WEBVTT 00:00:01.600 --> 00:00:04.080 Welcome to the Awakening Church podcast. 00:00:04.240 --> 00:00:08.960 We pray this message encourages you and provides the hope and light of Jesus Christ. 00:00:09.199 --> 00:00:10.640 Thanks for tuning in. 00:00:11.919 --> 00:00:13.199 We haven't got a chance to meet yet. 00:00:13.279 --> 00:00:21.280 My name is Roland, and I serve, I have the wonderful privilege and joy of serving as Awakening's Youth Director with all of our Junior High and High School students. 00:00:22.239 --> 00:00:22.800 Thank you. 00:00:23.039 --> 00:00:23.760 Thank you. 00:00:24.480 --> 00:00:31.920 And if it is your first time here, either online or with us under this tent, I also want to say thank you so much for being here. 00:00:32.000 --> 00:00:34.079 It is a great day to be with us. 00:00:34.560 --> 00:00:48.079 I think it's no, there's no wonder, right, between the beautiful weather, the service time, and the increase of American flag apparel, that today is a different day in San Jose. 00:00:48.880 --> 00:00:52.399 Today is uh the 4th of July, so happy Independence Day. 00:00:52.479 --> 00:00:54.719 We will say it a million times today, I'm sure. 00:00:54.880 --> 00:01:02.079 Um, and I hope however you choose to celebrate, you get to celebrate with uh friends, family, and other loved ones. 00:01:02.320 --> 00:01:06.640 Um, so last happy 4th of July from us here at Awakening. 00:01:06.959 --> 00:01:11.439 But I know the real reason why you all came to church today. 00:01:11.760 --> 00:01:16.719 Today is actually a special day uh in my life for another reason. 00:01:16.879 --> 00:01:22.480 You came to church today because today is mine and Ari's third wedding anniversary. 00:01:26.000 --> 00:01:29.280 So thank you all for coming to celebrate with us. 00:01:29.840 --> 00:01:32.560 We decided to bring you awakening branded pens. 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:34.239 There's coffee in the back. 00:01:34.480 --> 00:01:35.680 Go crazy. 00:01:36.719 --> 00:01:38.560 But really, thank you for being here. 00:01:38.719 --> 00:01:42.959 Um but today, right, it it it I come from a family of immigrants. 00:01:43.120 --> 00:01:47.920 Uh, immigrants that have so just believed in the story of America. 00:01:48.079 --> 00:01:52.400 Um I've even have had relatives who have served in this country's military. 00:01:52.560 --> 00:02:05.359 My dad served in the Navy for uh as many years as I've been alive now, so as you can imagine, today for for most of my life is a day that we've celebrated uh the freedoms that this country has afforded to many. 00:02:05.680 --> 00:02:21.280 Today, right, it in the United States, in a Western culture, in a hyper-individualistic country, we celebrate all the freedoms that we have to do whatever we want, to say whatever we want, and to be whatever we want. 00:02:21.680 --> 00:02:23.280 That's what we do on a day like today, right? 00:02:23.360 --> 00:02:24.479 On the 4th of July. 00:02:24.639 --> 00:02:37.680 And as you can imagine, for me, um, it kind of sounds a little weird when you put together uh independence, something we call Independence Day, and the day that I celebrate my marriage vows, right? 00:02:39.280 --> 00:02:48.800 There's something about like tempering my personal freedoms on the 4th of July that sounds a little weird. 00:02:48.960 --> 00:02:51.199 It sounds a little counterintuitive. 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:59.759 But uh what I want us to understand today is actually there's something really beautiful there, and that's where we're going this morning. 00:03:00.240 --> 00:03:18.319 Um, that there's something uh that I remember and celebrate today when I remember my commitments and responsibilities and accountability to Ari that might sound uh that might sound backwards on a day like today, but in fact is probably one of the most beautiful things that God can gift us. 00:03:18.639 --> 00:03:22.240 Um and I'm often reminded that my I have a need for accountability, right? 00:03:22.800 --> 00:03:25.199 I know that on my own I'm not a great person. 00:03:25.360 --> 00:03:27.039 Like I need other people's help. 00:03:27.199 --> 00:03:32.639 Um I'm often reminded of my need for accountability when I need to decide what to eat for lunch. 00:03:33.280 --> 00:03:42.639 If it were up to me, if I were still living with my roommate Nick, I'd probably eat pizza rolls half the month and McDonald's the other half. 00:03:43.840 --> 00:03:50.479 And you and I both know that the consequences in the long run are not, they're probably not good in the short term either. 00:03:50.719 --> 00:03:58.319 And I need accountability in my life to be told you need to eat a vegetable, you need to eat something green and not a shamrock shake. 00:04:00.479 --> 00:04:07.840 If you've been following along with us the past few months here at Awakening, then you know that we've been journeying through the book of Acts together. 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:13.840 And as we come to a close, we're at this series that Chris started last week called The Strange Gifts of God. 00:04:14.000 --> 00:04:15.599 And I love how we've been describing it. 00:04:15.759 --> 00:04:20.240 This is how we've how we've been describing this series to to uh the people in our church. 00:04:20.480 --> 00:04:37.199 Um it goes like this The Strange Gifts of God, in this series, as Americans, it is difficult for us to understand that a gift from God might include negative emotional experiences like loss, difficulty, and heartbreak. 00:04:37.439 --> 00:04:44.480 And we learn that God offers us beautiful gifts in the most unexpected places. 00:04:44.959 --> 00:04:45.839 I love that. 00:04:46.000 --> 00:04:56.079 And in today's teaching, if you haven't, if you haven't caught it yet, we're gonna be looking at the gift of accountability, the strange gift that it is, and focusing on how God gifts us with that. 00:04:57.120 --> 00:05:06.319 Can submitt our will to something outside of ourselves, sacrificing our our freedom, our autonomy, can it really be good? 00:05:06.560 --> 00:05:11.600 Because we all laughed earlier, but I'm willing to bet most of us, for us, that doesn't sound good at all. 00:05:11.759 --> 00:05:13.519 And that's where we're headed. 00:05:14.480 --> 00:05:15.680 Accountability, right? 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:19.759 It's something that that's kind of odd in our time and culture. 00:05:19.920 --> 00:05:22.319 Uh it's being responsible to someone else. 00:05:22.560 --> 00:05:28.480 It's not something that is is really something that we really want to put at the top of our priority list. 00:05:28.879 --> 00:05:33.519 Accountability, it's unusual to us because it is unusual. 00:05:33.759 --> 00:05:34.800 It's so unusual. 00:05:34.879 --> 00:05:37.040 It's something that we're not used to hearing about. 00:05:37.360 --> 00:05:42.480 It runs against the grain of everything that we seem to be taught in our culture right now. 00:05:42.720 --> 00:05:42.959 Right? 00:05:43.199 --> 00:05:55.120 We're taught that being strong and successful, what that means is being independent, self-sufficient, and making decisions with whatever is consistent with whatever my heart and my brain are thinking. 00:05:55.439 --> 00:06:03.920 Like that, whatever I'm feeling, whatever is about me, that that's what being successful is about, is following those things. 00:06:04.639 --> 00:06:06.399 And we even said it a few times today, right? 