord for your grace, for your mercy upon us, knowing that we are sinners. Help us understand what it means that we are sinners saved by grace. But more than just being saved, you want us to become disciples that are spiritually mature, able to handle situations. You want us to grow and to reach our maximum potential. And the means you do it, Lord, is not through condemnation, not through a checklist, Lord, but through a community of believers. Regardless of the status, regardless of our responsibility, your means of doing it is that we need each other. Thank you for providing that safety net. I pray, Lord, we will reflect and we will volunteer, willingly give accountability. And as the song says, you're a good, good father. It is about who you are. Who you are. Wanting to give us freedom. Wanting to us reach our maximum. It is not about who I am. I pray all of this in Jesus'most precious name. Amen. Before I pass back to Lee Wei, in a breakup group I'd like you to do something. Whoever it is, four or five or what, one of you, any one of you, okay? Any one of you. Don't have to be the leader, don't have to be or whatever it is, or you do not know, whatever, doesn't really. One of you, anyone, because it's a very simple job, volunteer to take down notes. Get a piece of paper, get a pen and everything. Become a secretary for the moment. Don't have to give reasons or anything. Just get a piece of paper, all right, to take down notes and be a timekeeper, all right, to move from one question to the next. question. As you do the following, recall the message and then answer the two questions that is there. And after you have done that, there is a timing that the timekeeper keeps you. Let the volunteer who took down all the notes and everything, just read out everything that's taken. And when you write down, it don't have to be in sequence. It don't have to be in any order at all. Read it out. And then you end in prayer. You think through the whole thing, you end in prayer. And I pray that this whole week, you will also pray carefully about discipleship and accountability. The Lord bless you. The Lord bless you.

This morning, following the theme Ex-Baptist Church has been doing regarding Discipleship. I want to talk about accountability. I want to share about accountability, but my objective is not how you can hold accountability. So, more importantly is after the message, you take it with you, you pray through, and you think about a loving God. who has given us this feature of accountability to bless us and not to kind of restrict us.

So let us pray first before I carry on. We thank you, Lord, that you are a great God. And your love is truly...

magnanimous and great. Out of your kind heart and your concern for everyone, you call us. Because of your love, everyone at every stage can turn our eyes to you, to give you thanksgiving, to give you praise, and also to receive from you all that you want us, which is always the best for us.

So will you just speak to us through your words and at this moment of sharing. We pray all of this in Jesus'most precious name. Amen. We all can agree and define what is discipleship or what discipleship means to us.

We can all have the knowledge about discipleship. Yet the truth is, we will not go very far, even if we have the best discipleship processed. For discipleship to be effective, we really need to have accountability.

For discipleship to take the long term and to see the result of it, we need to have accountability. So again, let me say, my objective is not to teach you. how to hold each other accountable.

That we can do at another time and it's also a process of learning. But for today, I want you to get you to reflect seriously about our need, my need, your needs to give accountability and in the areas that is needed. And when I say areas that is needed, I'm not talking about just Christian values, I'm not just talking about in the church, but I'm talking about everywhere, in every area. And most of it, you know.

You alone know where you need to give accountability. Let's start by looking at two passages and see the critical need to have accountability. The first passage is from 2 Samuel.

Chapter 11 is on the screen, so you don't have to turn to them, but if you have your Bible, you wish to turn to them, you can. Let me just kind of narrate the story to you, because it's familiar, but you can read it and then just see how it speaks to you. In Samuel chapter 11, we have King David.

He's a king and he was doing very well and he was fighting the Ammonites at that time. And then it was springtime at a time when kings go off to war. It's very interesting because kings go off to war in spring because they can feed their horses and it is a good time. It's not like in raining times where you can get stuck and all that. And to gain victory, they usually go to war in springtime.

But this spring, David did not go to war. He sent his commandant's generals out. Joab being one of them and all the king's men.

The whole of Israelite army is this, clearly. And they went and to continue to fight the Ammonites. But he, what did he do?

