Today I read a book called Organic Community by a guy called Joseph Myers. He is a bloke with his own business that helps people rethink how they are developing their communities, whether it be in the corporate or church world.
A lot of useful things were in it. One that stood out for me was the idea of accountability. We often tell people they need to be accountable to another. We find partners who we are accountable to. An example is the Promise Keepers (a men's accountability group), in which members ask these questions to each other:
- What one sin plagued your walk with God this week?
- Is your thought life pure?
- Did you look at a woman the wrong way?
- At any time did you compromise your integrity?
- Are you giving to the Lord's work financially?
- Are you walking in total obedience to God?
- Have you lied about any of the previous questions?
Myers says this:
Wow! There is such an underlying expectation of failure phrased in a language of absolutes and either/ors (p134)...accountability relationships are built on the understanding that people are primarily bad and sinful. The accountability partner (like an accountant) looks for mistakes and keeps an account. The accountability partner emphasizes and inadvertently reinforces the negative behaviour by concentrating on it (p142).
Instead, Myers suggests we look at such relationships in a different way – a relationship that encourages spiritual development in a spirit of grace, not law. He says – let's think of the partner relationship not like that of a client and his accountant but rather as that of an author and his editor.
An editor's training, job and passion are to help an author towards richer communication...a good editor wants the author's voice to be the best it can be and thus reinforces rules only when they want the author to be heard. The editor makes suggestions and corrects errors only to enable the author's voice to shine as brightly as possible. The editor makes suggestions but leaves the major reworking with the individual (p142).
