What does Pastoral Accountability Look Like?
If I were to ask people what they thought were the three main areas that pastoral leadership are the most likely to fall in, I think the overwhelming answers would include women, money, and power. There can be no doubt that numerous ministries have experienced great shipwreck through the infidelity, greed, and pride of pastoral leadership. There are verses in the Bible we could turn to that would help us to focus on these issues. Passages speak into the dangers of leaders who seek ways to use ministry to increase their wealth (1 Peter 5:2), leaders who seek to throw their authoritative and influential weight around (3 John 1:9; 1 Peter 5:3), and leaders who seek the embrace of women who are not their wives (1 Samuel 2:22). We could then create detailed policies that would protect the church and provide some level of accountability for its leaders.
There are a few problems with this approach, however. The first problem is that these aren’t the only issues that may arise. There are numerous others to consider as well. things such as: apathy, addiction, questionable behavior, isolation, selfishness, lack of spiritual gifting, self-medication, impatience, confrontation, lack of preparation and maturity, pride, integrity, dysfunctional home life, questionable friendships, anger, and even a pastor’s reputation within the community (1 Timothy 3; Titus 1). Another problem arises when we use selective Bible passages to address isolated issues in an effort to provide biblical accountability. This type of accountability often results in temporary behavior modification, but it rarely addresses the real underlying necessity of pastoral leadership having a blameless godly character. This then leads us into a third problem of distinguishing between leaders whose public ministry is fueled by private worship from leaders whose public ministry is fueled by private will worship.
There is a huge difference between the two. Both are ministering, and both are busy. Both have ministries that are affected by what they do in private. One has no confidence in the flesh and the other must rely on the flesh. One views it as a reward to serve, and the other serves to get a reward. One has a ministry that is marked by obedience, and the other has a ministry that is marked by busyness. So, how do we tell the difference? How do I know if I’m serving the Lord out of obedience or out of busyness?
It may seem like a strange passage to look at when discussing what accountability might look like in pastoral leadership, but I believe Luke 10 provides us with some great principles that will help us to see that private worship with the Lord is the best accountability pastoral leadership could ever have. We can learn a lot about the need for private worship before engaging in public ministry by comparing the interaction Jesus had with seventy of his disciples at the beginning of the chapter with the interaction he had with Mary and Martha at the end.
Luke 10:1 After these things the Lord appointed other seventy also, and sent them two and two before his face into every city and place, whither he himself would come. 2 Therefore said he unto them, The harvest truly is great, but the labourers are few: pray ye therefore the Lord of the harvest, that he would send forth labourers into his harvest.
The seventy disciples had accountability when Jesus appointed them and sent them out because they were in a position to hear from the Lord. They didn’t hear from the Lord in isolation; the other disciples were able to confirm what they heard, and that God was in fact separating them out. That’s accountability. They had accountability because they were in a position to obey the Lord alongside another disciple. They weren’t isolated from others, but walked forward in obedience in unity with other believers. They also had accountability in prayer. Hearing from the Lord together and obeying what they heard together drove them to pray together that God would do the same in others. They desired to be in submission to the Lord together, trusting that He would send forth the right laborers at the right time to be accountable to the same work with them.
Luke 10:17 And the seventy returned again with joy, saying, Lord, even the devils are subject unto us through thy name.
After they heard Jesus together, they obeyed together, they prayed together, they submitted together, and then they rejoiced together. They were excited about what they had seen God do in their respective teams of two, and they then came together to rehearse and rejoice in unity. One of the greatest moments of accountability is the corporate praise of disciples who have labored together with the Lord. Unfortunately, many pastors miss out on the accountability of corporate praise and celebration because they are too preoccupied with the business of having a productive and smooth service.
Luke 10:23 And he turned him unto his disciples, and said privately, Blessed are the eyes which see the things that ye see:
The obedience and celebration of the seventy led them into a time of private interaction with Jesus. They were separated from the crowd and they were separated from the work; they were back in a position to hear from the Lord in a quiet space. Their obedience led them into private worship that would fuel their public ministry. They didn’t have to question what God wanted them to do, where God wanted them to go, and they had no guilt being in a quiet place sitting at the master’s feet. They had accountability, and they loved it and flourished in it.
The story of Mary and Martha provides a stark contrast to the seventy. In fact, these two women are more than likely fruit from the ministry of the seventy disciples. They aren’t pastors, but their story has some parallels to the way many pastors are serving Jesus and leading their churches.
Luke 10:38 Now it came to pass, as they went, that he entered into a certain village: and a certain woman named Martha received him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, which also sat at Jesus' feet, and heard his word. 40 But Martha was cumbered about much serving, and came to him, and said, Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me. 41 And Jesus answered and said unto her, Martha, Martha, thou art careful and troubled about many things: 42 But one thing is needful: and Mary hath chosen that good part, which shall not be taken away from her.
When Jesus came to Martha’s house, she received him and then immediately got busy serving him in the way that she thought was necessary. Just like many pastors today, she was serving the Lord through busyness and not her obedience. Jesus didn’t ask her to do what she was doing; she just assumed that she was expected to. It was her own expectation of service that held Martha accountable to continuing to serve. She began multitasking to get more done. Her desire to maintain a certain level of service consumed her. Martha’s service was fueled by her will worship, and it drove her to serve Jesus to the point of frustration and burnout.
Unfortunately, this is where many pastors are today. They continue to serve because they have to or are expected to. It doesn’t take long for them to lose heart, so they begin to look for new and different motivations to keep them serving in public ministry. Some may find it in fame and fortune. Others may find an escape from the pressures of ministry and run to temporary pleasures like fornication. They will carry on just like that until everything runs off the rails, until they just can’t take it anymore, or until God gets a hold of them through his word.
The accountability pastoral leadership needs more than anything is private worship. However, it is the busyness of service that hinders it. Martha was so busy serving that she ignored what Jesus was teaching. She was too preoccupied to even pay attention to the fact that the incarnate word of God was teaching the word of God. She was probably too busy giving Mary dirty looks to even listen. How many pastors pass spiritual side-eyed guilt trips off as sermons by ignoring the importance of the teaching of God’s word from the pulpit? Martha was so completely committed to serving Jesus in her busyness that she found it acceptable to interrupt him in an effort to complain about the lack of help. How many pastors pass selfish demanding prayers off as a quiet time with Jesus? Martha not only interrupted Jesus while he was teaching, but she also interrupted others from hearing Jesus. How many pastors interrupt their congregation from their own time with the Lord by calling them to be busy serving Jesus just the way they are?
The real heart of the issue is that those who are serving the Lord motivated by will worship begin to question whether God even cares about what they are doing. Martha asked Jesus if he cared. And if he cared, then why didn’t he tell Mary to help her do what she was doing? Martha wanted Mary to get her accountability from her private worship with Jesus, but Martha wasn’t willing to put herself in a position to get the same accountability. There was no way they could both be in obedience to the Lord if they both hadn’t heard from the Lord. Instead of coming to Jesus with joy, she came with frustration. That is when she finally got some accountability of her own.
Dear pastors: we must sit at the feet of Jesus. That is where we will find our accountability. We must be willing to hear from the Lord together and obey what we hear together so that we are able to pray together and rejoice together in what God is doing. Our public service for the Lord must be fueled by our private worship.
Tony Godfrey is the lead pastor of Harvest Baptist Church in Iola, Kansas.