He remained in Jerusalem. He just remained in Jerusalem. Then one evening, he got up. And because it's hot, he walks on the roof, he walks around the roof, and from the roof he saw a beautiful woman breathing. The woman was very beautiful, it says.

This is where things start to happen. He sent someone to find out about her. Nothing wrong with that. Walking on the roof and not going to walk is already a small problem, but that he saw a beautiful woman, there's nothing wrong with that. And he sent someone out to find out about her.

There is nothing wrong about that. But the man said something of importance. He said, isn't this Bathsheba, the daughter of Eliam and the wife of Uriah the Hittite? Mark the word.

It seems that it's reported to him that this is a married woman. This is a married woman. But David sent messengers to get her. So she came and slept with her.

She purifies herself from her uncleanness. Why is it in brackets? Because it actually tells us that at that stage, she was not pregnant.

because she's having her menopause. I'm sorry, she's having her period. So what happened is that she's not pregnant. But then when she went back home, the woman conceived and sent word to David and said that I am pregnant.

So that begins a whole series of things which you can read for yourself. I'm going to jump down a little bit later. David found he got caught.

And the only way he can think of is to get Uriel, the husband, to come back, a very loyal servant, to come back from war. And he planned to have him killed. And how did he send him to the front and everything? Eventually, he was killed.

And then we read in 2 Samuel 12, verse 13. This is what happened. Of course, God knew everything that was happening. So God sent Nathan to confront David. Then David said to Nathan, I have sinned against the Lord.

And Nathan replied, the Lord has taken away your sin. You are not going to die. Now, don't mistake this because in between it is, he was confronted very strongly and very, very clearly. the sin that he has committed. I highlight this part here is to tell you that it is very important to note that it was not the end of David.

It was not because he had committed adultery. It's the end of his career. It's the end of his kingdom and everything.

It is not also because God is so forgiving. God just let go of everything. There are consequences.

But note the love of God. Take away the sin. You are not going to die.

But there were consequences that followed. This is the first passage I want you to bear in mind. And you see the importance of accountability.

How a crisis resulted when small, small things creep into our lives. The second passage we want to look at is from 2 Kings 5, verse 19-20 and then 23-27. Again, this is about Elisha.

There is a commander by the name of Naaman. He had leprosy and he had it for a long time. He was successful in every way except that he had leprosy. And then a maid or lady servant helped him by saying, Hey, there's this prophet of God.

Go to him and then he can heal you. Which happens to Naaman. He was healed completely. The story was that he was reluctant. He was arrogant.

He just don't care. He expected to be given respect. He expected Elisha to come out to meet him.

But Elisha didn't. Anyway, he got healed. And then...

He offered out of real gratitude. He offered to pay or to give gift to Elisha. But Elisha said, no.

He said, go in peace. Elisha said. Go in peace. I will not take anything from you, not any gift at all.

So after Naaman has realized that Elisha won't take it, he traveled away. But as he was going away, in verse 20, you read about Gehazi, the servant of Elisha. This man was watching everything and he's supposed to serve Elisha. And he would have observed everything that Elisha has done. And would have known why, or at least seen the master refusing the gift.

He says, my master was too easy on Naaman. this Aramean by not accepting from him what he brought. So as surely as the Lord lives, he said, I will run after him and get something from him. There was a kind of, if I could use the word, disagreement inside the heart in Gehazi, with Elisha. You know, sometimes like we don't speak it out but inside our heart there is this thing that is going on.

I don't agree with you. And therefore I'm going to go my own way and do it my own way. So he ran after him.

Now what happens in verse 23 onwards is that he met Naaman again. Naaman was going away. He caught up and Naaman saw him coming from afar and said, hey, what's happening?

What's happening? Is there something wrong and all that? He said, no, no, no, no, nothing is wrong.

And then he tells a long story full of lies, used Elisha's name. His story was, he said, two persons has come. And then they need clothes and they need money.

