Next Steps (While you wait)-Find Accountability

During this series of blog posts, we’ve been talking about what to do while you wait on God and try to discern next steps. We’ve already talked about pursuing spiritual growth and connecting with a local church. Today, I want to talk to you about finding accountability.

According to Webster, accountability is “the obligation to report, explain, or justify. To be responsible for or answerable to someone.” Practically speaking accountable relationships can only happen when we give others permission to walk alongside us, observe our manner of life, and share with us the things that don’t measure up to Christ. As Rod Hadley puts it in his book Accountability Matters, “Accountability will not keep you from sin, but it will make you aware of your sin and help you focus on Christ.” He goes on to say, “Being accountable (to another person) takes honesty, and if that doesn’t exist, it will be a meaningless exercise.”

You and I are living in a “fool’s paradise” if we think we can live the Christian life alone. We need one another! This is especially true as we try to figure out our next steps on the journey towards vocational ministry.

At this point some may “push back” and say, “why do I need others when I am indwelt by the Holy Spirit?” And while that is true, it is easy to be deceived. We all have “blind spots.” We have talked ourselves into thinking that all is well when all the while we have harmful habits, destructive behaviors, or attitudes and actions that don’t honor God. That’s why we need trusted friends that love us enough to tell us the truth. That is why we all desperately need accountability!

Seek Godly Mentors

The first way that you can find the accountability that you will need during this pivotal time is to seek out godly mentors. Men or women that walk with God and are pursuing Him. These men (or women) have already walked down the path that you are embarking and will draw from their experience to provide wisdom and insight.

They have already paid the “dumb tax” and can help you avoid pitfalls and see things from another perspective. As the Scripture says in Proverbs:

“Where there is no guidance, a people falls, but in an abundance of counselors there is safety” (Proverbs 11:14).

When I was a college student at LSU, two men really helped me while trying to discern God’s will concerning my calling- Frank Horton (my BSU director) and Don Tabb (pastor of the chapel on campus). These men ministered to me by serving as a “sounding board,” praying for me, and providing much needed feedback. They always seemed to have “a word fitly spoken,” and encouraged me to pursue God’s calling on my life.

Join a Discipleship Group

In addition, I would encourage you to join a discipleship group or similar small groups that will focus on spiritual growth and accountability. You will want to journey together with other men or women who are pursuing Christ and His Calling on their lives. Notice what Proverbs 27:17 says,

“Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another” (Proverbs 27:17).

I love what can happen in a discipleship group. As Greg Ogden says about discipleship groups in his book Transformational Discipleship:

“When we open our hearts in transparent trust to each other, around the truth of God’s word, in the spirit of mutual accountability, we are in the Holy Spirit’s hot house of transformation.”

Those pursuing God’s call on their lives and are trying to figure out next steps need men (or women) to journey with them to grow spiritually and hold one another accountable.