00:06:06.480 --> 00:06:10.480 That a mantra that we live by is you do you and I do me. 00:06:10.800 --> 00:06:11.120 Right? 00:06:11.279 --> 00:06:12.560 You do you and I do me. 00:06:12.639 --> 00:06:15.279 We've all heard that, probably at least four times today. 00:06:15.600 --> 00:06:26.720 And implying that whatever decisions you or I make, that they should be inconsequential to another person or another community, so long as we are happy. 00:06:26.879 --> 00:06:27.199 Right? 00:06:27.279 --> 00:06:31.920 You do you, I do me, and as long as we're happy, who cares? 00:06:32.879 --> 00:06:37.680 Because I'm free to do whatever my heart desires as long as it's legal. 00:06:38.800 --> 00:06:41.360 It's funny what you notice when you're preparing for a sermon. 00:06:41.439 --> 00:06:49.920 Uh, I was scrolling on social media the other day, and one of my friends, their social media bio, all it said was, I want I'll I'll read it so I don't mess it up. 00:06:50.079 --> 00:06:52.800 All that it said was, I do what I want. 00:06:54.560 --> 00:06:58.560 Short, clear, concise, and to the point. 00:06:59.199 --> 00:07:01.360 I do what I want. 00:07:02.800 --> 00:07:05.920 And hearing that, right, doesn't that sound like people that you know? 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:07.600 I do what I want. 00:07:07.759 --> 00:07:10.879 Doesn't that sound like uh many of us? 00:07:11.120 --> 00:07:13.759 Doesn't that sound like you or me? 00:07:14.079 --> 00:07:18.639 We just want to do whatever we want and keep it that simple and that short. 00:07:19.199 --> 00:07:25.600 Another lens to consider when we're thinking about accountability uh is that of authenticity, right? 00:07:25.759 --> 00:07:28.000 Being real, being true to yourself. 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:39.600 And what we've told ourselves is we believe that whenever someone explicitly influences us, good or bad, that it's not really consistent with who we actually are. 00:07:39.759 --> 00:07:42.879 That we would call that inauthentic or being fake. 00:07:43.040 --> 00:07:50.319 Like I can only be my true self if I freely do what I think of in my heart and in my mind. 00:07:50.639 --> 00:08:02.240 And hey, there's there's a lot of good that has come out of this understanding of ourselves as individuals, but we've swung the pendulum pretty far, too far, I'd even argue, right? 00:08:02.399 --> 00:08:12.800 When followers of Jesus, when we as as Jesus followers are allergic to the ideas of obedience and submission. 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:18.399 Obedience and submission, words that can be associated, right, with accountability. 00:08:18.879 --> 00:08:20.240 We don't like them. 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:26.160 It doesn't sound good to us, it sounds bad to us, it sounds like something that should be illegal. 00:08:26.879 --> 00:08:35.200 And I think I've belabored the point about how we don't naturally move towards accountability, but the truth is uh we have to understand something. 00:08:35.840 --> 00:08:41.039 If we're gonna call Jesus Lord, we have to understand what that really means. 00:08:41.360 --> 00:08:45.200 Saying Jesus is Lord of our lives is simply that. 00:08:45.360 --> 00:08:49.039 It means we are not in complete control, nor should we be. 00:08:49.360 --> 00:08:58.720 That when we talk about biblical accountability, we have to remember it starts with knowing that we are all accountable to the creator of the universe. 00:08:59.120 --> 00:09:05.519 And because the creator of the universe has lovingly created you and me, he knows what's best for us. 00:09:05.679 --> 00:09:12.799 And we admit when we say Jesus is Lord that we often don't know what's best for ourselves, even when we fool ourselves into thinking that. 00:09:13.279 --> 00:09:16.799 And because of that, whatever he says goes. 00:09:18.080 --> 00:09:23.600 The same way that I call Jesus Lord, right, is kind of like when I call our wife. 00:09:23.679 --> 00:09:26.879 There's an accountability, there's a responsibility to the other party. 00:09:27.120 --> 00:09:30.720 I'm accountable to her, I choose to submit to her. 00:09:30.960 --> 00:09:38.240 Knowing that I'm responsible to her, knowing that, uh, knowing that when I do that, I'm actually better off for it. 00:09:38.639 --> 00:09:50.559 Just like I'm accountable to Jesus, that my decisions should be influenced by his spirit, his people, and his church, and my life is better off for doing that. 00:09:50.960 --> 00:09:52.480 Both instances, right? 00:09:52.799 --> 00:09:58.799 My life is not my own, it's not solely mine, I'm not exercising just my freedoms. 00:09:59.039 --> 00:10:04.639 Um, I'm actually submitting it to someone else's, and it's and I'm better for it. 00:10:05.440 --> 00:10:08.960 And do you realize that that is the Christian life? 00:10:09.919 --> 00:10:16.639 That we are held accountable to Jesus, but also to the people he puts in our lives, the people that he puts around us. 00:10:16.799 --> 00:10:18.399 Here's a good litmus test. 00:10:18.879 --> 00:10:25.360 Uh for uh here's a good like way of understanding how we enter into this conversation at this point of the sermon. 00:10:26.000 --> 00:10:39.279 Hebrews 13, 17, uh your Bibles, your scripture, it reads this obey your leaders and submit to them, for they are keeping watch over your souls and those who will have to give an account. 00:10:40.320 --> 00:10:40.879 Right? 00:10:41.279 --> 00:10:42.080 Who loves that? 00:10:42.320 --> 00:10:43.679 I know I don't love that. 00:10:44.320 --> 00:10:53.840 But as you hear that, don't you get a sense of where your heart is in this moment when it comes to ideas of obedience to Jesus or accountability to his people. 00:10:54.879 --> 00:11:00.000 See, there's something in the gift of accountability that Jesus wants us to experience. 00:11:00.240 --> 00:11:02.799 He knows that's true for all of our lives. 00:11:03.200 --> 00:11:04.720 And I know it's true of myself. 00:11:04.879 --> 00:11:06.399 I often want to reject that. 00:11:06.559 --> 00:11:07.679 I think it's bad. 00:11:07.840 --> 00:11:10.480 I think I know what's best for me. 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:18.799 See, we hide under the veil of authenticity and freedom, and we use these as licenses to just do really poor things. 00:11:19.039 --> 00:11:26.480 Uh, we put our lives in danger of leading lives that will lead to ruin, is how we'd read it in the Proverbs, right? 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:37.360 We fall for fool's gold when we as Christians uh think that leading lives without accountability and place freedom on a pedestal that that's good for us. 00:11:38.000 --> 00:11:44.080 When we think that that freedom is our number one priority, we replace God and we think that's good for us. 00:11:44.639 --> 00:11:53.279 And it's no wonder when we look around and we see the rest of the world that that we don't look any different, that we that the that the rest of the world looks no different than us. 00:11:53.519 --> 00:11:56.399 It's because we've had our priorities misplaced. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:10.879 But instead, what we see, what we'll see here is there's a beauty when we choose to come under uh Jesus' Jesus' authority, whether we agree with it or not, whether we like it or not, whether we understand it or not. 00:12:11.279 --> 00:12:16.480 We become accountable to him and his bride, the church. 