Exodus 18
Witness answer throughout the Bible: H6030 'anah--to make answer, to answer, respond to
Job 20:3 I have heard the check of my reproach, and the spirit of my understanding causeth me to answer. H6030
Torah: Genesis 18:27, 27:37, 30:33, 35:3; Exodus 4:1,19:8; Deuteronomy 1:14
Prophets: 1 Samuel 1:15; Isaiah 46:7, 50:2, 66:4; Jeremiah 7:27; Ezekiel 14:7; Haggai 2:14
Writings: Joshua 1:16, 7:20, 24:16, 5:29; Ruth 2:11; Psalm 108:6, 119:42; Proverbs 15:28
Zechariah 3:4 And he answered H6030 and spake unto those that stood before him, saying, Take away the filthy garments from him. And unto him he said, Behold, I have caused thine iniquity to pass from thee, and I will clothe thee with change of raiment.
The Torah demands Accountability--The Torah demands accountability and is loath to accept excuses. The generation that does not feel itself accountable to the past or to the future fails miserably in its role as being the conduit of walking the life of holiness. "Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching [Torah]." (Proverbs 1:8 My son, do not forget my teaching [Torah], but keep my commands in your heart". (Proverbs 3:1) God will hold us all accountable on the Day of His Visitation so what Bible verses reflect a believer’s accountability? What is Accountability? The word accountability means to be held accountable, liable, answerable, or be held responsible for what a person has been given. This is a combination of several secular definitions of this word and it should get every believers attention for we will all be held accountable before the Lord someday for our actions, for what we did with what we have been given, and for what we didn’t do that we should have done. What does the Bible say about a believer’s accountability before the Lord? Moral Accountability--one day we will all have to give an account
before God for what we have done in this life, whether good or bad (Matthew 25:31; Romans 2:5; II Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 20:12). Human beings have free will and a moral conscience. Free
will means we have responsibility; moral conscience means that God designed us to be able to discern between right and wrong. Those two together mean we have moral accountability. Right and
wrong should be “written in our conscience” (Romans 2:15). However our consciences have been distorted evil influences. Therefore God gave us the perfect moral law in the Bible: first in the Torah, especially The Ten Commandments; then the Prophets, Writings, and restated eloquently the Renewed Covenant. Our consciences must be re-calibrated according to the universal moral laws found in the Bible. Moral conscience should match the moral law. The “Torah” of the full Biblical,
moral revelation is promised to be written on our hearts in the New Covenant (Jeremiah 31:33). A young man once asked Yeshua what he needed to do to receive eternal life. Yeshua told him simply and directly to keep all of the Ten Commandments (Exodus 20), – “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will
be measured back to you.” This is your personal accountability. This language implies that people will be judging others. But we must take care what we think and say about others, for each of us will
be held to the standard we impose upon others. We are instructed in other verses of the Bible to use judgment in the context of delivering others. As the judge who presides over the case had the ability to send the accused to jail or to declare them innocent and set free. We too are to give others the benefit of the doubt and seek for their good and not make unrighteous judgments according to opinion and not the instruction of the Torah!!
Paul chided believers in Corinth who went to the judicial system instead of making decisions according to scripture themselves (1 Corinthians 6:2). He said it was shameful to avoid making judgments in the matters that were before them (verses 4-5). Be accountable or yourself you should not judge. Referring to the discernment of spiritual matters, Paul said, “But he who is spiritual judges all things, yet he himself is rightly judged by no one” (1 Corinthians 2:15). The Greek for “judges” and “judged” is anakrino, which comes from the same root as the word Yeshua used in Matthew 7. It means “examine or judge,” “to investigate, examine, enquire into, scrutinize, sift, question,” “specifically in a forensic sense of a judge to hold an investigation,” “to interrogate, examine the accused or witnesses,” “to judge of, estimate, determine (the excellence or defects of any person or
thing)” These laws are beyond “religion.” They are universal and moral. The world is sinking into depths of terrorism, sexual perversion, corruption and rebellion. The Synoptic gospels testify that on several different occasions Yeshua called for active listening with the refrain: “Let anyone with ears to hear, listen” (Mark 4:23; 7:16; Matthew 11:15; 13: 9, 34; 25:29; Luke 8:8; 13:9; 21:4.) It is particularly interesting to look at Yeshua’s parable in Mark 4:1-20 (and its parallels) with its different soils and harshly realistic quotation from Isaiah 6: 9-10. How significant is it that Yeshua opens with
the command: “Listen!” (verse 3) and concludes with the refrain: “Let anyone with ears, listen”(verse 9)? Commentators are convinced that Yeshua raises the threshold for hearers. Cranfield likens it to way the daily Shema opens (Deut. 6.4). It is “both an appeal to hear aright and at the same time a solemn warning of the possibility of a wrong hearing.” “By it the hearers are summoned to hear at a
deeper level than mere sense perception, to take hold of the meaning of the parable, to apply it to themselves and thus ultimately to hear the word of God which can save them (Ezk. 3:27).” It seems
that hearers bear some responsibility for being seeded in ‘good soil’ accepting and “bearing fruit, thirty and sixty and a hundredfold.” “Let anyone with ears to hear, listen” is not an empty ritual refrain but an urgent encouragement that listeners need to listen with more than their ears with spiritual apprehension. It calls for holistic listening. Hearers have a responsibility to be willing to live in new ways. It involves an intensity of response that at first glance appears one may miss to its peril. Hearing words and not putting them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house upon sand
(Matt.7: 26). For “faith comes from what is heard” (Romans 10:17.)