And then he said, would you just give them something? And he says they have come to Elisha actually. He didn't say come to me or anything like that.

So he used Elisha's name to give it more impact. And then that's where this Naaman is already very generous and then he urged Gehazi to accept the gift. It is very interesting to see Naaman's character change from a proud person who thinks that he should be served by Elijah to come out and heal him. And here he urged Gehazi. He said, accept this gift, go back.

In fact, if you read carefully, from afar he saw and he was very concerned. He said, has something happened and everything. So the story went on. Gehazi got the gift and he went.

In verse 24, he said, he took the things from the servants and put them away in the house. He gave the things to the servant, bring it to the house and then hide it. Definitely for him. Then he sent the man away.

I'm just wondering what these two men and other servants would have been thinking, looking at Gehazi. They would have also, I believe, present when Elijah rejected the gift. And they're now going after this, seeing Gehazi going after Naaman to get this and then keeping it quietly. What would have been going on?

The things get worse in verse 25. He went in and stood before his master Elisha. After getting everything, hiding it away, he went away, stood in front of his master, the prophet, an anointed man of God, there and as if nothing has happened and as he's just carrying on his normal duty, as a servant waits upon a master. Then Elisha asked, where have you been Gehaisa?

Where have you been? And then his answer was very simple. I have not been anywhere. I have not been anywhere. Lies start to come out to protect himself, to save himself, whatever he was going on in his mind, thinking that it will never be found out.

Nobody's gonna find out I will get a wish comes free and then Elisha said to him was not my spirit Let me say here. It's not just about Elisha's spirit. It's about the Holy Spirit Prompting it is God revealing secrets things that has happened, that Gehazi has done, that nobody knows.

Was not my spirit with you when the man got down from his chariot to meet you? And then of course, it goes to show how Gehazi's punishment was that he became leprous, white as snow throughout his life. In these two passages, in the first one, it's quite clear that David could have saved himself or escaped a crisis. If he has made himself accountable to Uriel maybe, to the servant who came and said, is this not the wife of Uriel?

In Gehazi's case also, if he has made himself accountable to the servants, you know, just seeing everything that's happened. He would have escaped also the crisis. But both of them faced a crisis. These two passages, I like to highlight the following points regarding accountability.

First is why we need accountability. Accountability is a, if I could use the word, dirty word. Just like discipleship, just like mentoring.

We don't like it. It gives us an urge and especially accountability. Because we have sometimes a wrong idea and a wrong concept about God when it comes to accountability. Or of people who ask us to offer accountability.

Why do we need accountability? Number one, very clearly we see from these two passages, we are prone to sin. And we will sin. We are fallen people.

We are prone to sin and we will sin. It is not about King David and Gehazi only. We all have our secret weaknesses.

And sometimes we think sin is what only when we are caught with. But our secret thoughts, our secret weaknesses, anger and everything else, bitterness, unforgiveness, secret, not mentioned, not to anyone. Alright?

Those are the things. that tells us we need accountability. Even if our weaknesses are never discovered like in the case of David and in the case of Gehazi, and it's forever for our lifetime never discovered on this earth at all, we must remember eventually we become accountable to God. Accountability to God at the end of ages is clearly stated in the Bible all the time.

And also I want to remind us here, we are not talking about lust or sexual sin. We are not talking about greed and money and everything. It can be any area of weaknesses. Example, white lies, laziness, selfishness.

wrong perceptions. We say we have principles and everything, but what? We have philosophies, but what are they based on?

So this, of course, includes, when we talk about witnesses, it includes Bible reading. So too often we talk about, we think only it's about Bible reading, it's about prayer, it's about fellowship. It is not about this.

Very often we need accountability because we are so prone to sin and the Bible describes it. The second reason we need accountability is because it is God's safety net for us. It is God's safety net for us on our discipleship journey. Because even the most loyal, the most faithful... Disciples will fall into sin at times.

We are not talking about excusing it, but that is the reality. And before even that happens, God provides us a safety net. What do you mean by safety net?

