The line between legitimate and illegitimate accountability is sometimes blurry. Nonetheless, it does us well to try to determine when that line has been crossed.
—Paul Cedar
Several years ago, I pastored a church that became involved in a dispute initiated by one of our neighbors. We thought the neighbor both unreasonable and inaccurate in his charges. And if we acceded to his wishes, it was going to cost us a great deal of money.
The church’s leaders asked me to sit down with him. When I did, I began, “We at the church are grieved to hear we’re having these misunderstandings. I can’t promise to solve them, but I want to listen and help in every way possible.”
After discussing the issue without progress, I finally said, “Our Lord clearly told us to be good neighbors. Although we think your request is unreasonable, it seems to us that if anyone needs to compromise in this dispute, it’s us. Obeying the Lord is more important to us than winning a fight.”
Well, you never saw a man’s attitude change so quickly. Within two hours we had resolved everything. Sometime later the mayor, whom we had asked to help adjudicate the dispute, called and said, “I don’t know what you said or what you did, but this man thinks you’re the greatest church on earth.”
Not only did we gain favor with this action, we never paid the money that was originally requested. When our relationship became right, our neighbor’s attitude became right. What enabled that to happen was the strong sense of accountability the leaders felt toward our community.
Not only are churches accountable to others, but so are pastors. Biblically we are to be accountable to God, to the Christian community, and, in some ways, to civic government and the community in which we minister. The Lord has created us with the need to be accountable to him and to others. When we aren’t, we’re not only being disobedient to God’s Word, we’re likely to get ourselves into trouble, even scandal.
So I’m convinced accountability is essential for pastors. Yet a pastor’s accountability can be difficult to structure. Sometimes it turns into an excuse for others to complain about the pastor, or worse, to try to control the pastor. When that happens, accountability does more harm than good.
Over the years, I’ve experienced some of that unhealthy accountability. But most of the time, accountability has been a positive experience, helping me be the pastor and person God desires me to be.
Signs of Illegitimate Accountability
Sometimes we chafe under another’s accountability simply because we’re prideful. Other times, though, we chafe because we sense something other than loving guidance is being offered. Admittedly, the line between legitimate and illegitimate accountability sometimes becomes blurry. Nonetheless, it does us well to try to determine when that line has been crossed.
Here are four questions I ask that help me determine the legitimacy of the accountability offered me.
• Are people holding me accountable for their personal expectations?
Because my predecessor arrived at the office at 7:30 each morning, I hear criticism for coming at 8:30. Because the famous television evangelist preaches loudly, while I use measured tones, critics challenge my zeal. Because I visited one member in the hospital every other day instead of daily, word spreads that I don’t care about people.
Catering to such expectations takes a tremendous toll, if it doesn’t kill us. We cannot meet each person’s individual agenda. So, when I sense that someone expects me, in the name of accountability, to meet merely his or her personal expectations, I graciously decline.
In this regard, I found it helpful as a pastor to have a written position description, the summary of which I communicated regularly to the congregation. That kept to a minimum this form of illegitimate accountability.
• Are people trying to control me? I once sat in a meeting with some of the past leaders of our church, a group of about six or seven executives, strong personalities, who were upset over how I had handled a recent decision-making process in the church. Having gotten word indirectly of their feelings, I had suggested we meet.
After we gathered, they asked, “Why didn’t you come to us for counsel instead of sharing your decision with the whole congregation?”
“Well, guys, not one of you are in office at the present time,” I began. “You’re not a part of the structure. You’re personal friends, and our discussion is certainly appropriate at that level. But you can’t set up an ad hoc committee. I’m accountable clearly through our church’s structure, and I’m sorry none of you are in that structure right now. If you have concerns, come to me, or come to the people who are in the structure.”
• Are people nit-picking? Sometimes, when pressure builds, people exaggerate our mistakes and weak points. I may have preached a dozen life-changing sermons but botched the planning of one fellowship event. A pastor may have been gracious in five thousand situations but testy in one late-night phone call. But it’s the mistake that people tend to focus on. It may be that people dislike what we’re doing, so they latch on to the one mistake to justify strong opposition.
• Do people have a critical spirit? Some time ago, I met with a church board unhappy with their pastor, a gifted young man. After discussing the reasons for their discontent, I finally asked, “What are you doing to help him mature in the areas where he lacks? How are you ministering to him? Is he aware of these problems? Have you talked to him about them?”
These questions completely surprised them. They had never considered they had a responsibility to build up that young man.
In short, fruitful accountability—versus mere criticism—is constructive rather than destructive, edifying rather than selfish. There must be a motivation to advance the kingdom of God and to build the life of the person who’s being held accountable.
Spheres of Accountability
All these types of illegitimate accountability have one thing in common: people assume that the pastor’s ministry revolves around their concerns. That is an oppressive assumption to live under.
So in order to prevent one sphere of my ministry, or one person’s perspective, from dominating the whole, I find it helpful to remember that I’m accountable in a number of areas. Sometimes, for instance, the demands of the church seem justified, until I consider my responsibilities to be a good father and husband.