00:12:16.879 --> 00:12:24.639 When we say yes to following Jesus, that that following him isn't just you and him or you and a podcast. 00:12:24.960 --> 00:12:28.879 It's you, which is part of the church and Jesus. 00:12:29.279 --> 00:12:45.200 So when Jesus says we need accountability in our lives, it's not to restrict us, it's not to take away any of our freedoms, but instead, in biblical accountability, we find the full and blessed life that Jesus promises us. 00:12:46.000 --> 00:12:56.639 That the create that we get to pursue the life that the creator has intended for each one of his children, which and we find a freedom that is far better than the one that we try to pursue here. 00:12:56.720 --> 00:12:58.320 It's freedom in Christ. 00:12:58.720 --> 00:13:02.639 So when we talk about account of biblical accountability, though, let's be clear. 00:13:02.879 --> 00:13:14.320 I'm not talking about some tyrannical or or totalitarian pursuit where you're put under the watch of big brother and you have no free will at all, you don't make any decisions on your own. 00:13:14.639 --> 00:13:28.960 But it's needed on the other end of the spectrum, where it's our own, the lens that we wear, hyper-individualistic, autonomous view of life, value of personal liberties over everything else, and where our mantras, you do you, and I do me. 00:13:29.279 --> 00:13:30.960 It's neither of those things. 00:13:31.279 --> 00:13:35.519 Instead, God is interested in something more in the middle. 00:13:35.759 --> 00:13:41.440 He's not interested in domineering leadership in our lives, nor reckless lone wolf living. 00:13:42.320 --> 00:13:49.279 Rather, he has something far more beautiful in the middle, and that is the gift of accountability. 00:13:50.399 --> 00:13:53.919 And in a church with healthy accountability, right, what does it what does it do? 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:55.120 What does it produce? 00:13:55.600 --> 00:13:57.679 What is accountability good for? 00:13:58.159 --> 00:14:04.720 Accountability, it's better than it's like kind of um cheaper fake version, which we some of us call cancel culture, right? 00:14:04.879 --> 00:14:11.200 What what what biblical accountability does is it makes us more into the image of Jesus. 00:14:11.440 --> 00:14:19.360 It shapes us, it starts to make us sanctified, or what the Bible's like how the Bible calls being made more in the image of Christ. 00:14:19.600 --> 00:14:21.200 That's what accountability does. 00:14:21.440 --> 00:14:23.440 It doesn't just end in death. 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:28.480 So there's this story in Paul's life. 00:14:28.720 --> 00:14:32.720 There's this story in Paul's life that we often overlook when we read the book of Acts. 00:14:32.960 --> 00:14:39.120 One that I'm sure uh if I've asked you if you've read through the book before, that you've probably just glossed over. 00:14:39.600 --> 00:14:54.960 But in this short story, I love this story on it on a morning like this, because what we see is what happens when our urge for autonomy is met with the gracious gift that God gives, which is accountability. 00:14:56.080 --> 00:15:01.279 And this day, where Independence Day meets my wedding anniversary, is just that. 00:15:01.519 --> 00:15:06.240 We see what happens when our urge for autonomy meets the gracious gift of accountability. 00:15:06.480 --> 00:15:09.039 So, church, we'll be turning to Acts 21. 00:15:09.120 --> 00:15:14.720 Um, so if you want to turn to it in your Bibles or your phone apps, or if you don't have either of those, it'll be in your bulletin. 00:15:15.039 --> 00:15:19.200 But as you turn there, I want to give you a little bit of context about what's going on in this story. 00:15:19.519 --> 00:15:26.080 What's happening as we jump into this part uh of the Acts of the Apostles, of the Apostles. 00:15:26.879 --> 00:15:31.440 Paul, if we remember, has been called by Jesus, his life is radically changed. 00:15:31.600 --> 00:15:37.440 And what's happening, he's traveling all over the Middle East with this newfound life in Christ. 00:15:37.679 --> 00:15:40.559 And he's just preaching the gospel everywhere he goes. 00:15:40.799 --> 00:15:57.679 He he so understands the good news of Jesus that all he wants to do is live as this like missionary, church planting um guy in the Middle East, uh, going all over the world, uh doing whatever it takes to share the good news of Jesus. 00:15:57.919 --> 00:16:01.519 And Paul, he's an interesting character in this book. 00:16:01.759 --> 00:16:16.399 He's an interesting character because, again, on quick reading, he kind of seems like this rogue character, kind of going off and doing his own thing, going off on these heroic adventures where danger is around every corner, where he's equipped with only the gospel alone. 00:16:16.960 --> 00:16:21.519 Uh, and for all intents and purposes, right, Paul would be like an American hero today. 00:16:21.679 --> 00:16:24.159 Lone wolf, self-made, gritty. 00:16:24.320 --> 00:16:29.279 Um, there would be like a Hollywood, there'd be Hollywood films, a Netflix series on G.I. 00:16:29.440 --> 00:16:32.240 Joe Paul is kind of how we'd look at it. 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:44.159 But this seemingly self-made, lone wolf, gritting his way to success story, it's anything but that as we take a closer examination. 00:16:44.879 --> 00:16:48.240 But as we hear this story, Paul is anything but G.I. 00:16:48.399 --> 00:16:49.360 Joe Paul. 00:16:49.679 --> 00:16:58.399 And instead, leading up to this moment in verse 17 where we'll start, Paul, what he's trying to do is he's trying to get back to the church in Jerusalem. 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:09.680 And actually, before verse 17, if you read before it, uh, there's actually people advising him not to go back, saying that if he goes to the church in Jerusalem, Jerusalem, it'll be bad for him. 00:17:09.839 --> 00:17:12.640 It'll end up not being good at the end of the day. 00:17:13.039 --> 00:17:22.880 But Paul, knowing the power, the impact, and the necessity of Jesus' church, knows he needs to be, uh he needs to be there. 00:17:23.039 --> 00:17:28.400 And what he does is he chooses to accept and receive the gift of accountability. 00:17:28.640 --> 00:17:30.559 So we'll start in verse 17. 00:17:31.359 --> 00:17:33.440 Uh, when we, Luke is writing this, right? 00:17:33.519 --> 00:17:35.119 Luke is taking account of what's going on. 00:17:35.200 --> 00:17:40.160 So Luke writes, when we had come to Jerusalem, the brothers received us gladly. 00:17:40.720 --> 00:17:45.759 On the following day, Paul went in with us to James, and all the elders were present. 00:17:46.000 --> 00:17:52.960 Real quick, think of James like as, think of him as like the main leader of the church in Jerusalem, like the lead pastor or the bishop. 00:17:53.119 --> 00:17:55.119 He's kind of like the lead guy there. 00:17:55.359 --> 00:17:59.279 And and Paul and his crew, they're going up to him and they greet him. 00:17:59.440 --> 00:18:00.400 And what does it tell us? 00:18:00.559 --> 00:18:08.319 Verse 19, after greeting them, Paul related one by one the things that God had done among the Gentiles through his ministry. 00:18:08.880 --> 00:18:14.079 And when they heard it, James and the church in Jerusalem, they glorified God. 00:18:14.319 --> 00:18:21.039 And they said to him, You see, you see, brother, how many thousands there are among the Jews who have believed. 00:18:21.359 --> 00:18:22.319 So what happens? 