God places it there, accountability, the safety net, before we fall. And to save us, And after our fall, to keep us from death, God ensures that when we fall, that it is not the end of everything for us. God ensures that when we fall, He's not going to say, you are responsible, you deserve it, and I leave it to you, and all that.

The safety net is placed there. And that's accountability. It's to help us avoid falling.

And in case we fall, we will fall. It is there to help us recover. Remember the word recover.

Accountability is not for condemnation. It's not to say I'm better than you. It is redemption to bring someone back.

That's the extent of God's love. Let me share with you an illustration about trapeze. You know, trapeze, they swing around and everything and all that. I can say a lot about it and all that. But strappies always have a safety net below.

Only the most daring one will not do that. But generally, you go to circus, you go to any show, there is always a safety net. Either a safety net or they are harnessed. There's harnessed holding them up while they do their act and all, everything.

So beautiful. But the truth is, if we are like a disciple, inexperienced, young, walking towards a destination, There will be time we will fall. Just like an inexperienced tripeast or learning to be a tripeast, want to be professional, will fall sometime.

The net is there. They fall down all the way and it's not the end. Too bad you make one mistake, too bad you die.

But the net is there. And when the net is there, they fall down, they get up. They climb up.

that rope ladder again and they do it again and they may fall again. They do not deliberately fall because they want to get better. King David's actions of not leading the generals to war and taking it easy in his own palace. And then committing adultery and then committing murder.

And with all the lies and everything and all the testimony that he has given. According to scriptures, he deserved death. He is a king. He deserved death.

And that is why just now I read to you. That the prophet, I mean the Nathan went to him and said, you will not die. That's the love of God. That's talking about safety net. Gehazi, for example, he disgraced his master.

A prophet. He disgraced the commendable action of God's anointed by saying that Elisha was too easy going. And then he acted greedily, becoming a bad testimony to everybody, especially to Naaman, the new believer. Naaman was a new believer.

If you read carefully, you see his attitude at the beginning and at the end is totally different. He should have been... facing death.

Instead, he only had leprosy. Consequences are there, but God did not intend to put us down and to do away with us. Accountability does that.

It's a safety net of God. That's the love of God. Difficult. Not pleasurable, but it shows God's love for us.

The third reason. Accountability keeps us on track. It is along when we practice accountability, it keeps us on track and keeps us from going off course. It keeps us aligned and every once in a while realign us so that we can reach the destination. It is to help us move forward towards the destination.

Just like in the trapeze like that The safety net is there not for you to fall and then just fall on the net and say nothing else It's for you to go forward again. It's for you to climb up the rope ladder again and try until You become good and so the safety net is to help us move forward. God's way of helping us move forward, not stagnate. Move forward to the place where we become spiritually matured. Spiritually matured.

That's why we need accountability. Who are those who need accountability is our next question. Why we need is dealt with by who?

Number one, those holding responsibilities. It is not about the responsibilities that you have to do, the list of it or how important it is. It's not about a list of things to be done.

No. When we said those holding a responsibility, what we need to think about and what we need to look out is how you carry out your responsibility. Allow me to repeat that.

How You carry out your responsibility. The process of it all. What was your attitude about carrying it out?

How and why did you fail? Why did you fail to do it? It's owning up. It's not giving excuses.

It's not blaming someone else. It's not blaming circumstances. It's not blaming time or anything else.

So it is the how and why. of responsibility. How did I carry out the responsibility? Was my attitude right? Was I just said good enough already?

No need to be excellent. Was there integrity in carrying it out? And when I report a failure on my part, even in owning up, am I telling the absolute truth?

When I carry out a responsibility and I did it very well, and the result was very, very good, were there values that were given out? So those holding responsibilities need accountability. Another group that needs accountability are those given authority. And this means pastors. This means church leaders.

Ministry leaders. But we cannot stop there. Too often we just think about accountability is in church only.