You catch the urgency, for example in 1 Cor. 15:51, “Listen, I will tell you a mystery! Hearing opens up a dimension of responsibility that echoes throughout the ages (Rev.2: 7,11,17,29; 3:6,13,22)
and complements our accountability. We are held accountable of what we hear and listen to. “Let anyone with ears to hear, listen” directly related to how words worked in an oral culture. At the center
of Yeshua’s discipling were sounded out words which created a community of the ear. Indeed, “The authority of word as sound”. How can we justify our own resentment, anger, gossip, lust, pride
and disrespect? Have we become more dedicated to entertainment, pleasure and comfort than to serving God The Most High (2 Timothy 3:1-5). Let us repent truly and deeply in our hearts, so that we will be ready to give an account for our lives before God.
It's called being accountable. The purpose of a parents Torah is to teach and bring the children to maturity. If the Torah is violated out of disrespect or defiant disobedience, the child is punished. If the
child desires to follow the instructions out of a loving obedience but falls short of the expectations, the child is commended for the effort and counseled on how to perform the instructions better the next time. Unlike Torah, law is a set of rules from a government and binding on a community. Violation of the rules require punishment.
With this type of law, there is no room for teaching, either the law was broken with the penalty of punishment or it was not broken. God, as our heavenly Father, gives his children his Torah in the same manner as parents give their Torah to their children, not in the manner as a government does to its citizens. We have a responsibility and that's sharing in you being your own accountability. Moses models for us the importance of being open and responsible to those we serve. In the times in which we live, his behavior is also a call for us to hold our leaders accountable and demand transparency. In doing so, we hope and pray that justice and truth will flourish and that we working together, we can change our systems so they truly work for all people. "Blessed is the man you discipline, O LORD, the man you teach from your Torah" (Psalms 94:12) The apostle Paul warns the community against the evil of judging one another concerning certain doubtful or debatable practices, where one
holds one opinion and another a different opinion. He then concludes this portion of his argument with a reminder of every one’s accountability at the Judgment Seat of the Most High. But why do
you judge your brother or sister? Or again, why do you despise your brother or sister? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of The Most High. 11 For it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every
knee will bow to me, and every tongue will give praise to The Most High.” 12 Therefore, each of us will give an account of himself to The Most High (Rom 14:11-12).. The stark reality of Scripture is
that every person, is accountable before a sovereign God (see Rom. 3:9-19) and will one day have to bow before Yeshua (Phil. 2:9-11). Yeshua said, “From everyone who has been given much, much will be required; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, even more will be asked” (Luke 12:48). Many reject this declaration of Scripture by all manner of human rationalizations and bias, but their rejection cannot alter human behavior in judging. Yeshua emphatically taught that a day
of judgment is coming when every person will have to give an account. For instance, in a context where the Pharisees had spoken evil of Yeshua by attributing His miracle to HaSatan, Yeshua
condemned them as a brood of vipers who could never say anything good since their hearts were evil. He then went on to make the point that people are responsible for all their actions and words, which will acquit or condemn them on the day of judgment. In Matthew 12:36 He said, “I tell you that on the day of judgment, people will give an account for every worthless word they speak.” Unfortunately, however, man is a rebel who wants to do his own thing without any or very little accountability for his actions. Since the fall of man (Gen. 3), this has been the case, but a worldwide phenomenon of our day is a defiance of any form of established authority whether religious or secular, social or political. This sad reality has colored the beliefs and actions of our present society worldwide. Without a sense of accountability to a sovereign God, the world can quickly gravitate in the direction of the ruthless acts and tyranny seen in the various dictators and rulers throughout history. When God either does not exist in the beliefs of men or when the truth about God is distorted into man’s own image of who and what God is like, everything is permitted, morally speaking. Today, we live in a time when, having fundamentally rejected the absolutes and clear teachings of Scripture, man seeks to make God accountable to him for his comfort and pleasure. Thus, people are not only doing what is right in their own eyes, but the prevailing attitude is ‘Do your own thing. You are only accountable to yourself and your own self-fulfillment.’
