I grew up in the church. The term accountability was something that was talked about a lot. The idea behind it was great. We all have issues in life, and the thought was that having someone to keep you accountable would prevent you from making mistakes.
In my experience accountability worked for a few weeks. It was normally after someone got caught doing something they shouldn’t have been doing. They would ask for accountability in hopes to not make the same mistake again. The problem was that after a few weeks the guilt wore off, they went back to their old ways, and then stopped meeting with their accountability partner.
I recently read a quote, from my former youth pastor, on Twitter. He said “accountability is when someone checks in on you. Community is checking yourself in” – Chad Childress.
If there is an area in your life that you want to change you’ve got to take the initiative. You’ve got to check in with someone. The truth is accountability doesn’t work because no one can force you to change. Change only comes when you seek it.
I agree with your point here, but I have one thing to note about your notion of "accountability" that should not be overlooked. Sometimes, when we are left to ourselves, we can fall into dreadfully sinful ways. When someone checks in on you and takes an interest, sometimes it can help us gain some semblance of positive self-image. This can have an enormous impact on our willingness to seek help and seek hope.
Daniel, very true. I've found though that unless someone wants to change long lasting change won't happen. It happens for a little while but then it soon fades again. I think that is why AA and other support groups can work. It's you checking in with someone partnered with accountability.
we were just talking about this this mornign in our youth staff…cause we were brainstorming about what is our purpose and main focus, and how to make disciples…i mentioned an accountability group that i had with some girls from 7-10 grade and not one of them is a regular attender or have God first priority….it was the thing to do at the time and it never stuck with them…:(