HoHum:
On a cruise ship, some stewards and sailors became concerned about a clanging noise from one of the cabins. They forced open the door to this cabin and saw that a man was taking a pick ax to the side of the boat. The stewards and sailors restrained this man and asked him, “What are you doing, if you manage to put a hole in the side of the ship, we will take on water and might sink?” The man said, “How dare you! I bought this cabin and what I do in it is my business. What do you care, it’s on my side of the ship?!”
WBTU:
“Then the LORD said to Cain, “Where is your brother Abel?” “I don’t know,” he replied. “Am I my brother’s keeper?”” Genesis 4:9, NIV. Even though God did not respond directly to Cain, much of the Bible responds with a “Yes” we are responsible for our neighbors.
N.T. Wright says this (recognize some of this from yesteryear): Anyone growing up in an average African town has dozens of friends up and down the street; indeed, many children live within to our eyes would look like a massive and confusing extended family, with virtually every adult within walking distance being treated as an honorary aunt or uncle in a way that is unimaginable to many of us. In such a community, there exist multiple networks of support, encouragement, rebuke, and warning, all of this keeps everyone together and gives people a shared sense of direction or at least, when things are bad, a shared sense of misfortune. Those who live our in our society don’t even realize what they’re missing. In fact, many might be alarmed at the thought of all that togetherness. In such a community, everyone is in it together, for good or ill.
When someone becomes a Christian, he or she enters a community in which individuals hold responsibility for one another, where “everyone is in to together, for good or ill.” When we belong to the church, our actions- whether positive or negative- impact everyone.
Thesis: Let’s talk about accountability this morning
For instances:
The Community Accountable to God
Sharing the guilt of the individual
God’s people stand accountable for any sin that infects the community, the church. Elders and other leaders are concerned because they must given an account, but all of us should be concerned because in some way we are all accountable.
Considering this, the OT gives various laws, and on 10 occasions Moses repeats this same phrase, “You must purge the evil from among you.” Those who had infected the community with sin could no longer remain a part of the community; in fact, they faced the punishment of death- usually a stoning at the hands of the community. This communal execution of justice demonstrated corporate responsibility for sin, and corporate desire for purity.
Achan’s folly
An example of this lies in the story of Achan, recorded in Joshua 7. Immediately after the walls of Jericho fell down, Joshua 7:1.
When the Israelites destroyed Jericho, God commanded them to keep away from Jericho’s plunder. They were to destroy everything except for the precious metals, which they were to add to the Lord’s treasury. Achan, however, greedily took some of this plunder for himself and hid it in the ground inside his tent. His disobedience brought guilt to the entire community. See the repetition of they in vs. 11.
One man sinned, unknown to everyone else; yet God’s anger burned against the whole community. The community bore the guilt of the individual. As a result, when Israel waged war against AI, the soldiers of AI defeated Israel, killing about 36 of them. Today is Memorial Day and we are thankful to those who paid the price of laying down their lives for our country so that we can enjoy the freedoms we have today. Thousands upon thousands died for our freedoms. How upsetting it would be if their sacrifice was for nothing! We need to fight for the cause of the gospel for that is where our freedoms have sprang from. If not all of those people have died in vain.
When they attacked Jericho, the Lord was present among them and gave victory. When they attacked Ai, God explained that the community had “been made liable to destruction (vs. 12).” Achan’s sin resulted in God’s absence from the community. “I will not be with you any more unless you destroy whatever among you is devoted to destruction (vs. 12).”
We see what happened to Achan and his family in Joshua 7:24-26. Talk about NT in a bit
Standing or falling together
God held the entire community responsible to maintain purity. For Israel to enjoy His blessing, including military victory, they must create and maintain a holy environment in which God would dwell. Any sin present among God’s people threatens the purity of the community, and, therefore, places that community in an impure state in which God will not dwell and will not bless.
What does this mean to us? A healthy church cares deeply for the spiritual condition of every member. A healthy church recognizes these statements as wrong and untrue, “I’m hurting no one but myself,” or “victimless sin.” Any sin within a church threatens the entire church’s standing before God, and blessing from God.
Individuals Accountable to One Another
AA. Holiness is important. “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness no-one will see the Lord.” Hebrews 12:14, NIV. We need to promote holiness in one another through sharpening, confession, and reproof
Sharpening
“As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.” Proverbs 27:17, NIV.
I remember in Bible bowl how I saw others do this and that and I tried to excel in those areas. I saw other teams and what they did well and tried to emulate them. Iron sharpens iron
Christians dedicated to holiness sharpen one another’s faith. “until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fulness of Christ.” Ephesians 4:13, NIV.
Confession
Some occasions call for corporate confession of sin by the whole community. For instance, Nehemiah 9 contains an example of corporate confession of sin offered by the Israelites. Through such corporate expression of sin, a sinful community stands together exposed before the holy God, reminding one another with united voices of their sins, need for God’s grace, and need to help one another remain on the paths of righteousness.
Other occasions call for individual confession within the community. “Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.” James 5:16, NIV.
A book called Spiritual Friendship offers this advice for making a confession of this nature: A helpful way for me to think about confession has been to recognize that it consists of 3 parts: 1) An acknowledgment of the wrong that was done 2) A “confession” that I was the one who did it and 3) a willingness to go public with this fact. We are saying, in effect, “Here’s the line. Here’s where I crossed it. I need to be known in this.”
Reproof
God holds Christians responsible to keep themselves from sin, and to intentionally keep one another from sin. When a Christian falls into sin but refuses to repent and confess, fellow Christians must confront that person. When David committed adultery and murder, the prophet Nathan knew the sin could not remain unchallenged. With great wisdom, Nathan used a story to confront David with the heinousness of his actions though David did not immediately connect himself with the story. When David expressed outrage over the story, Nathan shouted, ““You are the man!” 2 Samuel 12:7, NIV. The next words from David’s mouth were a confession, ““I have sinned against the LORD.” 2 Samuel 12:13, NIV.- a confession that may have never been without Nathan’s reproof.
In love and wisdom, Paul offered a strong reproof to the community in Corinth for refusing to confront a particular situation. Read 1 Corinthians 5:1, 2, NIV. In this section Paul even quotes for Deuteronomy: ““Expel the wicked man from among you.”” 1 Corinthians 5:13
This chapter outlines the general principle communities should apply to such situations: Read 1 Corinthians 5:11, NIV. When a person claims a faith in Christ and membership in the church, but refuses to repent of sin, the community must expel the person. Why would God require such drastic action? Read 1 Corinthians 5:5, NIV. We offer reproofs because we love and because we hope the reproof itself will spur repentance.
Apparently the church in Corinth followed Paul’s instructions; and apparently the unrepentant man repented when he endured church discipline. Read 2 Corinthians 2:6-8, NIV.
Philip Yancey interviewed a young alcoholic who had formerly been an active church member, but had allowed Alcoholics Anonymous to replace the church. When questioned why, the young man responded, “Mainly I’m trying to survive, and AA helps me in that struggle far better than any church.” Yancy explored further, “Name one quality missing in the local church that AA somehow provides.” The alcoholic stared at his coffee, watching it go cold. Finally he looked up and whispered one word: dependency. He explained, “Most church people give off a self satisfied air of superiority. I don’t sense them consciously leaning on God or on each other... Maybe God is calling us alcoholics to teach the saints what it means to be dependent on Him and on His community on earth.”
