A WORD TO THE WISE: Proverbs 29: 19. "MORE THAN WORDS"

Proverbs 29: 19     A servant will not be corrected by mere words; for though he understands, he will not respond.

Proverbs 29: 19.  Accountability is an often used but too-seldom applied term in organizational leadership.  What we call accountability is often just reporting. 

At best, reporting shows that your people know what they were supposed to do, but it doesn’t ensure that they did/ will do it.

Reports are the summary and spin that one party gives to his leaders and supervisors.  Reports can clarify questions with numbers and narratives, or reports can cloud results with excuses and empty oration.  Either way, reports are mere words.  REPORTING IS NOT ACCOUNTABILITY.

Accountability begins when the leaders peer into and through the reports and see the actual results.  ACCOUNTABILITY OCCURS WITH LEADERS RESPOND TO RESULTS WITH CONSEQUENCES. 

If a leader never drills down through the ritual of reporting to the spirit and truth of the actual results, then the leader doesn’t have an accurate basis for holding people accountable.    Once they get down to the actual results, leaders have to take the next difficult, painful, courageous, unpopular, and messy step.  They have to apply real results-based consequences.

A cashier who gives back too much change won’t stop giving back too much change because the manager asks him to.  But f the manager retrains the cashier AND docks his pay, the over-changing will stop, or the cashier will quit---- which will stop the over-changing.

A child who screams in the grocery store will not stop screaming because a parent tells her to stop one time. She’ll stop screaming when she has been taught proper behavior and shown that painful consequences follow her parent telling her to stop more than one time.

Many of our families, our schools, our communities, and our churches are corrupt, powerless, and declining because we don’t hold people accountable.  We take reports at face value and never look for the real results.  They say, “Everything fine,” so we ignore the smoke pouring out of the building.  No accountability.

We see the destruction and the decline, but we don’t want to hurt feelings, challenge political strongholds, or risk retaliation; so we leave people the way we found them in the positions where they can do the most harm and accept the empty report that, “God is good.”  No accountability.

From Congress to the county to the local church, we call for committees to write and deliver reports.  But reports are mere words, and mere words are not enough to alter the inertia of failure.  Accountability is the most difficult way, but it’s the only way.

Jesus modeled the practice of accountability.

Luke chapters 9 & 10 begin with Jesus ordaining and appointing 82 leaders.  The 12 apostles and the 70 others were given specific evangelistic appointments and assignments. 

They reported back to Jesus on their work (Luke 9: 10; 10: 17), and Jesus drilled down for spiritual, ministerial, and personal results. 

• How well did they handle the resources/ lack of resources?  (Luke 9: 3-5)
• When put on the spot could they organize and execute a feeding ministry in the field?  (Luke 9: 12-13)
• Had they grown in their understanding of Jesus despite the views of the prevailing culture? (Luke 9: 18-20)
• Could they show actual spiritual results? (Luke 10: 9, 17

When an appointed or potential leader some showed less understanding or less commitment than Jesus required, He applied the consequence of direct Divine rebuke. (Luke 9: 54-55; 9: 62; 10: 17-20)

Reports + Results + Consequences =  ACCOUNTABILITY.

It’s difficult way, but it’s Jesus’ way---- the necessary path of accountability.

---Anderson T. Graves II

Rev. Anderson T. Graves II is the pastor of Hall Memorial CME Church

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