As the father of three boys, I’ve spent a lot of time at the ballpark. All of my sons were good athletes and my middle son, Jake, received a scholarship to play college football as a running back for the Samford University Bulldogs in Homewood, Alabama. Over the years, I’ve sat through hundreds of ball practices from little league all the way through college. The sounds and smells of football practice are etched in my memory. At every phase of the sport, I would often hear a coach say to a player, “Do your job! Don’t worry about anyone else; just do your job!” Good coaches hold their players accountable to do their jobs. Likewise, loving spiritual accountability is a vital part of personal disciple-making. When Jesus called His disciples, He said, "Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men" (Matthew 4:19). Throughout the four gospels, we see Jesus holding His disciples accountable to do their jobs. At one point He sent them out two by two to do the work of ministry and had them report back to Him. Ultimately, He held them accountable to multiply out to become fishers of men. Like Jesus, it is the responsibility of all disciple makers to provide loving accountability to those whom they disciple. LIVES ARE CHANGED THROUGH SPIRITUAL ACCOUNTABILITY It has often been said that people don’t do what they are supposed to do, they do what they are held accountable to do. That is why accountability is an essential part of the disciple-making process. First, we most hold our disciples accountable to reading the Word of God. It's important for your discipleship group to agree on a daily Bible reading plan and to hold one another accountable to the plan. This will have a great impact on their lives. People who have never read the Bible with consistency will begin to read it daily. This alone is transformational. Second, we must hold our disciples accountable to their walk with God. As you lead your group to read and discuss the Bible, you should ask personal questions that relate to how each one is applying the biblical truths that they are reading. Loving accountability is especially important when someone in the group is struggling in a certain area of his or her spiritual life. Spiritual strongholds related to alcohol, drugs, pornography, sexual identity issues, and many others can be overcome through the loving accountability of a discipleship group. Third, we must hold our group accountable to our work and witness for God. Ministry and evangelism are vital parts of the disciple-making process that will not happen by accident. We must hold one another accountable to be faithful servants and witnesses for Christ. We must lead our group to go outside the walls of the church to show the love of Christ in practical ways and to share the gospel of Christ. Aa a minimum, your group should plan a ministry project every other month and go do it. At least six times a year your discipleship group should hold one another accountable to go out and serve together in ministry and evangelism. LEADERS ARE CALLED THROUGH SPIRITUAL ACCOUNTABILITY After Jesus' death and resurrection, it was time for His disciples to do their jobs. He had called them and spent three years training them to be fishers of men. Now, He had important job for them to do, and He held them accountability to do it. Despite their fears and flaws, the time had come for them to multiply out to become personal disciple makers. Jesus provides a great example of loving spiritual accountability in the life of Simon Peter. Toward the end of Jesus's ministry, He warned Peter that Satan had requested to “sift him like wheat” (Luke 22:31). He told Peter that He was praying for him and, when he turned back again, he should strengthen his brothers. Peter took offense to this. He told Jesus he would never deny Him and that he was ready to go with Him both to prison and to death. To this Jesus replied, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me” (Luke 22:34). We know where this is going. After Jesus was arrested in the garden, Peter was with a group of people warming by a fire. One in the group accused him of being with Jesus. Peter said, “Woman, I do not know Him.” A little later, someone else accused him of being one of Jesus’ disciples. Peter said, “Man, I am not.” After about an hour, still another insisted that he was with Jesus. This time Peter’s old fishing vocabulary came back out. Throwing in a few choice words, he said, “I don’t know what you are talking about.” Immediately, while Peter was still speaking, the rooster crowed, “Cock-a-doodle-do!” Peter was a broken man. The only thing he knew to do was to go back to his old way of life. He felt like an utter failure and a disappointment as a disciple. He had denied his teacher and Lord. He had flunked out of Discipleship Class 101. Three years earlier, he had dropped his fishing net and left everything to follow after Jesus. Now, he picked his net back up and returned to the one thing he knew how to do. It was the one thing he felt he was good at. He went back to being a fisherman. He went back to being Simon, which was his name before Jesus changed it to Peter—the Rock. He sure didn’t feel like a rock at this point in his life. If it were not for the loving accountability