This is a shift from a God-centered perspective of life to a man-centered perspective. This is all part of man’s attempt to dismiss any accountability to God. The reality is that when men seek to ignore accountability to God and others, they leave themselves vulnerable to the cold misery of slavery and eventually to the menace of a dictator. Accountability to God and to one another according to the directives of Scripture is the foundation for freedom and liberty. But what is true freedom and wherein lies its source? Freedom is not the right to do as one pleases as a capricious child. Certainly it means the capacity to exercise choice, but never so that it is devoid of responsibility or accountability. Freedom is both the responsibility and the ability, by the grace of God, to do what is right according to the absolute and righteous standards of truth as given to us in God’s Holy Word. Many see freedom as the right to abandon accountability to God and men in order to do what they please in the promotion of self gratification. But that is not freedom. It is slavery, or at least leads to slavery. Speaking of false teachers who either twist Scripture to their own self-centered objectives or deny its authority altogether, Peter writes, “…promising them freedom while they themselves are slaves of corruption; for by what a man is overcome, by this he is enslaved” (2 Pet. 2:19). Beliefs or one’s world view always has consequences. It is like a train which is free to do what it was created to do as long as it is on its track. Accountability is one of the means God uses to bring about solid growth and maturity with the freedom to be what God has created us for. But as we’ve just stressed, the problem is that we live in a society that has become very individualistic. The prevailing attitude is be your own man or woman, do your own thing, be your own boss, and often this attitude is promoted or stated in a way that undermines accountability to God and others. The Bible in no
way denies our individualism. Indeed, it promotes it, but in a way that holds us each accountable to others. Proper individualism leads to a certain amount of inventiveness, ingenuity, and freedom, but it can also breed license and irresponsibility without accountability. The fact is you can’t make disciples or produce growing and mature believers without accountability. So again, true freedom is not the
ability to do as one pleases, which is license, but the power by God’s grace to do as one ought. But what do we mean by accountability? We are not talking about coercive tactics, the invasion of privacy, or bringing others under the weight of someone’s taboos or legalism or manipulative or dominating tactics. Rather, by accountability we mean developing relationships with other believers that help to promote spiritual reality, honesty, obedience to God, and genuine evaluations of one’s walk and relationship with God and with others. We are talking about relationships that help believers change by the Spirit of God and the truth of the Word of God through inward spiritual conviction
and faith. Being what we are, sheep that are prone to wander, accountability to others is simply one of the ways God holds us accountable to Him. Left to ourselves, there is the great temptation to do mainly what we want rather than what God wants and what is best for others. So what is meant by accountability? We are talking about teaching, exhorting, supporting, and encouraging one another in such a way that it promotes accountability to Yeshua and to others in the body of Christ, but never by manipulation or domination.
To believe you can make disciples or develop true maturity in others without some form of accountability is like believing that you can raise children without discipline, run a company without rules,or lead an army without authority. Accountability is to the Great Commission what tracks are to a train. So, what are some of the reasons for establishing some form of accountability?
(1) Accountability is an essential part of a functional society.
(2) Accountability helps to promote biblical controls or checks and balances. It provides the necessary discipline and support needed to see people reach godly goals. While we are all ultimately accountable to God, as stressed in Romans 14:7-12, God has established other levels of accountability to aid us in the matter of control, support, and growth. God has given the Word and the
Holy Spirit as His agents of control to help provide direction and controls on our lives, but accountability to other believers becomes another key instrument to aid in bringing about self-discipline and inner controls.
(3) Accountability is necessary because like sheep we tend to go our own way. We are all self-willed. We want to protect our comfort zones and avoid having to deal with certain issues that are important to becoming obedient believers, which is one of the goals of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20). Making disciples means teaching others to obey the Lord and this is very difficult without some measure of accountability. Accountability is part of the means God uses, as will be demonstrated below.
(4) Accountability promotes servant-like leadership in keeping with the pastoral mandate to watch over the flock (Eph. 4:11; Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 5:1-4). One of the key requirements of a servant leader is faithfulness to the things entrusted to him (1 Cor. 4:1-2). So, in 1 Timothy 2:2, Paul told Timothy to entrust what he had learned to what kind of men? To faithful men. The fact he was to selectively train only faithful men suggests accountability. Is it not a strange paradox that we generally accept accountability in most aspects of life as something which is necessary, but when it comes to the body of Christ, many fight accountability, especially, if it begins to affect their comfort zones or their self-willed agendas.
(5) Accountability is protective to both leaders and to the flock. The biblical model for church leadership is a collective leadership which provides a structure for genuine accountability. Shared,
brotherly leadership provides needed restraint on pride and greed.
Multiple leaders, therefore, will serve as a ‘check and balance’ on each other and serve as a safeguard against the very human tendency to play God over other people.”Shared leadership provides close accountability, genuine partnership, and peer relationships—the very things imperial pastors shrink from at all costs. As to the flock, Hebrews 13:17 tells the flock to submit to their leaders because they keep watch over the souls of God’s people. People too often understand this primarily in a negative way, but keeping watch not only means correcting people when they fail to walk with the Lord, but helping them to do so. As shown below, the goal of accountability is not riding herd over people like a task master—something completely contrary to Scripture. Rather, the goal is to help people grow in Christ and learn to find Him as the source and force and course of life. The Justification for Accountability, Is biblical, there are numerous New Testament passages which teach the concept of accountability of the flock to the leaders (1 Thess. 5:12; 1 Tim. 3:1-5; Heb. 13:7, 17; 1 Pet. 5:2-3). But the elders are limited in their capacity to effectively promote accountability throughout the body of Christ. As the Lord was focused on only a few, the twelve and then the three, so the leaders should follow his example. The need for accountability goes beyond the leadership and falls into the realm of the “one another” concept of the New Testament. Submission, which certainly includes accountability, is applied to the whole body of Christ as a Spirit-produced and mutual responsibility to promote obedience to Christ. “Submitting” is hupotasso, a military word used of soldiers submitting to their superior or slaves submitting to their masters. In the middle voice as here, it carries the idea of voluntarily submitting or subordinating oneself. As a specific application of the various areas of accountability, is applied in relation to God in 1 Corinthians 15:28, Hebrews 12:9, and James 4:7, to Christ in Ephesians 5:24, to wives in Ephesians 5:22, Colossians 3:18, Titus 2:5, and 1 Peter 3:1, to parents in Luke 2:51, to masters in Titus 2:9 and 1 Peter 2:18, to secular authorities in Romans 13:1, and in a general sense of a voluntary submission to others in the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 16:16, 1 Peter 5:5, and here in Ephesians 5:21. Included in the word ‘submission’ are the ideas of authority and accountability to another. “In Scripture it appears in contexts describing servanthood, humility, respect, reverence, honor, teachableness, and openness.”