What about teachers in school? How are you carrying out your responsibilities? What about parents at home? How are you bringing up your child? Are you giving the best?

What is your motive behind it? Are you moving forward? What is your goal? What's your destination?

And people in authority or given authority? needs to be held accountable, needs to give accountability because they have greater impact on others. Consider the negative impact of King David and Gehazi. For King David, it was his family, generation after that. For Gehazi also, generations after that.

It extended to the generations and therefore those with authority and those with responsibility, needs. to give accountability. The higher we claim in our corporate world, the higher we claim in our spiritual life, the more authority we get, the higher we get. pastors, senior pastors, theologians, right?

And then the bigger your church is and the more you hold it and everything, actually the more isolated we become, really. Not deliberately, but more. isolated we become. And because of this higher position and higher authority that we have, less and less people, let me just say this, dare to question us. And there lies a danger.

Few people like and want to question someone who's in authority. And because of that, less people dare to question us, accountability becomes even more critical. No one is immune to sin.

No one is immune to falling. We are all vulnerable. We are all vulnerable.

The person who disciples is vulnerable. In other words, the disciple is vulnerable. The disciple is also vulnerable.

And both disciple and disciples need to practice accountability. And they need to practice by the same standard. Pastors and members have the same standards. to be applied in terms of accountability. A third group of people I think who needs accountability are those who wish to grow and not stagnate.

To become better disciple, to grow in spiritual maturity. I mentioned that already. You practice until you become better. It's not that straight away you become. Accountability is like what we call iron sharpens iron.

And in Bible Proverbs 27, verse 17, clearly says, As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. It has nothing to do with status. It has to do with man to man, face to face. It has nothing to do with status and anything at all.

But iron sharpens iron. As a disciple, when you disciple people, you become aware of your need for accountability. Because everything you said, you got to think about, did I practice that?

Am I okay? Is this my weakness? So let's go down, then what is accountability?

Let's go down, what is accountability? Let me start sharing what is not or what often is mistaken for accountability. That's why it becomes, I call it a dirty word.

It gives us a smirk on our face. What it is not for us. Let me just share what it is not. It's not a gathering together and having bonding. That's the objective.

bonding is fine, gathering together, having fellowship and being more open, that is all fine. But that is not accountability. Neither is it when you come together, you say, we want to be more authentic and we want to speak the truth.

That in itself, by alone by itself, is not accountability. So we go on down the wrong road. We just say, this is accountability. Whether you have done your Bible study, you have worshipped in church, how is your attendance on this and everything like that.

It becomes a list of things to do and to be ticked off. That when we get together, yeah, we will speak the truth. Yes, we will have bonding, but I will tick off this one.

Did you do your quiet time? Did you pray? How many times did you attend the church? Are you responsible?

Did you lie? Did you get angry? So on. We talk about all.

of that and we start taking it off. There's no accountability. In fact, that always often, very often, gives a sense of inferiority and condemnation.

Or on the other side, it gives a sense of superiority and spirituality, which is all wrong. That's not accountability. It may be a small part only, but that's not accountability.

Neither it is to hear words of comfort. We think accountability is, I confess already, then some words of comfort I hear from the other person. It is all right.

No one is perfect. You can get better and all that. That's not accountability.

And it's not people finding you out. It can be self-confessed. You know it yourself. You confess. Or it can be caught by people and everything confessing it.

That's not accountability. I tell you what really is accountability. Listen carefully. It is when a failure or weakness is shared in absolute truth.

The person or the two of them or the whole group seek for change and being proactive about it. Proactively seeking for change. Not to remain where it is. Just like trapeze, you fall down on your neck, you don't give up.

You fall down onto the neck, you don't just lie down on the neck. You fall down on the neck, you don't just get down onto the neck. ground and go back to other things and give up being the best tribe is James 5 16 is the best verse I can think of for accountability it does therefore it is therefore Confess your sins to each other.

Do you see the face-to-face there? Do you see the initiative that comes from the individual? It is self-confession.

