Accountability is Essential
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The dictionary definition of accountable is: Adjective: liable to account, responsible, explicable.
My first experience of youth group leadership (in the late 1980’s) did not give me a good example.experience of accountability in action. The theory was good in that I was accountable to the senior pastor of the church. The weakness was in the practical outworking of the theory. In the three years that I led the youth he (the senior minister) didn’t attend the youth group once. Now I realise that attending the meeting wasn’t the only was the minister could find out what I was doing (his daughter attended the youth group!) - but it was one of the ways that he could show that he cared about what was going on.
So - three questions for you:
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What does accountability look like?
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Who are you accountable to and how is it working?
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Who are you accountable for and how is that working?
What does accountability look like?
As the dictionary states, it is being liable to account. In a church setting you are responsible to someone (if you are a volunteer or a staff member) and you should be able to provide an account of what is happening in your ministry and in your life. Don’t see it as a negative thing or a task to be avoided but more of a positive experience, a safeguard, a protection, a covering that you should no be without. In a Christian sense we are keeping each other accountable to our actions according to God’s law.
The way accountability works (beyond just a work setting) is that you have a partner that you meet on a (preferably) weekly basis and ask questions about their week. The only way it works is to be completely honest - you have to want a steady, deepening relationship with God. If you are weak in a certain area then it would be great to talk about it with someone you can trust.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 “Two are better than one… For if they fall one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls, for he has no one to help him up”.
Who are you accountable to and how is it working?
Of course we are all accountable to God (Romans 14:12 - Each of us will give an account of himself to God) and to the leaders of the church/organisation we work in (Hebrews 13:17 Obey your leaders and submit to them). Although accountability , in the sense we are talking here, can be wider than that. It would be good to form an accountability partnership or group if you are not already in one. It would also be good to regularly review how things are going.
Who are you accountable for and how is that working?
Many of us will have tram members that we lead or work with, volunteers that give their time to work with young people and of course, young people themselves. We need to make sure that we are proactive and show them we are interested ion what they are doing and how they are progressing - both in the work they and and generally in life.
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How often do you meet with your team?
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Do you only talk about the work?
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When was the last time you asked them about their relationship with God?
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Have you developed a structure where people can form accountability partnerships and groups? Is it working?
Summary
Let’s take accountability from a theory that should be there to something that is there. Let’s take it from something that is there to something that is actually working.
