- This is part of a series on the theme of accountability. -

As the first member of the Nixon administration to be incarcerated for Watergate-related charges, Chuck Colson learned the need for accountability the hard way.  Now, as the founder and chairman of the board of Prison Fellowship ministries, he meets regularly with a small group of men.  At their meetings, they ask each other the following seven questions:

1. Have you been with a woman anywhere this past week that might be seen as compromising?
2. Have any of your financial dealings lacked integrity?
3. Have you exposed yourself to any sexually explicit material?
4. Have you spent adequate time in Bible study and prayer?
5. Have you given priority time to your family?
6. Have you fulfilled the mandates of your calling?
7. Have you just lied to me?[1]

Colson says, “We must take care to nurture those forms of social interaction that increase rather than decrease our sense of accountability to one another.”[2] He knows what he’s talking about.

Peter was certainly known as a leader in the church, but within this group of “shepherds” he was not a boss.  He describes himself as a “fellow elder,” placing himself among his peers.  These leaders were given a pattern to follow as to how they were to relate and function, and they were called to model this pattern to others.  The manner in which they were to exercise their leadership was not something they were to decide on their own.  They knew that God would ultimately hold them accountable for how well they fulfilled their leadership responsibilities.

No leader is ultimately free from responsibility.  And no leader is immune to getting off course.  All people are accountable to God, and all people need a group of peers who can help them stay on course until Christ returns.

[2] Charles Colson, “Cyber Smearing: Revenge on the Net,” BreakPoint Commentary #91021, October 21, 1999 (www.pbc.org/cybercolson.html).

• No leader is ultimately free from responsibility.  And no leader is immune to getting off course.

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Here is Volume 2 of my new series, A Taste of the Classics. This is available at the KenBoa.org Store. Volumes 3 and 4 will be available in about a month.

This series encapsulates and discusses the classic works that helped shape Western civilization. Volume 2 explores The Screwtape Letters (C. S. Lewis), Paradise Lost (John Milton), Confessions (Augustine), and The Pursuit of God (A. W. Tozer). 135 pages.

Here is Volume 1 of my new series, A Taste of the Classics. This is available at the KenBoa.org Store.

This series encapsulates and discusses the classic works that helped shape Western civilization. Volume 1 explores Mere Christianity (C. S. Lewis), Pilgrim’s Progress (John Bunyan), The Brothers Karamazov (Fyodor Dostoyevsky), and The Imitation of Christ (Thomas à Kempis). 135 pages.

Father, I desire to be a person after Your own heart. I want to be pleasing and obedient to You, and when I sin against You, I want to acknowledge it quickly with no excuses and waste no time returning back to Your embrace. I know that I will never attain perfection in this life, but I desire to progress in godly character and conduct. You look at the heart and not at the externals that impress people. Therefore I ask that I would guard my heart and walk in integrity before You. By your grace I would desire what You desire, love what You love and hate what You hate. May I honor my commitments and relationships and not succumb to treachery, dishonesty or immorality. Let me allow You to define my understanding of myself and not the world with its pride and deception.

• How long do you wait between stumbling and getting back up?

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Father God, I know that I am engaged in a spiritual warfare on the three battlefronts of the flesh, the world and the devil. These forces are opposed to Your rule and authority, and the most chilling of them is the flesh, because it is internal. I affirm that the good I want I do not do, and instead practice the very evil I do not want. But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but the sin that dwells in me. There rages a warfare between my deepest self in Christ and the sinful remnant of what I was in Adam. But thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! You have given me the power of Your Holy Spirit so that I can put to death the deeds of the flesh. Let me never trust in my own devices and desires, but only in Your power.

• What are the weapons of the warfare?

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A number of people have asked me about a Bible reading system that I use. Here is a description, and I hope you will find it to be of help.

My Bible reading system involves four 3×5 cards that I use to mark four reading cycles in Scripture. The first card cycles from Genesis to Malachi and skips Psalms, the second cycles through Psalms, the third moves through the gospels and Acts, and the fourth moves through the epistles and Revelation.

Begin by putting the cards in Genesis 1, Psalm 1, Matthew 1, and Romans 1 and move them as you read (you may want to read two pages per day from each of the cycles, possibly more in the Old Testament reading). When you reach the end of each cycle, start over.

This method has several advantages. First, it gives you a balanced diet of Scripture (the lectionary readings since the earliest days of the church involved readings from the Old Testament, Psalms, gospels, and epistles. Second, if you miss a day or two, you simply pick up where you left off so that there is no guesswork. Third, your readings won’t be driven by chapter breaks, and that is a good thing (they weren’t in the original, and they often keep you from seeing continuities in the text). Fourth, you’ll never have the same combination of readings, since each of the cycles is of a different length.