But we should quickly add that such submission or accountability is to bring about greater and greater obedience to Yeshua as those first and foremost accountable to Him. 1 Peter 5:5 In the same
way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Thus fiveamprayer we should be not be running from but seeking true biblical accountability!
Exodus 18:20-25
20 You should also teach them the laws and the teachings, and show them how to live their lives and what work they should do. 21 But you should choose from among all the people competent men who are God-fearing, honest and incorruptible to be their leaders, in charge of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Normally, they will settle the people’s disputes. They should bring you the difficult cases; but ordinary matters they should decide themselves. In this way, they will make it easier for you and share the load with you. 23 If you do this — and God is directing you to do it — you will be able to endure; and all these people too will arrive at their destination peacefully.” 24 Moshe paid attention to his father-in-law’s counsel and did everything he said. 25 Moshe chose competent men from all Isra’el and made them heads over the people, in charge of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
Goal Setting
If you think you can do it, that’s confidence; if you do it, that’s competence.
A leader understands how to set the right goals. This is a vital attitude to cultivate because your future and your life depend on the goals you set—either consciously or subconsciously. Where you end up in life is a result of the goals that you set or did not set for your life. Success comes from the discipline of goal setting according to one’s purpose.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PURPOSE AND PLANS
The book of Proverbs says, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” According to the wisdom of this statement, we can understand three things about the relationship between purpose and plans (goal setting):
1. Purpose is more important than plans.
2. Purpose is more powerful than plans.
3. Purpose precedes plans because the Creator established our purposes even before we were born.
We have to know and focus on our purposes before we can begin planning, because plans that don’t get you to your purpose are counterproductive. Purpose is God’s original intent for you. Therefore, you need to know your destination.
PROTECT YOUR GOALS
Goals protect us from the undue influence of other people. True leaders are always zealous for and jealous of their goals because these goals represent their lives. When our goals change, our lives change, so we must carefully guard our goals.
If you don’t have any goals, other people will run your life. The great king of Israel, Solomon, declared, “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.” If nothing controls and orders your life, then you are open season to other people and you won’t accomplish your purpose. Remember that the more successful you become, the more people will compete for your time, so you have to guard your goals even more carefully.
WHAT IS A GOAL?
• A goal is an established point for achievement that leads to a greater accomplishment.
• A goal is a point of measure for progress toward an ultimate purpose.
• A goal is a prerequisite for the achievement of an ultimate plan.
THE POWER OF GOALS
Goals give us a structure for accomplishing our plans one step at a time. They give us a starting place and an ending place, and they help us to focus. Here are some of the benefits of goals:
• Goals separate achievers from dreamers.
• Goal setting is the art of discipline.
• Goals are the skeleton of the plan.
• Goals give specifics to the plan.
• Goals create targets for our energy.
• Goals protect us from procrastination
THE PRINCIPLE OF GOALS
It is helpful to have some guidelines for the development and recording of our goals because, otherwise, we can easily lose sight of them and their relationship to our purposes:
• Goals must be defined.
• Goals must be simplified.
• Goals must be written.
• Goals must be visual.
• Goals must relate to the ultimate purpose.
• Goals must be measurable.
• Goals must be flexible.
The secret to leadership success is living a very focused life in line with your purpose.
Teamwork
Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. —Henry Ford
True leaders possess the attitude of teamwork because they do not care who gets the credit. They move people from their personal and private goals to serving the needs of the common good. A team spirit manifests the difference between ambition and the pursuit of a God-given destiny: Ambition is a private thing that you want to do only for your own benefit, while destiny is a big picture that involves benefiting others. A leader is always a team player. True leaders are always cognizant that no great accomplishment has ever been achieved by one individual.
PRINCIPLES OF TEAMWORK
Teamwork is defined as the ability to work together toward a common vision. Because it directs individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives, teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.
Let’s look at some principles of teamwork:
1. PARTNERSHIP IS THE CREATOR’S IDEA.
When the Creator first brought mankind into the world, he had the idea of partnership inmind: “The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”
2. TEAMWORK IS NECESSARY FOR THE FULFILLMENT OF PURPOSE.
Again, at creation, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion.” The mandate of dominion over the earth, which requires the spirit of leadership, was given to both males and females. This means that teamwork is a built-in requirement for the fulfillment of our purposes in the world.