So knowing my spheres of accountability—for me there are six—helps me determine where and when I should be legitimately guided by others.
• To God. To the Lord we owe ultimate allegiance. We faithfully answer to others only because we are trying to please him. Even though others may sometimes be dissatisfied with us, which is inevitable, if we aim to please the Lord, we are on the right track in terms of accountability.
Basically, being accountable to God means obedience and faith. The people who have embodied faith, whether Abraham or the entire roll call of Hebrews 11, simply obeyed when God commanded. That simple act of obedience is the essence of biblical faith and biblical accountability.
For me, knowing when and how to obey begins in maintaining a strong devotional time with God. I am ever aware that even while getting straight A’s from people, I can flunk with God. Thus I consider my “quiet time” my first priority each day. Increasingly, I sense the need to spend time alone with the Lord. For example, I try to spend a day a month in prayer and fasting, studying the Word, and just being quiet before him. Such times give me perspective and help me to sort out the varied advice that comes my way and to respond to those who offer me healthy accountability.
• To the members of the body. I am accountable to the church for a number of things: leadership, pastoral care, administration, modeling the Christian life, to name a few. But above all, I feel I have a responsibility to feed God’s flock and nurture his people. That means I have to give myself to serious study, in preparation for teaching and preaching.
That’s not easy for me. I’m a people person. I’d much rather spend time being with my people, giving formal and informal pastoral care. But my people need something more from me.
Consequently, I have recruited others to check on me periodically. Recently, when I saw Ted Engstrom, the first thing he asked was “How’s your study time?” Knowing he and others will be kind enough to ask that simple question helps me stay in the study when I should.
• To local church leaders. They need my leadership, my vision, and my direction, I’m the point man in defining our philosophy of ministry, mission statement, and goals, both short term and long. No one else can do this for the church.
I choose to be accountable to our leaders, also, in the conduct of my personal and professional life. Specifically, this includes living up to the elder’s qualifications in 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus as well as the specific areas outlined in my position description.
When leaders sense a shortfall in me and ask, “Could this be a problem?” I respond appreciatively. Sometimes, of course, it hurts to hear such input, but when the concern is shared with a humble and caring spirit, I can respond appropriately.
• To my family. Accountability with my family begins with my taking a weekly Sabbath. For many years I did not take a regular day off, nor did my wife Jeannie. But the time came when we felt we should begin doing so, first because the Lord commands his people to take a regular Sabbath, and second because we felt our ministry, our family, and the church would be enhanced and enriched. Having Jeannie work with me on it has made me more consistent about taking a weekly Sabbath.
I’ve also found it helpful to ask my family to hold me accountable for my ministry.
For instance, before I married Jeannie, I knew I was called to a ministry of evangelism. She understood that we might have to live an itinerant life. Still, I told her, “Jeannie, as I commit my life to God and to you, I want to promise you something. Whenever I sense the Lord calling me to a ministry, I’ll never make the decision alone. I’ll be accountable to God and to you. If I sense God saying yes but you sense him saying no, we won’t move. We will not budge without unity of heart.”
Including my family like this has prevented me from feeling so alone during crucial decisions. Instead, the support and feedback I receive from them encourages me and helps me discern God’s leading.
• To the larger church. When I resigned from Hollywood Presbyterian Church to assume the senior pastorate of Lake Avenue, the most difficult part of the decision was leaving the Presbyterian denomination, to which I had given significant time, energy, and allegiance. I liked being in a connectional system, where at least at an administrative level, ministers and churches were accountable to one another.
Now I’m president of a denomination that practices congregational polity, a polity that also has many strengths. Nonetheless, I want to help our churches and pastors have a sense of accountability one for another. I also want our pastors to feel a sense of responsibility for the larger body of Christ in their community and around their world.
In my opinion, one of the major challenges we face is the Lone Ranger syndrome. Unfortunately, I’ve seen many pastors who believe they’re accountable to no one but themselves, who act as if they are “in charge” of their ministry. That attitude invariably leads to conflicts, divisions, and resentments, not only within their ministries but also without.
At one recent evangelism seminar, for instance, a Methodist pastor approached me, and after we had talked awhile, he apologetically said, “I’ve got a problem that I hate to tell you about. In our city, one pastor from your denomination acts like a separatist. He’s unwilling to cooperate with pastors of some other denominations. In fact, the pastor is divisive in many ways.”
“Don’t apologize for sharing that information with me,” I responded. “That’s the kind of thing I want to know. In my opinion, such pastors are out of line and need to be called to accountability. That conduct not only denies the spirit and charter of this denomination, it denies the Spirit of Christ and his prayer for unity.”
So, whatever position I’ve been in, I’ve always given some of my time and energy to promoting cooperation among churches.
• To the community. When we were starting a building program at one church I served, we saw we were beginning with a handicap: several area churches were feuding with the city. It was front page news. It spooked several of our building committee people, who were leery about getting permits from local government agencies.