00:18:22.559 --> 00:18:26.880 Paul goes over, he makes it to Jerusalem, he shares about all the things that God's doing. 00:18:27.039 --> 00:18:36.079 Everyone is exuberant, everyone is excited, everyone is joyful about the work that God is doing in Paul through Paul and in his ministry. 00:18:37.119 --> 00:18:38.240 And the story goes on. 00:18:38.400 --> 00:18:48.480 They're all zealous for the law, and they have been told about you that you teach all the Jews who are among the Gentiles to forsake Moses, telling them not to circumcise their children or walk according to our customs. 00:18:48.720 --> 00:18:50.000 What then is to be done? 00:18:50.240 --> 00:18:52.480 They will certainly hear that you have come. 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:53.759 So, what's happening here? 00:18:53.920 --> 00:18:58.400 Well, what James does in the next few verses is that he kind of takes Paul aside. 00:18:58.640 --> 00:19:02.240 He takes Paul aside and he's kind of uh anticipating on what's happening. 00:19:02.319 --> 00:19:13.119 And he's knowing that they're going to be this like fundamentally religious sect of Jews that are gonna be really suspicious with Paul and what he's doing. 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:20.960 And what James does in these few verses is he offers advice to appease them by participating in like basic cultural customs. 00:19:21.119 --> 00:19:26.559 So verses 23 to 25 is James giving Paul these instructions. 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:29.519 And I kind of imagine Paul in this moment, right? 00:19:29.839 --> 00:19:38.640 If we were putting ourselves in his place, one want asking questions like, as James is like listing all these things to do, asking, like, do I do I do this? 00:19:38.960 --> 00:19:40.319 Is this really good for me? 00:19:40.559 --> 00:19:42.000 Would this be authentic of me? 00:19:42.079 --> 00:19:45.119 What what benefit what benefit does this have on my ministry? 00:19:45.279 --> 00:19:47.599 Well, what do I have to gain out of this? 00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:52.079 I I can see all these things that that if we were in his shoes, might ask. 00:19:52.240 --> 00:19:53.359 Maybe he asked them too. 00:19:53.680 --> 00:19:54.720 But what happens? 00:19:55.200 --> 00:20:06.000 Verse 26 says, Then Paul took the men, and the next day he purified himself along with them, went into the temple, and fulfilled the offering presented for each one of them. 00:20:07.200 --> 00:20:08.160 So what happened? 00:20:08.640 --> 00:20:09.119 What happened? 00:20:09.279 --> 00:20:10.240 Translation, right? 00:20:10.480 --> 00:20:13.759 Paul went and did exactly what he was told to do. 00:20:14.480 --> 00:20:18.000 James gives him all this instruction, gives him this advice. 00:20:18.559 --> 00:20:22.000 Paul listens and does exactly what he is told to do. 00:20:22.160 --> 00:20:32.960 So with this passage in mind, I want us to see three marks of healthy accountability and what does it produce in God's people and Jesus' church? 00:20:33.839 --> 00:20:37.039 The first thing in verses 17 to 20, what do we see? 00:20:37.200 --> 00:20:41.279 The first thing that we see in the text is that there is shared joy. 00:20:41.680 --> 00:20:42.000 Right? 00:20:42.240 --> 00:20:49.519 Paul comes back to the church in Jerusalem, shares everything about what's going on, brings back all these stories about how God's doing miraculous things. 00:20:49.680 --> 00:20:54.240 People are coming to believe in the gospel of Jesus, lives are being changed, miracles are happening. 00:20:54.480 --> 00:20:55.359 And what happens? 00:20:55.519 --> 00:21:02.559 Everyone is so excited, everyone exuberant, everyone is so joy-filled. 00:21:02.720 --> 00:21:04.559 They have shared joy. 00:21:05.119 --> 00:21:09.599 And when we talk about accountability, this is where we have to start. 00:21:09.839 --> 00:21:11.039 And this is so good. 00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:12.799 I love that this is how the story starts. 00:21:12.880 --> 00:21:13.599 I love this. 00:21:13.759 --> 00:21:35.839 Because through social media algorithms, right, the the polarization of our politics, uh, divisive news headlines, or whatever else, whatever else you can think of, our culture, that the world around us continues to tell us that we are different, that we make people into the other, that we're told who the enemy is and what we're supposed to hate. 00:21:37.359 --> 00:21:39.839 And every time, we're never the bad guy. 00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:46.400 We're told who's the bad guy, why we should hate them, and we're never at fault. 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:56.079 And it's no wonder generations like mine find it difficult to yield to our church, uh, to any church community, to let alone legit and godly authority. 00:21:56.240 --> 00:21:59.759 Because for the most part, we as a people are rightfully suspicious of. 00:22:01.039 --> 00:22:02.720 Of power and structure. 00:22:03.440 --> 00:22:08.000 Bad things can happen by fallible human creations. 00:22:08.640 --> 00:22:21.039 But the bottom line is this that we are taught, no matter where we fall ideologically, is that if someone has power and we don't, that we should be suspicious of it, that we can't trust it. 00:22:22.000 --> 00:22:26.240 But what I love that Jesus does, He turns that kind of all upside down. 00:22:26.960 --> 00:22:34.799 And we see in Jesus, the one who has all power and all authority, he lays it all down in humility. 00:22:35.279 --> 00:22:35.680 Right? 00:22:35.839 --> 00:22:40.880 So in him, all power and authority that he possesses, we can actually trust. 00:22:41.359 --> 00:22:50.640 So when he says we have to be accountable, that he knows that he's doing it by starting with a shared joy that we have with our brothers and sisters. 00:22:51.440 --> 00:22:56.160 One of the closest friendships that I enjoy right now is with my friend Ryan. 00:22:56.720 --> 00:22:57.839 Asian Ryan. 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:01.279 I have to kind of be clear because sometimes people get confused around here. 00:23:02.480 --> 00:23:09.680 Ryan Lee is a former protege, and he's one of my closest friends right now. 00:23:10.000 --> 00:23:18.319 And my friendship with him, right, it started a couple Christmases ago, uh, where we were serving in this preschool classroom together. 00:23:18.559 --> 00:23:26.000 And it really started with just this off-handed comment about sports, and then ended up talking about basketball, and it soon started to accelerate. 00:23:26.160 --> 00:23:33.200 Like then one week I saw him with his Steph Curry MVP hoodie on, and then we shared this mutual affection for our favorite warrior. 00:23:33.359 --> 00:23:42.720 Uh, then it turned into finding out that we both went to San Jose State together at the same time, and even lived in the same dorm, and all these things just started to happen. 00:23:42.799 --> 00:23:44.079 Uh, on and on and on. 00:23:44.160 --> 00:23:48.640 And all of a sudden, a few weeks passes, and you just you can't catch us. 00:23:48.799 --> 00:23:52.960 A week doesn't go by where we don't play basketball for hours and drinking ices together. 00:23:53.119 --> 00:23:56.400 Like that's how quickly our friendship happened. 00:23:57.039 --> 00:24:01.680 And I share this because the the start of this friendship reminds me of something that C.S. 00:24:01.839 --> 00:24:04.400 Lewis says about the origin of friendships. 