3. TEAMWORK IS THE CREATOR’S PLAN FOR LEADERSHIP.
While God often calls individuals to carry out his purposes, he doesn’t want them to pursue their callings alone. Even Moses, who was called the friend of God and did extraordinary things, needed leadership help. In the book of the prophet Micah, God said, “I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam.” Moses did not rule alone, but was given the help of his brother and sister. At a time when Moses tried to take on too much responsibility, his father-in-law reminded him that he needed to delegate responsibility or the work would be too much for him. We also see the idea of teamwork in the first-century church with the traveling teams of Paul and Barnabus, Peter and John, and Priscilla and Aquila. When Paul worked with the churches he founded, he often had many coworkers who assisted him.
4. TEAMWORK WAS EMPHASIZED BY JESUS.
Jesus himself did not carry out his ministry alone but instead gathered a group of twelve disciples to assist him and learn from his example. When he sent out his disciples to minister, he told them to go two by two.
EFFECTIVE TEAMWORK
• Start with team goals.
• Select the right people.
• Define everyone’s roles.
• Empower the team. (Authorize the power of decision.)
• Open your talent bank.
• Appreciate style differences.
• Establish ground rules.
• Create a relaxed atmosphere.
• Prepare a work plan.
• Get the work done.
• Hold efficient meetings.
• Build external networks.
• Resolve conflicts effectively.
• Build a climate of trust.
• Communicate—and communicate!
• Get everyone committed.
• Make decisions by consensus.
• Reward team results.
• Assess team performance.
• Celebrate team accomplishments.
“There is no limit to what can be accomplished if it doesn’t matter who gets the credit.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
The spirit of true leadership is always manifested in an innovative attitude. The very nature of leading demands an innovative spirit as leaders take followers to an as-yet undiscovered world of vision. Innovation is the creative reserve of true leaders.
THE MIND-SET OF INNOVATION
Leaders don’t allow the past to dictate or entrap the future. They possess the capacity to combine old ideas and concepts in order to create new ones. They never believe that there is only one way to accomplish any task. True leaders are never prisoners of tradition.
THE CREATOR’S INNOVATIVE SPIRIT
Our ability to innovate comes from the fact that we are made in the image and likeness of our Creator. The firstcentury writer Paul said that we are to “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” This means that the more we are transformed into the image of the One who created us, the more innovative we should be.
The Most High—
• created with diversity; he never repeated anything in creation.
• never did the same miracle twice in the same way.
• always solved problems in unexpected and untraditional ways.
• challenged humanity to think beyond its current experience.
• never believed anything was impossible.
• never dealt with humanity according to its norms and expectations.
YESHUAH THE INNOVATOR
One of the greatest examples of the leadership spirit of innovation is the ultimate leader, the young Jewish rabbi Jesus. During his time on earth over two thousand years ago, he demonstrated the same innovative spirit as the heavenly Father. His creativity was manifested throughout all his work among men. In performing his miracles, he never repeated any single method but always used a different approach to solve every problem.
For example, he healed the blind using several different methods. For some, he merely touched their eyes and they were made well. For another, he laid his hands on the person’s eyes and put mud on them, and then laid his hands on them again to cause the person to receive his sight. For still another, he simply spoke the words, “Go, your faith has healed you,” and the person was healed.
FORGET THE FORMER THINGS”
Having a predetermined mind-set hinders the leadership spirit of innovation. In the book of the prophet Isaiah, God said, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” We can apply these statements in our development as innovators.
Whenever you encounter a project, a challenge, or a problem, practice thinking in new ways and with a different mind-set. Ask the Creator to give you a fresh perspective, and see what happens!
Accountability
Authority is 20 percent given and 80 percent taken. —Peter Ueberroth
The spirit of true leadership always possesses a sense of accountability and responsibility. True leaders readily embrace submission to authority and are conscious of their stewardship of the trust given to them by those whom they serve.
The spirit of leadership seeks to be faithful to the sacred trust of the followers rather than doing what will please the leader!!!
In this chapter, I want to address a potential danger that leaders fall into and what we can do to prevent it. As I said earlier, the key to good leadership is the power to influence through inspiration, not manipulation. The danger of leadership is its potential for wielding power without answering to anyone else.
Dictatorship and tyranny occur in the absence of a leader’s submission to authority. The protection of leadership, therefore, is in a voluntary submission to a trusted authority. The spirit of accountability is the active manifestation of submission to authority. The spirit of accountability is the active manifestation of submission to authority.
LEADERS AND ACCOUNTABILITY
A true leader is always conscious that he is not a law unto himself but should uphold established laws and treat others with respect as people made in the image and likeness of the Creator. He also listens to the advice and input of credible authority.
WHAT IS ACCOUNTABILITY?
In a nutshell, accountability is giving a reckoning for one’s conduct and reporting on one’s progress. It is also an admission of motives and reasons for taking certain actions.
THE ACCOUNTABLE LEADER
In Paul’s letter to the people of Philippi, he explained that Jesus was willingly accountable to the Father when he was on earth.
Yeshua continually referred to his accountability to the Father, making statements such as “My food...is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” and acknowledging the Father’s affirmation of his leadership: “The very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me.” “On [the Son of Man] God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” In developing the spirit of accountability, we can have no better example than his.
HOW TO BE ACCOUNTABLE
The following are some guidelines for incorporating accountability into your life:
• Commit yourself to be accountable to your personal convictions.
