Acceptance vs. Accountability

Do you accept others for who they are? Do you accept them for all their flaws, weaknesses, and sins? We are called to accept and love all, just as Jesus did. We are called to forgive others just as Jesus forgave us. But why is that such a difficult task sometimes? Why do we struggle to accept and forgive others? We are all sinners and we are all human, so their sins and flaws are no worse than our own. So, isn't it hypocritical to call out others on their sins when you have your own sins?

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye." Matthew 7:1-5

I believe those verses are basically saying, 'Don't be a hypocrite.' Don't call out someone else's sins if you turn around and commit them yourself. For example, don't call out someone for cursing and then proceed to use curse words in your very next conversation. Or, don't tell someone that the Bible calls them to be sexually pure and celibate and yet you are having pre-marital sex with your boyfriend or girlfriend. That is hypocritical.

But you ask, what about keeping your Christian brothers and sisters accountable in their actions and words? Isn't there some Biblical support for Christian accountability? And to that I would say, absolutely!

"Dear brothers and sisters, if another believer is overcome by some sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path. And be careful not to fall into the same temptation yourself. Share each others' burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ." Galatians 6:1-2

"Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another." Ephesians 4:25

Keep your brothers and sisters in Christ accountable, YES. However, make sure you do it in the right way. Take a look again at the scripture above from Galatians where it says in bold letters, "gently and humbly." We are not to keep each other accountable by attacking the other person or in judgment. We are to keep them accountable "gently and humbly" and out of love and compassion. So, yes we are called to keep them accountable, but be careful how you do it.

So, should you be accepting of others and their sinful ways or should you call them out and keep them accountable? Just as my Pastor preached recently at WEC, I don't believe this issue is an EITHER/OR situation, it is a BOTH/AND. We are called to be both accepting/loving/forgiving AND gently/humbly accountable. God's grace will help you find the balance between the two, but don't think that you should have one without the other.