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:05.920 This is what he says. 00:24:06.240 --> 00:24:06.400 C. 00:24:06.559 --> 00:24:06.640 S. 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:12.079 Lewis writes, friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, what? 00:24:12.799 --> 00:24:13.519 You two? 00:24:15.359 --> 00:24:16.799 What, you two, right? 00:24:17.039 --> 00:24:24.640 What he means by this is that the beauty of shared interest, what can come out of that is relationship. 00:24:24.880 --> 00:24:26.960 All the you twos in life, right? 00:24:27.200 --> 00:24:30.160 They form bonds that were not previously there. 00:24:30.319 --> 00:24:33.200 When we start to have those moments of saying, what, you two? 00:24:34.319 --> 00:24:35.920 Uh and we all know this is true, right? 00:24:36.000 --> 00:24:38.160 Groups of all sizes, varying levels of intimacy. 00:24:38.400 --> 00:24:43.759 We see that in CrossFit, specialty coffee snobs, gaming communities, sports fandoms. 00:24:43.920 --> 00:24:45.279 Like we know that's true, right? 00:24:45.599 --> 00:24:48.880 There's obviously something shared and there's just this connection. 00:24:49.599 --> 00:24:52.720 But with that in mind, right, now think of the church. 00:24:53.039 --> 00:24:57.279 All those under the leadership and the authority of Jesus. 00:24:57.839 --> 00:25:03.119 And something that that the gospel that changes everything in our lives to our deepest core. 00:25:04.319 --> 00:25:08.960 How much more do the U twos in our lives and in our communities should those abound? 00:25:09.200 --> 00:25:11.839 How much deeper do those U twos go? 00:25:12.319 --> 00:25:22.480 Because the same gospel truth that changed my life is the same gospel truth that changed your life, is the same gospel truth that changed your brother or sister sitting next to you's life. 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:26.319 That in the church, we have a shared joy. 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:27.680 We can't forget that. 00:25:27.920 --> 00:25:29.200 We can't forget that. 00:25:29.440 --> 00:25:34.799 Now, this is ingenious when it comes to the accountability community that Jesus is trying to form in his church, right? 00:25:35.039 --> 00:25:44.160 Because as a Jesus, Jesus follower, we can vote for one side or another, we can be rich or poor, we can have different skin colors, whatever it is. 00:25:44.400 --> 00:25:49.359 But what we all share at the very core is the blood of Christ, right? 00:25:49.680 --> 00:26:02.240 His grace and his mercies that we all need in our lives, that we all eat at the same table of communion, that we have shared joy about Jesus' work in our lives and in others. 00:26:03.200 --> 00:26:07.279 And this couldn't be more evident than when I was a freshman at San Jose State, right? 00:26:07.599 --> 00:26:20.880 You couldn't pick like six or seven more different college freshmen and get them together, and all we did 7:30 on Tuesdays was just in Washburn in the Washburn Lounge was just open up our Bibles and study it together. 00:26:21.119 --> 00:26:28.240 You couldn't pick seven more different people, seven people I would argue I would never hang out with on my own choosing. 00:26:28.559 --> 00:26:43.599 But that's the beauty of the shared joy that we have in Jesus, is that through that time, spending together, opening God's word, what happened is that I started to turn these people that were the other, the ones that were not like me, did not like all the same things I liked. 00:26:43.759 --> 00:26:48.400 Instead of just seeing them as the other, I saw them as image bearers of God. 00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:54.640 See, the the road to accepting accountability in our lives, it has to start with remembering that. 00:26:54.799 --> 00:27:01.759 That in the church, we are given the opportunity to follow Jesus with all people, with all different kinds of people. 00:27:02.000 --> 00:27:05.440 That we have the most important thing in common, that is Jesus. 00:27:06.240 --> 00:27:24.160 That we all rejoice when new life is proclaimed in baptism, when students take steps of faith in our ministry, when when college students live so counter-culturally, when people in our group take steps of faith, we all get excited. 00:27:25.599 --> 00:27:32.319 We all know that there's a shared joy and a shared purpose when we love and care for the marginalized, the widow, and the orphan. 00:27:32.480 --> 00:27:36.880 When things like the Del Mar Pantry happen, we all share that joy together. 00:27:38.640 --> 00:27:42.160 And in biblical accountability, that's what we have to start with. 00:27:42.400 --> 00:27:47.440 Is that as the bride of Christ, we have a shared joy. 00:27:48.000 --> 00:27:53.680 The second part, so after Paul and James and the church in Jerusalem, they all establish that shared joy together. 00:27:53.839 --> 00:28:00.240 They they like they're all excited about what Paul's doing and is gonna continue to do, the story moves to verse 21, right? 00:28:00.400 --> 00:28:03.359 Where James is now giving Paul all this instruction. 00:28:03.599 --> 00:28:09.279 And we see the second mark of biblical accountability, which is shared trust. 00:28:10.079 --> 00:28:17.359 And what's happening here, right, is we see a seasoned church leader, James, and this younger, like, we'll call it a church planner, Paul. 00:28:17.519 --> 00:28:20.400 What we're seeing here, it's shared trust. 00:28:20.960 --> 00:28:30.240 As James gives Paul advice as he considers all that's going on, as he thinks about his circumstances, he's sharing trust that Paul will carry out uh this advice. 00:28:30.480 --> 00:28:34.480 He's sharing, James is trusting Paul that he'll listen to him. 00:28:35.119 --> 00:28:45.119 That that James took the time to consider all that's going on, all the circumstances, and try and and and try to join God's vision into what's going on in Paul's life. 00:28:45.279 --> 00:28:47.039 And he trusts him with it. 00:28:47.279 --> 00:28:52.640 And James, right, being a wise spiritual leader, he doesn't do it coercively. 00:28:53.119 --> 00:28:55.519 He doesn't make any decisions for Paul. 00:28:55.599 --> 00:29:01.599 And he doesn't use like spiritual language to just to fluff anything up and to be divisive. 00:29:01.920 --> 00:29:02.240 No. 00:29:03.200 --> 00:29:04.160 It's evident, right? 00:29:04.240 --> 00:29:09.279 We all know that accountability, it doesn't work when there's no trust, when trust isn't shared. 00:29:09.359 --> 00:29:16.400 So that's from the leader, from the mentor or the pastor or authority figure, group leader, whatever you want to call it, down to Paul. 00:29:16.480 --> 00:29:20.400 But what about from uh or when they lack trust, right? 00:29:20.480 --> 00:29:24.079 What else does it look like when a spiritual leader lacks trust? 00:29:24.319 --> 00:29:26.799 It feels dictator-esque, right? 00:29:27.200 --> 00:29:29.759 It's like trying to micromanage your spirituality. 00:29:30.160 --> 00:29:31.119 It doesn't work that way. 00:29:31.279 --> 00:29:35.039 That's not how God's kingdom uh grows us. 00:29:35.599 --> 00:29:42.319 The shared trust that James had in Paul was evident when he carefully considered Paul and his situation with thoughtful instruction. 00:29:42.640 --> 00:29:43.920 What about the other way, right? 00:29:44.079 --> 00:29:46.160 Going upward from Paul to James. 00:29:46.640 --> 00:29:54.799 And this is a little bit trickier uh because trust is a really is it's a hard thing to talk about in just a small moment. 