• Establish the Word of God as your final judge and authority.
• Appoint and submit to a group of tested, respected, credible, and mature people for advice, correction, rebuke, and instruction.
• Choose friends who are committed to the high standards of the Word of God and give them the right to judge you by it.
To manifest the leadership spirit hidden within you, you must embrace the attitude of accountability. Always be conscious that you are responsible to those below and above you for everything you say and do. Be cognizant that whatever you do as a leader may be personal, but it is never totally private. Your ultimate accountability is to the Creator of all leaders, who knows the thoughts and attitudes of your heart.
(2) Accountability helps to promote biblical controls or checks and balances. It provides the necessary discipline and support needed to see people reach godly goals. While we are all ultimately accountable to God, as stressed in Romans 14:7-12, God has established other levels of accountability to aid us in the matter of control, support, and growth. God has given the Word and the
Holy Spirit as His agents of control to help provide direction and controls on our lives, but accountability to other believers becomes another key instrument to aid in bringing about self-discipline and inner controls.
(3) Accountability is necessary because like sheep we tend to go our own way. We are all self-willed. We want to protect our comfort zones and avoid having to deal with certain issues that are important to becoming obedient believers, which is one of the goals of the Great Commission (Matt. 28:19-20). Making disciples means teaching others to obey the Lord and this is very difficult without some measure of accountability. Accountability is part of the means God uses, as will be demonstrated below.
(4) Accountability promotes servant-like leadership in keeping with the pastoral mandate to watch over the flock (Eph. 4:11; Heb. 13:17; 1 Pet. 5:1-4). One of the key requirements of a servant leader is faithfulness to the things entrusted to him (1 Cor. 4:1-2). So, in 1 Timothy 2:2, Paul told Timothy to entrust what he had learned to what kind of men? To faithful men. The fact he was to selectively train only faithful men suggests accountability. Is it not a strange paradox that we generally accept accountability in most aspects of life as something which is necessary, but when it comes to the body of Christ, many fight accountability, especially, if it begins to affect their comfort zones or their self-willed agendas.
(5) Accountability is protective to both leaders and to the flock. The biblical model for church leadership is a collective leadership which provides a structure for genuine accountability. Shared,
brotherly leadership provides needed restraint on pride and greed.
Multiple leaders, therefore, will serve as a ‘check and balance’ on each other and serve as a safeguard against the very human tendency to play God over other people.”Shared leadership provides close accountability, genuine partnership, and peer relationships—the very things imperial pastors shrink from at all costs. As to the flock, Hebrews 13:17 tells the flock to submit to their leaders because they keep watch over the souls of God’s people. People too often understand this primarily in a negative way, but keeping watch not only means correcting people when they fail to walk with the Lord, but helping them to do so. As shown below, the goal of accountability is not riding herd over people like a task master—something completely contrary to Scripture. Rather, the goal is to help people grow in Christ and learn to find Him as the source and force and course of life. The Justification for Accountability, Is biblical, there are numerous New Testament passages which teach the concept of accountability of the flock to the leaders (1 Thess. 5:12; 1 Tim. 3:1-5; Heb. 13:7, 17; 1 Pet. 5:2-3). But the elders are limited in their capacity to effectively promote accountability throughout the body of Christ. As the Lord was focused on only a few, the twelve and then the three, so the leaders should follow his example. The need for accountability goes beyond the leadership and falls into the realm of the “one another” concept of the New Testament. Submission, which certainly includes accountability, is applied to the whole body of Christ as a Spirit-produced and mutual responsibility to promote obedience to Christ. “Submitting” is hupotasso, a military word used of soldiers submitting to their superior or slaves submitting to their masters. In the middle voice as here, it carries the idea of voluntarily submitting or subordinating oneself. As a specific application of the various areas of accountability, is applied in relation to God in 1 Corinthians 15:28, Hebrews 12:9, and James 4:7, to Christ in Ephesians 5:24, to wives in Ephesians 5:22, Colossians 3:18, Titus 2:5, and 1 Peter 3:1, to parents in Luke 2:51, to masters in Titus 2:9 and 1 Peter 2:18, to secular authorities in Romans 13:1, and in a general sense of a voluntary submission to others in the body of Christ in 1 Corinthians 16:16, 1 Peter 5:5, and here in Ephesians 5:21. Included in the word ‘submission’ are the ideas of authority and accountability to another. “In Scripture it appears in contexts describing servanthood, humility, respect, reverence, honor, teachableness, and openness.”
But we should quickly add that such submission or accountability is to bring about greater and greater obedience to Yeshua as those first and foremost accountable to Him. 1 Peter 5:5 In the same
way, you who are younger, be subject to the elders. And all of you, clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Thus fiveamprayer we should be not be running from but seeking true biblical accountability!
20 You should also teach them the laws and the teachings, and show them how to live their lives and what work they should do. 21 But you should choose from among all the people competent men who are God-fearing, honest and incorruptible to be their leaders, in charge of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens. 22 Normally, they will settle the people’s disputes. They should bring you the difficult cases; but ordinary matters they should decide themselves. In this way, they will make it easier for you and share the load with you. 23 If you do this — and God is directing you to do it — you will be able to endure; and all these people too will arrive at their destination peacefully.” 24 Moshe paid attention to his father-in-law’s counsel and did everything he said. 25 Moshe chose competent men from all Isra’el and made them heads over the people, in charge of thousands, hundreds, fifties and tens.