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Here is a list of forty personal principles and values that I have collected and review from time to time.  It is convicting for me to go through these, since they are all beyond my experience.  This list may be of use to you as you seek to integrate your life in Christ with your life in the world.

(This is an appendix to the section on holistic spirituality in my book, Conformed to His Image.)

1 Faith: a radical trust in the sovereignty and goodness of God.  God is in control and has my best interests at heart.

2 Hope: anchored in the promises of God.

3 Love: a deepening love for God (mind, emotions, will, actions) based on growing intimacy with Him.

4  The temporal versus the eternal—I must treat the temporal as temporal and the eternal as eternal by esteeming the invisible over the visible.

5  More than anything else, a passion to know God.

6  Compassion for the lost.

7  Since I cannot live on yesterday’s faith, I must be willing to take greater risks based on God’s character and promises.

8  A growing awareness of my profound need for grace in all things.

9  A clearer understanding of the truth that my deepest needs are met in Christ, so that I am secure enough to serve others without manipulating relationships to get my needs met.

10  Developing a spirit of humility, complete dependence, and teachability.

11  A willingness to forgive others as Christ has forgiven me.

12  Treating people with grace, dignity, and possibility.

13  A stewardship mentality—increased awareness of God’s ownership of all things and an attitude of contentment in all things.

14  Commitment to ongoing exercise and renewal of spirit, soul, and body.

15  Personal integrity—a congruence between the inside and the outside.

16  Openness and honesty in relationships.

17  Radical commitment to the Great Commandment.

18  Radical commitment to the Great Commission.

19  Standing firm in the spiritual warfare by submitting to God and resisting the lures of the world, the flesh, and the devil.

20  Practicing Christ’s presence in all things and doing everything to His glory.

21  Accountability to godly people and a willingness to respond with humility to exhortation and rebuke so that I will not be enmeshed in self-deception.

22  Maintaining an ongoing sense of childlike wonder and awe.

23  Focusing on the process and not the product; genuine ministry flows out of being as an extension of who I am in Christ.

24  Walking in the power of the Spirit and putting no confidence in the flesh.

25  Being fully alive to the present and not living in the past or the future.

26  Living each day as though it were my last, and treating relationships in the same way.  Cultivating the mentality of a sojourner, pilgrim, stranger, and alien as I wait expectantly for my true home.

27  Growing responsiveness and sensitivity to God’s loving initiatives.

28  An ongoing attitude of thanksgiving and joy that transcends my circumstances.  A willingness to cling to God’s character in the midst of life’s pains and pleasures.

29  Manifesting the fruit of the Spirit by abiding in Christ.

30  A commitment to ongoing renewal of the mind so that I can grow in intimacy with God and not be seduced by the culture.

31  An increased willingness to live out the truth that everything God asks me to do is for my ultimate good, and that everything He asks me to avoid is detrimental to my soul.

32  An awareness that good and evil both increase at compound interest, and a corresponding desire to live in the light of Luke 16:10.

33  A desire to give my life in exchange for the things God declares to be important; a willingness to define success by the standard of the Word (relational) and not by the standard of the world (functional).

34  The pursuit of godly mentors who are farther along in the spiritual journey.

35  An understanding that habits of holiness are sustained by discipline and dependence; unholy habits are sustained by default.

36  I must be faithful to the process and let go of ownership of the results.

37  A firm belief that since the ministry cannot be measured, I must be content with what God has given me and not compare my ministry with others.

38  Asking God for the three faithful wounds of contrition, compassion, and longing after God.

39  Continued and responsible cultivation of giftedness while at the same time depending less on knowledge and skills and more on the power of the Holy Spirit.

40  Commitment to the centrality of Christ in all I am and do.

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My Wednesday Morning Men’s Fellowship teaching is available each week on the KenBoa.org website. They are also archived back to 2006, and these can be viewed at http://www.kenboa.org/audio_and_video/weekly_video

My Sunday Morning Class is also available each week on the KenBoa.org website. They are archived back to 2008, and these can be viewed at http://www.kenboa.org/audio_and_video/sunday_school

I changed my KenBoa Twitter account to KennethBoa. Please sign up by going to twitter.com/KennethBoa

Thanks be to Thee, O Lord Jesus Christ, for all the benefits which Thou hast given us; for all the pains and insults which Thou hast borne for us.  O most merciful redeemer, friend and brother, may we know Thee more clearly, love Thee more dearly, and follow Thee more nearly; for Thine own sake.  (St. Richard of Chichester, 1197-1253)