of Jesus, Simon might not have ever returned to being Peter again. He may have spent the rest of his life living with guilt and regret, thinking about what might have been. He was ready to quit and throw in the towel as a disciple of Christ. His plan was to return to his former trade as a fisherman, but Jesus had another plan. Jesus went to Peter to restore him and to hold him accountable to his commitment as a disciple. One night, while Peter was fishing with his friends, the risen Jesus went to them and stood on the shore of the sea. Unrecognized at first, He asked the men if they had caught any fish. When they answered, “No,” He instructed them to cast the net on the right side of the boat. For Peter, this was déjà vu. Remember, this had happened earlier in Peter’s walk as a disciple and it totally wrecked him. He and his companions hauled in such a great catch of fish that the Bible said, “Their nets were breaking” (Luke 5:6b). It was then that Peter fell down on his knees and confessed his sins to Jesus as his Lord (Luke 5:8). I believe this was the moment when he experienced true salvation. Lovingly, Jesus was taking a broken and humbled Peter back to that moment when he first believed. Three years had passed since Peter brought in his first great catch of fish. Now, Jesus asked Peter once again to let down his nets for a catch. Unlike before, there was no hesitation. As soon as the net hit the water, it filled up with large fish, 153 of them to be exact. Although there were so many, this time the Bible says that “the net was not torn” (John 21:11). There is a big point in this tiny detail. It was a picture of Peter’s growth as a disciple. Peter didn’t know it yet, but the broken net was now mended. Peter had been broken, and now, he was finally ready to be a fisher of men. He was fully equipped for the greater work that Jesus had called him to do. When Peter saw this second great catch of fish, he did his best Forrest Gump imitation. He didn’t wait on the boat to come into shore. He jumped out of the boat to swim to Jesus. Jesus’ model of loving accountability with Peter is an example to follow. Three times he had denied Jesus, and three times Jesus confronted him with his commitment as a disciple. He didn’t say, “Peter, I told you so.” He didn’t condemn him for his failures. Instead, Jesus gave Peter three opportunities to tell Him that he loved Him and three reminders of his call as a disciple to “feed My sheep” (John 21:15-17). Jesus was patient and loving with Peter, but He held him accountable to his commitment to the greater work. In spite of his failures and shortcomings, Jesus reminded him that he was called to make disciples who make disciples. In a loving way, Jesus was saying to him, “Do your job.” Through his brokenness and humility, Peter was finally ready to become a fisher of men. This is true for every one of us. Despite our failures, insecurities, inadequacies, and shortcomings, we are called to be disciple-makers. We are called to do our jobs. LOVING ACCOUNTABILITY IS A VITAL KEY TO MULTIPLICATION A very humble Peter was reconciled to Jesus. The rest of the story is history. He became one of the greatest disciple-makers the world has ever known. He became the rock that Jesus always knew he could be. He preached the first sermon of the New Testament church and launched a disciple-making movement that turned the world upside down. Humble people make great disciple-makers. They are willing to listen and learn. How about you? At some point, you must humble yourself and take a long, hard look in the mirror. You must ask yourself some tough questions. Am I living in obedience to the Great Commission? Am I doing the greater work of making disciples who make disciples? Jesus said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes in me will also do the works that I do; and greater works than these will he do, because I am going to the Father” (John 14:12a). He didn’t say you “might” do the works that He did. He said that you “will” do them. He didn’t say you will make fewer disciples than Him. He said you will do “greater works” of disciple-making than Him. How is this possible? According to Jesus, it’s simple. It all begins with a small group of people who meet anytime and anywhere for intentional discipleship. This is how Jesus taught us to do it. To do the greater work involves either participating in a discipleship group or leading one. You should participate in a D-Group until you are ready to lead one. Then you should multiply out to begin a new one. This is how Jesus taught us to live a lifestyle of disciple-making. Let's go do our jobs. D-Life exists to equip common people to be Christ-like disciple makers. Click below to learn more.
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5/2/2024 09:39:11 am
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authorDr. Bill Wilks, has a passion for equipping common people to be Christ-like disciple makers. Bill and his wife, Rondie, have traveled extensively to train thousands of believers how to make disciples who make disciples. Bill and Rondie live near Trussville, AL, where he serves as Lead Pastor of NorthPark Church and Founder of D-Life. Archives
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