Goal Setting
If you think you can do it, that’s confidence; if you do it, that’s competence.
A leader understands how to set the right goals. This is a vital attitude to cultivate because your future and your life depend on the goals you set—either consciously or subconsciously. Where you end up in life is a result of the goals that you set or did not set for your life. Success comes from the discipline of goal setting according to one’s purpose.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PURPOSE AND PLANS
The book of Proverbs says, “Many are the plans in a man’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.” According to the wisdom of this statement, we can understand three things about the relationship between purpose and plans (goal setting):
1. Purpose is more important than plans.
2. Purpose is more powerful than plans.
3. Purpose precedes plans because the Creator established our purposes even before we were born.
We have to know and focus on our purposes before we can begin planning, because plans that don’t get you to your purpose are counterproductive. Purpose is God’s original intent for you. Therefore, you need to know your destination.
PROTECT YOUR GOALS
Goals protect us from the undue influence of other people. True leaders are always zealous for and jealous of their goals because these goals represent their lives. When our goals change, our lives change, so we must carefully guard our goals.
If you don’t have any goals, other people will run your life. The great king of Israel, Solomon, declared, “Whoever has no rule over his own spirit is like a city broken down, without walls.” If nothing controls and orders your life, then you are open season to other people and you won’t accomplish your purpose. Remember that the more successful you become, the more people will compete for your time, so you have to guard your goals even more carefully.
WHAT IS A GOAL?
• A goal is an established point for achievement that leads to a greater accomplishment.
• A goal is a point of measure for progress toward an ultimate purpose.
• A goal is a prerequisite for the achievement of an ultimate plan.
THE POWER OF GOALS
Goals give us a structure for accomplishing our plans one step at a time. They give us a starting place and an ending place, and they help us to focus. Here are some of the benefits of goals:
• Goals separate achievers from dreamers.
• Goal setting is the art of discipline.
• Goals are the skeleton of the plan.
• Goals give specifics to the plan.
• Goals create targets for our energy.
• Goals protect us from procrastination
THE PRINCIPLE OF GOALS
It is helpful to have some guidelines for the development and recording of our goals because, otherwise, we can easily lose sight of them and their relationship to our purposes:
• Goals must be defined.
• Goals must be simplified.
• Goals must be written.
• Goals must be visual.
• Goals must relate to the ultimate purpose.
• Goals must be measurable.
• Goals must be flexible.
The secret to leadership success is living a very focused life in line with your purpose.
Teamwork
Coming together is a beginning. Keeping together is progress. Working together is success. —Henry Ford
True leaders possess the attitude of teamwork because they do not care who gets the credit. They move people from their personal and private goals to serving the needs of the common good. A team spirit manifests the difference between ambition and the pursuit of a God-given destiny: Ambition is a private thing that you want to do only for your own benefit, while destiny is a big picture that involves benefiting others. A leader is always a team player. True leaders are always cognizant that no great accomplishment has ever been achieved by one individual.
PRINCIPLES OF TEAMWORK
Teamwork is defined as the ability to work together toward a common vision. Because it directs individual accomplishment toward organizational objectives, teamwork is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.
Let’s look at some principles of teamwork:
1. PARTNERSHIP IS THE CREATOR’S IDEA.
When the Creator first brought mankind into the world, he had the idea of partnership inmind: “The LORD God said, ‘It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper suitable for him.’”
2. TEAMWORK IS NECESSARY FOR THE FULFILLMENT OF PURPOSE.
Again, at creation, God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion.” The mandate of dominion over the earth, which requires the spirit of leadership, was given to both males and females. This means that teamwork is a built-in requirement for the fulfillment of our purposes in the world.
3. TEAMWORK IS THE CREATOR’S PLAN FOR LEADERSHIP.
While God often calls individuals to carry out his purposes, he doesn’t want them to pursue their callings alone. Even Moses, who was called the friend of God and did extraordinary things, needed leadership help. In the book of the prophet Micah, God said, “I sent Moses to lead you, also Aaron and Miriam.” Moses did not rule alone, but was given the help of his brother and sister. At a time when Moses tried to take on too much responsibility, his father-in-law reminded him that he needed to delegate responsibility or the work would be too much for him. We also see the idea of teamwork in the first-century church with the traveling teams of Paul and Barnabus, Peter and John, and Priscilla and Aquila. When Paul worked with the churches he founded, he often had many coworkers who assisted him.
4. TEAMWORK WAS EMPHASIZED BY JESUS.
Jesus himself did not carry out his ministry alone but instead gathered a group of twelve disciples to assist him and learn from his example. When he sent out his disciples to minister, he told them to go two by two.
EFFECTIVE TEAMWORK
• Start with team goals.
• Select the right people.
• Define everyone’s roles.
• Empower the team. (Authorize the power of decision.)
• Open your talent bank.
• Appreciate style differences.
• Establish ground rules.
• Create a relaxed atmosphere.
• Prepare a work plan.
• Get the work done.
• Hold efficient meetings.
• Build external networks.
• Resolve conflicts effectively.
