Do you know why churches struggle with accountability? How preachers can do all kinds of crazy stuff and go unchecked for years…it is because we took a page from worldly leadership. That’s why.
There is no accountability in Washington.
There seems to be little to no accountability in major corporations (could be wrong on that – that’s not my world).
Christianity is following the path of the world rather than being a shining light…a city on a hill…a leader in integrity and accountability.
If you call out your own you are called divisive. If you call out your own, you might lose your job (which for a minister, uproots everything in their lives). If you call out your own you can go into a very lonely place.
This is why churches can sit on $10 million property with 20 members. This is why preachers have affairs or are abusive or molest kids and no one wants to believe it or it gets covered up. This is why church treasurers can embezzle money for years and no one even notices.
How about instead of creating a system where you have to go rogue to call for accountability that it is just built into our systems and is expected and normal?
We were designed to live under accountability from the bottom to the top and the top to the bottom. Avoiding this is in churches is only doing us harm and it is failing the world when we refuse to do the hard work and lead the way on integrity issues.
PS – Accountability can be abused. It should always have some mutuality involved and be based on ultimate accountability to God and grounded in love.
One Response
Matt,
Apologies up front that this posted comment is not pertinent to your post. Please save the information below and delete from your blog post.
You might find of interest the Memphis area church leaders that gathered at HST with Williams and Thompson yesterday, 9/28. I’m providing a link to the audio of the meeting. Since this was public for the area ministers, I believe it is acceptable to share the audio with you publicly (apologies up front if someone, who did not speak up loud enough in the conversation, is hard to hear). I also believe that what was addressed is far greater than just the impact of the decision on Memphis. The things addressed should be, and need to be, heard by a wider audience. Below is a link of the conversation that took place. If you are comfortable sharing this publicly on a wider scope, it is certainly at your discretion to determine to do so.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vUb-540DG0JQLtPHKgnW33Ze2EtQMq7P/view
P.S. I prefer to be anonymous, if you don’t mind.
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Original email concerning the announcement:
Area Ministers:
On Thursday, September 28, Dr. Mike Williams, President of Harding University and Dr. Jean-Noel Thompson, the Executive Vice President, invite you to join them at Harding School of Theology for a discussion regarding the transition of HST from Memphis to Searcy, Arkansas.
This will begin at 1:30 PM in the Hospitality Room located in the classroom building. Deserts and coffee will be provided.
Please RSVP so that we can plan accordingly.
Jim Martin