00:29:54.960 --> 00:30:00.480 It could be a whole sermon or a whole sermon series uh on discerning who can we actually trust. 00:30:00.799 --> 00:30:05.920 If we're supposed to trust uh leaders in our lives, the church, who do we trust? 00:30:06.079 --> 00:30:20.960 And man, we don't have enough time for that, but I I want to say, I do need to take some time to say that it's nuanced, that there's real hurt, that there's real heartbreak, that there's real betrayal uh that we've that that we can experience. 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:26.079 And for some of us, we just have to be real on why it's hard to trust. 00:30:26.160 --> 00:30:29.839 It's because we have had real hurt, real trust broken. 00:30:30.079 --> 00:30:41.920 And the the hurdle that we have to get over is letting God heal that, is acknowledging that, that it's hard for us to trust people because we've been hurt before, that we've lost trust before. 00:30:42.240 --> 00:30:51.680 And that and that when God heals that, what he will do is allow us to start trusting the people that him and the people that he puts in our lives again. 00:30:52.319 --> 00:30:57.119 But here are a few things to consider when trying to figure out who is it that we can trust? 00:30:57.279 --> 00:31:04.720 Who what kind of spiritual leaders can can I uh submit my life to that that I can hear and obey? 00:31:05.200 --> 00:31:08.799 Uh first, right, trust requires people of character. 00:31:08.960 --> 00:31:13.839 Uh, or how how we in the church would understand it is spiritual maturity. 00:31:14.160 --> 00:31:20.880 And really the only way to suss that out in a person is through time, is through spending time with someone. 00:31:21.119 --> 00:31:27.440 It's it's serving at church together, it's being in a group together, it's going out grabbing coffee together. 00:31:27.680 --> 00:31:29.440 That it in time, right? 00:31:29.519 --> 00:31:35.920 Like that Bible study I talked about, that's where you really start to figure out uh if there's a faith that you can admire in someone. 00:31:36.240 --> 00:31:47.440 You might not agree on everything, but you know you have shared joy, and you can say that there's a spiritual maturity in this person or a character that you can trust. 00:31:47.680 --> 00:31:50.640 Second is a little cheat code that we have at Awakening. 00:31:50.799 --> 00:31:54.240 Uh here at Awakening, we have something called the Leadership Essentials. 00:31:54.400 --> 00:32:08.720 And our church so values trust and accountability that all of our leaders, we take them through this thing called the leadership essentials, where we highlight the call to leadership and we ask all of our leaders to be held accountable to this call. 00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:19.440 Um and man, what a what a cheat code we have here to say that this is at least the standard that we're asking our volunteers or our leaders to go or to live up to. 00:32:19.839 --> 00:32:25.839 And the question is are to find someone that you can trust is are they being held accountable to someone else? 00:32:26.079 --> 00:32:28.079 Are they themselves accountable? 00:32:28.960 --> 00:32:33.039 Um, so here how we do that is we call it the leadership essentials. 00:32:33.279 --> 00:32:39.440 One more on this little quick aside on on how do we find leaders to trust is asking this question. 00:32:40.240 --> 00:32:43.200 Do they love like Jesus? 00:32:43.599 --> 00:32:45.119 Do they love like Jesus? 00:32:45.519 --> 00:32:49.440 The people that God puts in our lives, they're not our Lord and Savior. 00:32:49.599 --> 00:32:52.400 But what they can do is point us to Jesus. 00:32:52.720 --> 00:33:02.400 That we might not see everything eye to eye, but given the time, given the disagreements, given the the things that we need to hear, do we still get the essence of Jesus from them? 00:33:02.640 --> 00:33:05.680 Do we get that they're they're leading like servants? 00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:09.920 That they're going to be tender but full of truth. 00:33:10.079 --> 00:33:11.839 Are they going to love like Jesus? 00:33:12.000 --> 00:33:13.599 Are they gonna love us like him? 00:33:16.480 --> 00:33:19.200 After we get all that, it's still hard for us, right? 00:33:20.000 --> 00:33:32.079 Even when we do have trusted spiritual mentors, leaders, group leaders, whatever it is, uh, but we don't trust the guardrails that that we put or that people other people put in our lives. 00:33:32.559 --> 00:33:35.359 Why we want our rights and we want to do whatever we want. 00:33:35.599 --> 00:33:37.359 Happy Fourth of July. 00:33:38.240 --> 00:33:46.400 We learn lean so hard into that perspective that we forget what what what external authority is is supposed to do, at least, right? 00:33:46.480 --> 00:33:49.359 Is to keep us safe, to keep us in check. 00:33:49.680 --> 00:33:52.160 Like we don't just let anyone drive a car. 00:33:52.640 --> 00:33:58.079 There's a reason that Olivia Rodrigo had to sing about getting a driver's license first before the rest of the song. 00:33:58.799 --> 00:34:02.000 It's it's to protect us, it's to protect people. 00:34:02.240 --> 00:34:11.039 So we have to remember what when there's guardrails, when we look at God's scripture, what's happening is God's not just trying to rein in our freedoms. 00:34:11.360 --> 00:34:14.079 He's trying to protect us, he's trying to love us. 00:34:14.800 --> 00:34:25.599 So when it comes to the gift of accountability, we've kind of shortchanged ourselves in maturity to Christ, in that spiritual maturity, and growing in character through the gift of accountability. 00:34:25.760 --> 00:34:26.079 Why? 00:34:26.239 --> 00:34:29.280 It's because we don't we don't we don't have shared trust. 00:34:29.519 --> 00:34:39.360 And two ways I've seen this, just two ways that uh I've seen this, is one, we choose what we call in the church uh accountability partners. 00:34:39.599 --> 00:34:39.920 Right? 00:34:40.000 --> 00:34:42.960 We we pick people who actually just agree with us. 00:34:43.119 --> 00:34:48.400 We'll like blurt everything out we have, some qualm we have with someone else in the church, someone at work. 00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:55.599 We just we have an accountability partner that we go to and tell them all that's going on, but we know at the end of it all they're just gonna agree with us. 00:34:55.840 --> 00:35:03.280 We share some of the hard stuff in our lives, uh, but we share with people who we know aren't gonna give us anything difficult to hear. 00:35:03.599 --> 00:35:06.400 Then maybe they're better known as gossip partners, right? 00:35:07.280 --> 00:35:17.280 But what it ultimately comes down to is it comes from us lacking God's spirit moving in people to trust them to help shepherd us. 00:35:17.679 --> 00:35:21.840 We'd rather pick people uh that will shepherd us the way we want to be shepherded. 00:35:22.079 --> 00:35:30.639 The second thing, the second way I've seen uh a lack of shared trust is this is just not being accountable to any real people in our lives. 00:35:30.960 --> 00:35:35.280 Well instead, what we do is we let podcasts dictate our spiritual growth. 00:35:35.360 --> 00:35:43.760 We let some pastor on YouTube uh tell us what to do, or some new trendy Christian book uh inform our lives. 00:35:44.400 --> 00:35:47.199 We let these things pass through us all day long. 00:35:47.679 --> 00:35:48.320 Why? 00:35:48.559 --> 00:35:50.800 Because they don't talk back to us. 00:35:51.280 --> 00:35:51.840 Right? 