Confess yourself, your sins to each other. There is no status involved in everything. And pray for each other.

Not just pray so that you may be healed. It is about redemption. It is about healing.

It's about removing of the shame, of the guilt, walking together side by side. Now just as a sideline, very quickly I just say it here. I think it's very important.

This kind of accountability, I know in our mind, all say, very difficult, very difficult. You know, what if this person, you know, I'm so vulnerable, what if this person go on like that? That is why it says, the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. We give accountability with people who are holy and who are walking with God.

That's what we do. That's what we want in accountability. The two passages that we look at today clearly indicate without accountability, we are just waiting for a crisis to happen. We have enough examples, right? Daily evangelists and all that.

Without accountability, therefore. They don't intend to sin. They don't intend to fall into their sin.

They didn't deliberately go there. But as it rises, as a pastor becomes more and more prominent, we will face a crisis without accountability. Accountability is to avoid that from happening, but it is a journey to help us to reach our maximum potential.

To reach your very very maximum, where you are spiritually matured. As I start... This morning I said that my objective is not to teach or to say that how accountability should be done.

That is we can do at another time, at another place. But I think first is to acknowledge the need. To acknowledge the need to be accountable. Accountability cannot be demanded.

It can only be offered. I cannot say, I come to you and look at Billy. Billy, I want to hold you accountable for this and this and this and this. It cannot be demanded.

I cannot demand, I say, everybody, every leader, you need to give accountability. I can only tell you it is God's safety net. It is God's way of allowing us to reach our potential. It is a spirit-led choice. A choice that you in prayer, a choice that you really examine yourself.

and then a response that you take to God's care for us. To God's care for us. At certain part, in the earlier part, earlier moments, you find that I'm emotional.

If you look through it in the tape again or anything like that, it is because I'm emotional because of God's love. Such great love. Don't mistake it as God confining us. Don't mistake it as God condemning us. Don't mistake each other.

Just understand it is God's love and care for us. Even though He knows and He expects nothing from us except failures. But He doesn't leave us there.

So I pray you would reflect on this message and say, will I seek accountability? And who and how and all those we can take at another time. Let us pray. Thank you Lord for your grace, for your mercy upon us, knowing that we are sinners.

Help us understand what it means that we are sinners saved by grace. But more than just being saved, you want us to become disciples that are spiritually mature, able to handle situations. You want us to grow and to reach our maximum potential. And the means you do it, Lord, is not through condemnation, not through a checklist, Lord, but through a community of believers. Regardless of the status, regardless of our responsibility, your means of doing it is that we need each other.

Thank you for providing that safety net. I pray, Lord, we will reflect and we will volunteer, willingly give accountability. And as the song says, you're a good, good father.

It is about who you are. Who you are. Wanting to give us freedom.

Wanting to us reach our maximum. It is not about who I am. I pray all of this in Jesus'most precious name. Amen. Before I pass back to Lee Wei, in a breakup group I'd like you to do something.

Whoever it is, four or five or what, one of you, any one of you, okay? Any one of you. Don't have to be the leader, don't have to be or whatever it is, or you do not know, whatever, doesn't really. One of you, anyone, because it's a very simple job, volunteer to take down notes. Get a piece of paper, get a pen and everything.

Become a secretary for the moment. Don't have to give reasons or anything. Just get a piece of paper, all right, to take down notes and be a timekeeper, all right, to move from one question to the next. question.

As you do the following, recall the message and then answer the two questions that is there. And after you have done that, there is a timing that the timekeeper keeps you. Let the volunteer who took down all the notes and everything, just read out everything that's taken.

And when you write down, it don't have to be in sequence. It don't have to be in any order at all. Read it out.

And then you end in prayer. You think through the whole thing, you end in prayer. And I pray that this whole week, you will also pray carefully about discipleship and accountability.

The Lord bless you. The Lord bless you.

Transcript for:Understanding Accountability in Discipleship

Transcript for:
Understanding Accountability in Discipleship