One of the things about running, for me at this point, is that I MUST finish. As each day [and now, each week] has been completed, a new sense of accomplishment and resolve has swelled over me. It has been important for me to do this for reasons far beyond the two listed in my first blog on this topic (Weak One on Day 1). My realization of things otherwise hidden in the recesses of my soul are being exposed - for some reason, this has been attached to my running. I’m not sure I will communicate all of it, as some of it is quite personal [ironic considering this blog post discusses accountability].
I haven’t told many people about running until recently when I used it as a sermon illustration. Until then, I was running early in the morning, sometimes right before light. I wondered how many of my neighbors might see and ask me about it. I know most of my neighbors - in a community such as ours, it’s hard not to. I can easily identify more homes of people I know than homes I don’t along my running route. Strangely enough, until this past week, no one has said anything to me about it. I’ve liked it that way, too. No accountability!!!!
That’s really what my shy secrecy boiled down to, no accountability. But why?
Well, the obvious answer is the right answer - I didn’t WANT to be held accountable. After all, what if if I didn’t keep up the activity? What if I was just going to sudden extremes with an activity that really wasn’t going to stick? If I told people about it, they might feel compelled to ask me about it. If I kept it to myself, I didn’t have to deal with facing inability, embarrassment, failure or even quitting.
This is so much like the Christian walk. How many of us find ourselves NOT sharing aspects of our growth or commitments or need to improve in areas of our Christian lives because as soon as we do, we know someone might hold us accountable? We seem to get in this mindset that flying solo in our walk with the Lord is somehow admirable. A badge of honor, maybe. I think it is an excuse. It is an excuse that makes NOT following through easier. It is easier to NOT race to finish. It is easier to dip back into our sin of choice or tendency to be complacent. It is an excuse that allows us a sense of security in an area with no real commitment if we change our minds. If no one knows we are running to begin with, how can they very well know we have stopped?
It is a challenge to tell another about a personal commitment. It is a challenge to be so vulnerable. Vulnerability with others reveals a weakness in us that we assume other people don’t have or understand. It is a challenge to say to another “look, I know I need to change in an area, and this is how I am attempting to do it”. It is then also a challenge to face them if we think we are falling short.
Accountability, real accountability, is always going to be challenging. It is not to be confused with a group of people sitting in a circle talking about how often and how far they have fallen short and handing out milkshakes to comfort the sense of failure. Those scenarios just turn into a cauldron of group justification in which everyone marinades. No! Real accountability is in your face. It drains the hot-tub of self justification and hands you a towel. It screams like a coach and reminds you of your goal and desire. It recognizes frailty without giving in to justify failure. It builds upon the rubble and rises to the tough occasion of abrasive intervention.
I did tell a few people... very few. I cautiously told specific people; mostly because I had to for one reason or another, not because I wanted to. I told a seasoned runner friend because I was curious about shoes and I knew he could advise me in the right direction. I told a physical therapist friend because I was dealing with some bodily pains and discomfort, and I knew he could help me understand what I was dealing with. I told trustworthy family members because they are safe people to me, and they will encourage me no matter what. All in all, what came tumbling back from each of them was nothing but encouragement and knowledge to help me in the process. Each of them shares a certain commonality with me. Each of them wants me to succeed. Each of them is interested in what I’m doing.
That’s how it should be in our journey of faith. We should be engaging people who are further seasoned in their walk with the Lord to encourage and guide us along the way. Mature Christians know better than to ridicule a newer Christian’s efforts. Mature Christians know better how to evaluate, disciple and mentor newer believers. Mature Christians should be well equipped to help newer ones take steps in areas of commitment, growth, self-discipline, and maturity. It is through those who have gone before us that we learn that it can be done, and how it is done.
This is the very thing Paul did with new Christians and churches in the New Testament. He held them accountable. He was pretty brassy about it, too, often calling people out by name. While holding Christians accountable, he strived diligently to be the example to others that they needed. He actually told some to look to him, and others like him, as the example. In Philippians Paul wrote “Brothers, join in imitating me, and keep your eyes on those who walk according to the example you have in us.”
Most of us are quick to say “don’t look at me as your example, you’ll be disappointed”. That’s often either false humility or actual truth - either needs to be dealt with. People desire authenticity from others. They seek those who they know can help them in specific ways. People need to be vulnerable with someone trustworthy and reliable. People are looking to others as examples. It is the very reason certain people are the first we call in a crisis, or for prayer, for guidance, for confession. We all know those who, when the moment demands, we call as our go-to in our faith. They hold us accountable, they tell us what we need - not what we want to hear, and they prove to be legitimate, always.
1 Corinthians 9:26-27
So I do not run aimlessly; I do not box as one beating the air. But I discipline my body and keep it under control, lest after preaching to others I myself should be disqualified.