00:35:52.320 --> 00:35:53.360 Why do we do these things? 00:35:53.519 --> 00:35:55.119 Because we know we can trust these things. 00:35:55.599 --> 00:35:57.039 It'll agree with us. 00:35:57.360 --> 00:36:02.480 It's consistent with whatever Western liberal, conservative, whatever view we have on life already. 00:36:02.639 --> 00:36:04.320 That's why I love podcasts. 00:36:04.480 --> 00:36:10.320 Is when I find a podcast that isn't agreeing with me or sharing something I don't like, I just pick a new one. 00:36:10.960 --> 00:36:12.559 And that's what we do. 00:36:13.199 --> 00:36:17.679 We don't help hold ourselves accountable to real people in our lives. 00:36:18.880 --> 00:36:21.280 And friends, my whole point is this, right? 00:36:21.360 --> 00:36:26.960 Is the reality is that we are becoming someone, whether we know it intentionally or not. 00:36:27.119 --> 00:36:33.760 That there are communities around us, digitally or embodied, that are shaping us and are affecting our becoming. 00:36:34.320 --> 00:36:41.119 So my question today isn't just who or isn't just are you accountable to anyone, but who are you accountable to? 00:36:41.599 --> 00:36:43.440 What are you accountable to? 00:36:43.519 --> 00:36:45.519 What is it forming in you? 00:36:45.679 --> 00:36:47.199 Have you considered that? 00:36:48.079 --> 00:36:50.320 What are they helping you to become? 00:36:50.639 --> 00:36:50.960 Right? 00:36:51.039 --> 00:36:53.519 So in this passage we see the gift of accountability. 00:36:53.599 --> 00:37:00.719 It starts with shared trust, or it starts with shared joy, moves to shared trust, and what do we see that it produces? 00:37:00.800 --> 00:37:02.559 It's it's shared fruit. 00:37:03.280 --> 00:37:05.840 Paul and the homies right that they're all ecstatic. 00:37:06.159 --> 00:37:07.920 James gives them some instruction. 00:37:08.079 --> 00:37:09.440 What happens, verse 26? 00:37:09.599 --> 00:37:12.960 Paul took the men and did exactly what he was asked to do. 00:37:13.360 --> 00:37:25.440 Paul listened to James' advice, and this is really important because sometimes we get to the point of having shared joy, shared trust, sit down, uh, hear what we need to hear. 00:37:25.599 --> 00:37:43.360 And I've worked long enough with college students, now junior high and high school students, where this happens with students of mine, and I do this with other people as well, is that we do all of that, we hear good advice, we nod our heads like everything's right, and that this is this is the this is gonna be the time, and we walk away unchanged. 00:37:43.519 --> 00:37:48.159 We don't listen to their advice, we don't trust that God's doing, we don't want the shared fruit. 00:37:48.400 --> 00:37:49.519 We don't want the shared fruit. 00:37:49.679 --> 00:37:51.039 I see this so many times. 00:37:51.199 --> 00:38:01.519 And as I've thought about that, what why it happens for my students or why that happens in my life, why I hear good advice, nod my head politely, and be like, this is good, thank you, thank you, Pastor. 00:38:01.679 --> 00:38:04.320 And then walk away unchanged, it's because of this. 00:38:04.719 --> 00:38:12.480 Is I've realized for me, it's really hard to imagine a good life without getting the things that I want. 00:38:13.199 --> 00:38:23.920 It's hard for any of us to imagine a good life where it gets better when we are asked to give something up, where we have to change a habit that we like having. 00:38:24.960 --> 00:38:35.920 That we can't, we can't, in our realm of possibilities and imagination, it's hard for us to think that giving up something or or dying to ourselves is gonna produce something good. 00:38:36.960 --> 00:38:44.559 Uh a word that's often translated as listen in your in the Old Testament is this word Shema, right? 00:38:45.039 --> 00:38:50.320 It's this Hebrew word that the Bible uses and and often in your Bibles it'll say listen. 00:38:50.880 --> 00:39:01.519 And I love how it's actually how it's maybe better translated because it's better translated as not just like listen, but Shema is hear and obey, right? 00:39:01.920 --> 00:39:04.079 Hear and obey. 00:39:04.559 --> 00:39:07.280 And isn't that the essence of following Jesus? 00:39:07.440 --> 00:39:11.280 Like he doesn't just say, hey, uh now that you're following me, go do your thing. 00:39:11.360 --> 00:39:12.480 Do whatever feels right. 00:39:12.639 --> 00:39:16.800 And hey, if if if if it sounds good to you, go for it. 00:39:17.519 --> 00:39:24.480 No, instead, he asks us for sh this way of listening, which is Shema, to hear and obey. 00:39:24.719 --> 00:39:29.039 And what he says, right, is to come follow me and to die. 00:39:29.679 --> 00:39:33.039 That to follow me is, hey, there's your cross, go pick it up. 00:39:33.360 --> 00:39:35.519 Be ready to die to yourself. 00:39:36.000 --> 00:39:38.880 Hear my instruction and obey. 00:39:39.519 --> 00:39:44.239 And if I'm completely honest, I know oftentimes I don't want to die to my ideals. 00:39:44.719 --> 00:39:48.880 I want to keep living the cush American life that I've I that I have. 00:39:49.199 --> 00:39:55.440 Uh but Jesus knows that the abundant life is not the path that I'll often pick for myself. 00:39:55.679 --> 00:40:00.000 That what needs to happen is I need to die so I can truly live. 00:40:00.320 --> 00:40:00.960 Right? 00:40:01.280 --> 00:40:03.519 And Paul shows us that he understands this. 00:40:03.679 --> 00:40:09.199 I don't know exactly what he was thinking, but he chooses to die to himself and listen to James' advice. 00:40:09.599 --> 00:40:20.079 See, the fruit of increased faith is produced in Paul's life when he says yes to that, when he says no to himself and yes to spiritual authority. 00:40:20.320 --> 00:40:23.360 And the power of the gospel, it's witnessed by the church. 00:40:23.599 --> 00:40:25.199 Shared fruit for everyone, right? 00:40:25.280 --> 00:40:27.760 What everyone sees, it's amazing. 00:40:27.920 --> 00:40:30.000 Steps of faith are being taken. 00:40:30.239 --> 00:40:35.760 That when we die to ourselves, that death, it fertilizes the soil. 00:40:36.000 --> 00:40:40.320 So what can come out of it is good and healthy fruit. 00:40:40.559 --> 00:40:42.880 And as I've considered this for my life, right? 00:40:43.039 --> 00:40:44.400 The gift of accountability. 00:40:44.559 --> 00:40:51.119 I've seen that it's a process to take part in, that it's not something that just happens one time and is done. 00:40:51.760 --> 00:41:00.079 There's a time in my life, in my ministry life, where ministry was really hard, where I was apathetic and lazy, right? 00:41:00.159 --> 00:41:02.480 Where it was difficult to be motivated. 00:41:02.639 --> 00:41:09.280 And Ryan, blonde Brian now, blonde Brian, he saw that, right? 00:41:09.360 --> 00:41:12.559 He he knew that there was something that he needed to pastor in me. 00:41:12.639 --> 00:41:16.559 Long before Ryan was my boss or whatever you want to call it, he was just a pastor in my life. 00:41:16.719 --> 00:41:22.159 And in this moment, he took me aside and you knew that there was like some grief that I had to process. 00:41:22.320 --> 00:41:31.280 That there was something that I needed to step away from my work schedule and go with be with Jesus and to process things that are hard for me to process. 00:41:32.159 --> 00:41:36.320 And for me in that moment, I saw the gift of accountability in a really sweet way. 00:41:36.480 --> 00:41:36.800 Right? 