So I took a couple of key people from the church, and we met with the mayor, then the city manager, then with people from the building permit office, telling each of them: “We are privileged to be a part of our city. We want you to know we do not expect any special favors. We will follow the rules and guidelines you’ve established. We know that you want to protect the integrity and beauty of the city. Please know that we will do whatever we have to do to cooperate with you.”
Afterward those city leaders were responsive, excited, and appreciative. In fact, the mayor and city council people would in public meetings compliment us, thanking the church for the way we worked with the city.
Because of the command to render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, pastors, as leaders of local churches, need to be accountable to the local authorities, at least as long as it doesn’t compromise the integrity of the gospel.
As I mentioned, knowing I have responsibilities in each of these spheres prevents people in one sphere from trying to hold me accountable too strongly in one area. The extended church, for example, can expect some of my time and energy, but not so much that it undermines my ministry to the local church.
Naturally, there will be times when people from different spheres will each make legitimate demands of me. Sometimes my family needs me just at the time the church needs me. Earlier I mentioned an incident in which I wanted to be a good steward of the church’s money, yet at the same time I wanted to be a good neighbor.
I try to resolve such conflicts in two ways. First, I spend time in prayer, seeking the Lord and his will. I find that what I should do often becomes clear afterward.
Second, I’ve found it helpful to have a “kitchen cabinet,” which includes past chairpersons of the major church boards. At Lake Avenue, mine included all the men who, during the previous pastoral tenure to the present, had chaired one of the church’s boards. I tried to meet with them on a monthly basis to receive their counsel, to bounce ideas off of them, and to pray with them.
How to Foster Legitimate Accountability
In order to foster legitimate accountability, we need to do more than maintain a broad perspective on our responsibilities. We also need to take positive action to encourage helpful and healthy accountability. Here are four ways I’ve done that.
1. Welcome it. Although it’s difficult for me, I try not to be defensive when someone offers me a suggestion. I try to maintain an open ear for feedback and a willingness to honestly evaluate the suggested counsel. If I get tense, everybody gets tense, and that makes accountability all the more difficult.
It’s not easy to simply welcome guidance from others. Some people who’ve known me for years say I’m hypersensitive. Part of that is by choice. A pastor’s heart must be acutely sensitive both to hear the Holy Spirit and empathize with people. If I were to protect myself with defense mechanisms, I’d become hard and calloused—that’s too steep a price to pay. I think criticism stung Jesus, and so I think it’s natural that we wince at pain. As I’ve matured, though, I’m learning not to overreact.
2. Model it. Holding others accountable requires a willingness to confront others with some difficult truths, and with love. This approach usually resolves the problem while building up the person who’s involved.
At the same time, it models to others how they can hold us accountable as leaders. It’s a form of the golden rule, of treating others as we would want them to treat us.
On one occasion I was mediating a dispute between two church leaders. Abruptly, one of them made a serious accusation against a third person who was not present. Although the man had shared the accusation with a number of people in the church, he had never followed the biblical injunction to first talk with the person he was accusing.
“My brother,” I said, “we cannot go on without talking about this. You’ve made a serious accusation that questions the reputation of a highly esteemed leader. Have you gone to him and talked about this?”
He sputtered and stammered. I continued in a gentle but forthright manner. “Biblically and practically speaking, you have sinned against your brother. You need to follow the biblical injunction to go to him, meekly and gently. I encourage you to do that, and I will be happy to help you in any way I can.”
3. When confronting, use the opportunity to plainly teach about accountability. I try to talk about what I am doing and why—what principles are guiding my confrontation. I think that was one of the geniuses of Christ’s teaching style: he used conflict and misunderstandings as a well lit stage for instruction.
When I confront, I try to say, “The reason I’m going through the discomfort of bringing this to your attention is that I want your best. We all have blind spots, things that hurt us, and if no one loves us enough to tell us about them kindly, we suffer unnecessarily all of our lives. I’m not saying this because I’m angry at you or against you but because I’m for you.”
4. Never question people’s motives. Accusations are like chemical weapons: they poison the atmosphere. Early in my ministry God taught me a lesson when I was hurt by something a brother in Christ had said and done. Since I had assumed it was his motive to hurt me, I felt a great deal of pain and anger.
Nonetheless, I felt encouraged by the Spirit to go to him to ask why he had done and said such things. Much to my surprise, he said what had happened was unintentional and that his motive had not been malicious.
God used that occasion to help me make an important commitment early in my ministry, that is, that I would never question another person’s motives. So now, when I wonder what’s driving others, instead of jumping to conclusions, I try to go to them. In lieu of accusing, I say something such as, “I may be wrong, but it looks to me that so-and-so happened. Tell me how you’re feeling about it.”
In addition to the sense of freedom such a decision can bring us, it also provides a model of how people should respond to us when they feel hurt or confused by something we’ve said or done. When I refuse to question other’s motives, they are less likely to question mine.
I believe that accountability is absolutely essential for all Christians, especially Christian leaders. To obey Christ and follow him as Lord is the heart of true Christian accountability, but being accountable to others at various levels remains vital. When we belong to Christ, we belong to each other. And no member of the body can go it alone.
Copyright © 1991 by Christianity Today
