Standing Alone

Who are you accountable to? People want to go it alone these days. They don't want to have a contract, membership, ownership. A two year phone contract is too long for some people so they go month to month. Apartment leases are more desirable than mortgages and who wants to commit to a gym for a year? People don't even want to get married in case someone better comes along (in most cases I think that’s what living together really says about the relationship).

And forget joining a church. Why not just go when you feel like it and not commit to one place? Why be accountable to others? 

First we are accountable to God. He is our final judge in everything and we are not to judge others in our Christian walk.  But what if someone who is a believer is not following God’s word?  What if you and another believer have an issue between you?  

Matthew 18:15-17 talks about grievances or offenses between brothers (believers) and how to resolve them. We're supposed to deal with the person privately first and talk it out.  If that doesn't fix it, then we're to grab a couple of believers and discuss it with the brother as a group. If after that, the offense still exists, then it is taken to the church.  I read this as a body of believers that regularly meet together and belong to/are members of a specific church. I don’t believe we’re to take the grievance to the body of Christ (the church) as a whole.  Although there are times when posting someone's sin on a billboard or a full-page ad in the Times would be "interesting", I don't think it's the way to resolve the issue in the way the Bible talks about.

By the way, I read “grievance/offense” as an ongoing sin issue and not necessarily a forgiveness issue between believers.  I think if the offense has happened in the past, then forgiveness should be given; but forgiveness may be given but is not always received by the forgiven.

 So a believer is accountable first to God, then to other believers, and THEN to the church he/she belongs to. Again, I don’t believe this means the entire body of Christ as a whole.  How would one become accountable to the entire body of Christ?

I attend and am a member of a Baptist church. I'm not accountable to the Mormon, Catholic, Assembly of God, Presbyterian, Methodist, Lutheran, or Jehovah Witness church. I am accountable in my actions and faith to the church I BELONG to. They are my rule of measure, my support, my balance. 

If I'm not a member of a church, then who is responsible for my discipline, for calling me out, for being my peer group?  If I'm not a member of a specific church, why would I care what others think? Why would I consider them peers?

True, then it's just between God and me. But if I'm not open to being a member, accountable to others as presented in the Bible, then am I really open to listening to God? Being accountable to others and God is not only about church as a building or a group of people; it extends to being accountable for marriage, entertainment, language, laws. 

If, as a Christian, I’m not open to being answerable for my actions and my faith by a group of people who are my support, and believe as I do, then how will I know that the “voice” of God I hear is true?