00:41:37.039 --> 00:41:40.559 It's really easy to see how that's that was good for my life in that moment. 00:41:40.719 --> 00:41:43.519 And I was certain accountability was good for me. 00:41:43.760 --> 00:41:49.280 But like I said, accountability, it's a process, it's not a one-time thing, it's something that we have to commit to. 00:41:49.599 --> 00:41:55.280 Um, and there's another really difficult season of ministry in my life, and this time for completely different reasons. 00:41:55.599 --> 00:42:03.280 And you know, there's something that always needs to be changed or developed in us, that something needs to be pastored in us to be more like Jesus. 00:42:03.519 --> 00:42:06.239 And this time it came down to this one instance, right? 00:42:06.320 --> 00:42:10.559 For some of us, accountability, some of us need to be told to work less, right? 00:42:10.639 --> 00:42:14.559 That we some of us work too hard, we're workaholics, we live in the Silicon Valley. 00:42:14.800 --> 00:42:18.079 And some of us, uh, we need to be told to work harder. 00:42:18.320 --> 00:42:23.280 Guess which one I fell into as a stereotypical youth director, right, in my earlier days. 00:42:23.440 --> 00:42:25.039 Guess which one I fell into. 00:42:26.079 --> 00:42:36.480 But I remember sitting in the office, sitting down with Ryan and Chris, two people that I've admired, two people that I've trusted, who share a gospel vision for my life. 00:42:36.719 --> 00:42:40.960 And I just remember having to hear the truth that I needed to receive from them. 00:42:41.360 --> 00:42:51.519 Hard instruction, stuff that I didn't want to hear, things that cut kind of deep, and a bunch of things that I didn't really want to change in my life. 00:42:52.800 --> 00:42:54.320 All of it just not fun for me. 00:42:54.400 --> 00:42:58.079 So I just want to do the fun things, and they're giving me the very not fun things. 00:42:58.559 --> 00:43:07.199 But as I got over myself a little bit and started to started to trust the God given accountability in my life, I had to choose, right? 00:43:07.280 --> 00:43:10.559 I had to choose my way or death to myself. 00:43:10.880 --> 00:43:14.159 And I had to choose death to myself in a lot of ways. 00:43:14.559 --> 00:43:17.679 And I felt really stretched in that season. 00:43:18.320 --> 00:43:27.199 And as hard and as difficult and as as cutting as it was, um I as I look back, I would do it a thousand times over, right? 00:43:27.360 --> 00:43:28.159 Let me be clear. 00:43:28.239 --> 00:43:36.079 I I don't want you to think that the application of this sermon is that Ryan or Chris have to be the ones to tell to pass to be the ones who have this voice in your life. 00:43:36.239 --> 00:43:37.360 It's different for me, right? 00:43:37.440 --> 00:43:40.960 I'm on the staff team, my FaceTime with them is a little bit different. 00:43:41.280 --> 00:43:45.119 But what the point is here is that that's why we have groups and group leaders. 00:43:45.199 --> 00:43:55.679 That's why we have things like protege, it's why we have incredible youth leaders for our students, is to have that kind of influence and voice and accountability for everyone in the church. 00:43:56.000 --> 00:43:59.679 That the same accountability that that Ryan and Chris that God gifted. 00:44:00.159 --> 00:44:04.400 Uh, me through them is offered to everyone in the church. 00:44:07.280 --> 00:44:16.559 And looking at these two moments, right, looking back at these two moments of accountability in my life, one felt life giving immediately, and the other one felt like death. 00:44:17.039 --> 00:44:19.519 But what did they both produce was fruit. 00:44:19.760 --> 00:44:25.119 I got to see some of the coolest things out of that hard season that I've ever gotten to partner with God in. 00:44:25.280 --> 00:44:27.519 And it's because of all that pruning that had to happen. 00:44:28.000 --> 00:44:36.239 As we move to a close and I invite the band back up, there's one thing that we need to understand, though, when it comes to the gift of accountability. 00:44:36.800 --> 00:44:50.639 You see, if if you read further along, past what we have in our notes right now, uh in this story, is we would see that that Paul, he would get actually be dragged out and beaten for following James' instruction. 00:44:51.519 --> 00:44:56.239 That people misunderstood Paul's accountability to church leadership. 00:44:56.639 --> 00:45:06.559 That sometimes when it comes to the gift of accountability, right, that the that when we follow God's will for our lives, it's not always gonna produce positive outcomes. 00:45:07.519 --> 00:45:11.599 In fact, I'm willing to bet that more often than not, we're gonna be hurt. 00:45:11.679 --> 00:45:14.159 Uh, we're gonna we're we're gonna be misunderstood. 00:45:14.239 --> 00:45:20.719 But the beauty of all that hurt and pain is that it should not sound unfamiliar to us as followers of Jesus. 00:45:20.880 --> 00:45:29.039 In fact, if in the gift of accountability that is our experience, it should remind us and sound like Jesus. 00:45:29.360 --> 00:45:32.159 Because Jesus is the ultimate example of this, right? 00:45:32.559 --> 00:45:37.440 He knows the pain and the hurt of being perfectly accountable to the Father. 00:45:37.840 --> 00:45:42.639 He didn't waver all the way into the cross on the ultimate form of accountability. 00:45:42.800 --> 00:45:51.119 When Jesus submits himself to the Father's will on the cross, it comes with much grief, much pain, uh, being misunderstood. 00:45:51.440 --> 00:45:52.480 But guess what? 00:45:52.800 --> 00:45:54.719 It doesn't end in death. 00:45:55.039 --> 00:46:00.960 Jesus' accountability to the Father, it ends with new life and resurrection. 00:46:01.440 --> 00:46:03.599 And this is what I've started to learn. 00:46:03.840 --> 00:46:06.480 This is what Paul is teaching us in this story. 00:46:06.719 --> 00:46:17.840 This is what we know is true because of Jesus, is when I've chosen to die to myself in biblical accountability, what it has always led to is life. 00:46:18.320 --> 00:46:28.320 And that the gospel teaches us that our lives they don't have to end with accountability and death, but instead it can lead to accountability and resurrection. 00:46:28.960 --> 00:46:32.719 So I'm gonna pray for us as we move into a time of worship. 00:46:34.159 --> 00:46:39.119 Uh Father in heaven, God, thank you for the gift of accountability. 00:46:39.599 --> 00:46:53.199 God, we we acknowledge that it's hard, we confess that it's difficult, but but when we look to Jesus, we know that um it is not just to limit, uh to limit our lives in some way that cuts it, that shortchanges us. 00:46:53.360 --> 00:46:55.519 In fact, you're trying to produce life. 00:46:55.840 --> 00:46:59.119 You're trying to give us resurrected life, you're trying to produce fruit. 00:46:59.360 --> 00:47:09.280 So as we look to Jesus, uh as we sing this song, God, would we know that the gift of accountability, as strange as it is, it sounds like death, but God, it leads to life. 00:47:09.440 --> 00:47:10.320 Thank you for Jesus. 00:47:10.400 --> 00:47:11.599 We pray this in his name. 00:47:11.840 --> 00:47:12.480 Amen. 00:47:13.840 --> 00:47:16.159 We hope you are blessed by this message. 00:47:16.400 --> 00:47:21.360 Please subscribe to our podcast for access to every episode as they're uploaded. 00:47:21.599 --> 00:47:23.920 And hey, we'd love to connect with you. 00:47:24.079 --> 00:47:29.920 Take a next step by filling out our virtual connection card at awakeningchurch.comslash card.