Accountability is Needed

By the Rt. Rev. David Anderson

Recently, I have been thinking about accountability, authority and discipline. Not discipline in a harsh sense, but discipline in the sense of having fences and walls that define distance and relationships, expectations and behavior, and that protect more than punish those concerned.

I have been blessed with an intelligent and perceptive wife. Throughout my preaching career she listened to what I said from the pulpit and occasionally would ask me about something I said. Her questions often helped me explore an idea further and better develop or drop it if necessary.

Only once did she bring up a particular sermon illustration and say to me, "You will never use that example again." I never did, and in fact I have forgotten what it was.

As a father of a family, I believe the man should take the leadership role in consultation with his wife and, to a lesser degree, everyone else who is affected. Since all five in my family have dominant personalities, there was never really a loose football; everyone was willing and ready to lead. For this reason, decisions were nearly always by consensus. Our family was part of a larger, intact, functional family, and so there were aunts, uncles and cousins who all played a part in a system of accountability. Unfortunately, not everyone has this advantage. Where it is lacking, a family should try to create a system of support and accountability, sometimes to protect themselves from themselves...Read more.