Accountability

1 Samuel 17 verse 45

David said to the Philistine, “You come against me with sword and spear and javelin, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty, the God of the armies of Israel, whom you have defied.

1 Samuel 17 verse 57-58 As soon as David returned from killing the Philistine, Abner took him and brought him before Saul, with David still holding the Philistine’s head. “Whose son are you, young man?” Saul asked him. David said, “I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem.”

IN this chapter we will explore accountability but not as perceived by most Christians of today. Some time ago, I was chatting to a friend of mine. I was really complimenting her on how dedicated she was to the work of Christ, and I said to her, you are really loyal to the pastor. Her response was, no, I am not loyal to the pastor, I am loyal to Christ. If you would have given me the same answer, I am here to shock you, you cannot claim to be loyal to God when you are not loyal to the pastor. That does not make sense. David could not claim to be loyal to God, whose armies Goliath defied yet he was disloyal to his father.

If you consider the scriptures above, you will notice that David clearly says he is going against Goliath because he has defiled the God of the armies of Israel and he is doing it in his name. This on its own suggests David was a servant of the God of the armies of Israel. Yet as soon as he is done performing this task for the God of Israel, he immediately submits to the authority of Saul. Saul is not a God, he is a king. Besides reporting to Saul, he goes even lower in the hierarchy to point out who he was serving under the king. To further show the need and importance of accountability. Saul does not just take him in as a hero that is under him, instead, he asks him who he has been serving under.

In other words Saul wants to know who David has been reporting to before he showed up with his great abilities. To say despite the amazing ability you have to kill giants, who is in charge of you. He did not only ask him once, but he did it twice. He first asks his army commander about the boy, and then asks the boy himself. Saul had to make sure this boy had a point of reference. He needed to ensure that this boy was not like those that disappear for a few months and return with the ability to heal the sick with no point of reference. It is very important for Saul to find out the roots. One does not move from selling one tomato, to buying man-made islands in Dubai. There has to be a history of accountability in every person, the foundation of your days in small business. A mentor who will guarantee your authenticity. The roots and the one speaking into the life of the boy will not only project his potential, it would also bring to light motives of the boy in his heroic act. I say so because the heart and desires of your father are also your desires. When you spend a lot of time under the teaching of someone, you begin to be like them in behaviour, desires and motives. The desires of the father should be your desires if you are a true son.

If your father is a wanted bandit that has a history of planning attempts of overthrowing kingdoms and stealing the throne, then those that deal with you will not trust you with their kingdoms. If Jesse was an unfaithful person towards Saul, then immediately Saul would know very well that David did not kill Goliath for the sake of the kingdom of Israel, but he would have done this in order to take it over and run it. The opposite is equally true. If your father has a reputation of faithfulness to the king and helping in every way possible then we can be sure that your motive in killing Goliath is to ensure victory for the king, for Israel and for God himself. So before I sign the contract document for you to build my house, I need trade references, I need to talk to the people and find out if you delivered as promised. If the house is still standing and your work ethic speaks for itself then I can trust you. Your foundation is very important in creating the future.

I am equally amazed by the way David responds. He says: I am the son of your servant Jesse of Bethlehem. He makes sure to mention the phrase, “your servant”. He is illustrating that his father is faithful and loyal to the Kingdom, thereby assuring the king of his own loyalty. The response of David also means his father has been loyal to the plans and vision of the kingdom. This means David was loyal to the vision of Israel because he was a servant of Israel just as his father was. In the same manner, I cannot rebel against the local pastor, the regional pastor or the reverend and claim to be serving the bishop. Imagine this scenario, my son going to a Harvest House church and doing something amazing, the bishop summoning him to his office, then his response being: “I am the son of your faithful servant and mentions a service pastor.” Those words would eliminate the element of worry in the mind of the bishop because of the loyalty of the service pastor. Neither can I rebel against the servant of God and claim to be serving God.

Being rebellious to my immediate leader is a sign of unfaithfulness and disloyalty to God himself. If ever such thoughts come to your mind, know immediately that it is the devil that is trying to drag you to the path of destruction. There is no way disloyalty can end in a good and positive way. This is because the vision of the house is given to the leader of the house for the good of everyone under his covering. So by aligning myself to the visionary by being loyal and faithful to the leaders he has placed over me at the local church, I will automatically open doors of greatness for myself.

Our individual visions for our lives should fit into the vision of the house. This makes it very easy to tap into the move of God, the moment your private business involves God, you can be sure that the chances of success are increased. If I desire to be a preacher of the word, all I need to do is align myself to the greater vision of the house and preach at every opportunity I get. For an evangelist, open thousands of churches and evangelise under the very big vision. If you are a business person, the church not only seeks to benefit financially. But also by empowering people in the church and the church itself to make it more self-reliant, therefore giving it more power to impact the world in a bigger way. In all fairness, the church cannot be run on tithes and offerings alone, it is impossible, the costs of programmes are way above what the tithe and offerings can cover. So there is a great need for every skill to fully integrate itself with the church to reduce the load on the leadership because it is not their church, it is ours as well. From the definition of a church, which is a group of people worshipping, the fact that you worship there means it is yours as well and you must do everything in your power to make yourself more useful and loyal to the church.

You have greatness locked in you, the day you connect yourself to the house of God, you will be amazed at the beauty and expansion of your power.