How important is it for Christians to be accountable to one another? Most church leaders would probably agree that accountability is extremely important, but their answer is probably directed toward their church members being accountable to them, as the leader of the church. But who are church leaders accountable to? Who is their covering? Ive heard a common answer to this question throughout the years. It sounds something like this, the Lord Jesus Christ is all the covering I need. Im accountable only to Him. Ive heard this answer from church members, as well as church leaders. The Apostle Paul says in Ephesians 5:21, . . . and submitting to one another out of reverence for Christ (NET). Submission, which certainly includes accountability, is applied to the whole body of Christ, both to members as well as leaders, as a Spirit-produced and mutual responsibility to promote obedience to Christ. In the original Greek language, the word “submitting” is a military word, used of soldiers submitting to their superior or slaves submitting to their masters. It carries the idea of voluntarily submitting or subordinating oneself to others. Notice the phrase, and submitting to one another. So the common answer that Jesus is the only covering is unscriptural. We are supposed to submit to one another out of reverence for Christ. A person who feels they dont need a covering or that they do not need to be accountable to others is a dangerous position to be in. You will find that a person (church member or church leader) who is not accountable to anyone, is usually not teachable and since they are not teachable, they also refuse correction. Now this really creates major problems, especially when what could be perceived as false doctrine is being promoted. Someone recently asked who we are accountable to, and who is our spiritual covering? Just so you will know, our ministry is accountable to two American churches. One is a major denominational church (Pentecostal Church of God) and the other is an independent church (Family Fellowship Church). Both are our covering and we are submissive to both pastors and their wives. These pastors have been in full-time ministry for many years. So were not talking about novices as far as ministry goes. We are also accountable to notable Bible scholars who certainly know more then us concerning Bible doctrines and issues. Besides these from the U.S., we also make ourselves accountable to those church leaders who are connected to our Bible training center here in the Philippines. To all of these mentioned above, we stand corrected on doctrinal issues. We are not an island unto ourselves. Therefore when someone questions us about our beliefs or Bible doctrine we are not offended! Why? Because we have made ourselves open, accountable and teachable to the body of Christ!
Posted on: Tue, 18 Nov 2014 01:04:16 +0000
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