• Build a climate of trust.
• Communicate—and communicate!
• Get everyone committed.
• Make decisions by consensus.
• Reward team results.
• Assess team performance.
• Celebrate team accomplishments.
“There is no limit to what can be accomplished if it doesn’t matter who gets the credit.” —Ralph Waldo Emerson
The spirit of true leadership is always manifested in an innovative attitude. The very nature of leading demands an innovative spirit as leaders take followers to an as-yet undiscovered world of vision. Innovation is the creative reserve of true leaders.
THE MIND-SET OF INNOVATION
Leaders don’t allow the past to dictate or entrap the future. They possess the capacity to combine old ideas and concepts in order to create new ones. They never believe that there is only one way to accomplish any task. True leaders are never prisoners of tradition.
THE CREATOR’S INNOVATIVE SPIRIT
Our ability to innovate comes from the fact that we are made in the image and likeness of our Creator. The firstcentury writer Paul said that we are to “put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.” This means that the more we are transformed into the image of the One who created us, the more innovative we should be.
The Most High—
• created with diversity; he never repeated anything in creation.
• never did the same miracle twice in the same way.
• always solved problems in unexpected and untraditional ways.
• challenged humanity to think beyond its current experience.
• never believed anything was impossible.
• never dealt with humanity according to its norms and expectations.
YESHUAH THE INNOVATOR
One of the greatest examples of the leadership spirit of innovation is the ultimate leader, the young Jewish rabbi Jesus. During his time on earth over two thousand years ago, he demonstrated the same innovative spirit as the heavenly Father. His creativity was manifested throughout all his work among men. In performing his miracles, he never repeated any single method but always used a different approach to solve every problem.
For example, he healed the blind using several different methods. For some, he merely touched their eyes and they were made well. For another, he laid his hands on the person’s eyes and put mud on them, and then laid his hands on them again to cause the person to receive his sight. For still another, he simply spoke the words, “Go, your faith has healed you,” and the person was healed.
FORGET THE FORMER THINGS”
Having a predetermined mind-set hinders the leadership spirit of innovation. In the book of the prophet Isaiah, God said, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it?” We can apply these statements in our development as innovators.
Whenever you encounter a project, a challenge, or a problem, practice thinking in new ways and with a different mind-set. Ask the Creator to give you a fresh perspective, and see what happens!
Accountability
Authority is 20 percent given and 80 percent taken. —Peter Ueberroth
The spirit of true leadership always possesses a sense of accountability and responsibility. True leaders readily embrace submission to authority and are conscious of their stewardship of the trust given to them by those whom they serve.
The spirit of leadership seeks to be faithful to the sacred trust of the followers rather than doing what will please the leader!!!
In this chapter, I want to address a potential danger that leaders fall into and what we can do to prevent it. As I said earlier, the key to good leadership is the power to influence through inspiration, not manipulation. The danger of leadership is its potential for wielding power without answering to anyone else.
Dictatorship and tyranny occur in the absence of a leader’s submission to authority. The protection of leadership, therefore, is in a voluntary submission to a trusted authority. The spirit of accountability is the active manifestation of submission to authority. The spirit of accountability is the active manifestation of submission to authority.
LEADERS AND ACCOUNTABILITY
A true leader is always conscious that he is not a law unto himself but should uphold established laws and treat others with respect as people made in the image and likeness of the Creator. He also listens to the advice and input of credible authority.
WHAT IS ACCOUNTABILITY?
In a nutshell, accountability is giving a reckoning for one’s conduct and reporting on one’s progress. It is also an admission of motives and reasons for taking certain actions.
THE ACCOUNTABLE LEADER
In Paul’s letter to the people of Philippi, he explained that Jesus was willingly accountable to the Father when he was on earth.
Yeshua continually referred to his accountability to the Father, making statements such as “My food...is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work” and acknowledging the Father’s affirmation of his leadership: “The very work that the Father has given me to finish, and which I am doing, testifies that the Father has sent me.” “On [the Son of Man] God the Father has placed his seal of approval.” In developing the spirit of accountability, we can have no better example than his.
HOW TO BE ACCOUNTABLE
The following are some guidelines for incorporating accountability into your life:
• Commit yourself to be accountable to your personal convictions.
• Establish the Word of God as your final judge and authority.
• Appoint and submit to a group of tested, respected, credible, and mature people for advice, correction, rebuke, and instruction.
• Choose friends who are committed to the high standards of the Word of God and give them the right to judge you by it.
To manifest the leadership spirit hidden within you, you must embrace the attitude of accountability. Always be conscious that you are responsible to those below and above you for everything you say and do. Be cognizant that whatever you do as a leader may be personal, but it is never totally private. Your ultimate accountability is to the Creator of all leaders, who knows the thoughts and attitudes of your heart.
Shema selah let us have ears to hear that we are to be accountable to each other in this community!! Facebook LIVE video https://scontent.fapa1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/v/t42.9040-29/10000000_348028148962108_1058200562148835328_n.mp4?efg=eyJybHIiOjE1MDAsInJsYSI6NDA5NiwidmVuY29kZV90YWciOiJzZCJ9&rl=1500&vabr=575&oh=d02462b1ee39db302dfe31da3b44c81b&oe=5991D715
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