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Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Accountability Group

In what specific ways do you wish to be held accountable [by an accountability group]? (Serendipity Bible 10th Anniversary Edition, page 1393 – a paraphrase of question 10).


Being “held accountable” is quite different and is in many ways the opposite of being “micro managed.” The latter assumes you are not trustworthy, the former assumes that you are.

So at the outset, being held accountable pleases me for I am being trusted to fulfill my obligations as defined by faith, job, social compact, and citizenship. An accountability group would help define and clarify my obligations and help determine if I am meeting them.

Some specific ways I wish to be held accountable are through the judgment of others exercised thusly: an exploration of the motives and consequences of my actions or inaction; called to account in a manner in which judgment is closely accompanied by inspiration for and encouragement of future corrective action; counsel underwritten by assurance of executional capacity; mindful of human and divine forgiveness and the necessity for it due to common human limitations and frailties and the unavoidable complexities and hindrances of the environment; an appreciation for integrity and truth as key virtues more greatly to be desired than comfort or acclaim; faithful and steady support defined by helpfulness and humility; reference to Jesus as pattern maker for ethics and values subjecting one's action or inaction to the application of the Golden Rule; an insistence that pragmatism be a balance of long-term and immediate effectiveness; an insistence of institutional integrity that respects distinct responsibilities and limitations; finally I would desire an accountability group that understands that hindsight is always 20-20 whereas the present and future are frequently obscured from human view.

In sum, I would remember that being held accountable is the highest of all human compliments. It should be prized and valued highly above shallow social approval or contrived presentations covered thinly in a veneer of perfection.


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