Most of us are working on something in our lives.
You know, some of us it's a diet, others it's
working out, for others it's family devotions
or getting into God's Word or praying more deeply.
But what I know is true about all of us is that
we start off well and we make these commitments
that are very sincere and then we seem to fade
quickly. If you want to learn how to not just
put first things first, but keep them first,
stay with me. Welcome to this edition of Living
on the Edge with Chip Ingram. We are an international
discipleship ministry devoted to helping Christians
worldwide live out their faith for the glory
of God and the benefit of all people. Thanks
for joining us as Chip continues our series,
Balancing Life's Demands, with his message, How
to Keep First Things First. Because, you know,
making something a priority is one thing, but
being able to keep it that way is always much
harder. So keep listening today as Chip digs
into God's Word to help us learn how to better
safeguard our priorities. Okay, if you're ready,
here's Chip with today's talk. Putting first
things first is one thing. Keeping first things
first, now that's a whole other thing. So we're
going to talk about, well, how do you keep first
things first? The problem is many start well,
but few finish well. It's one thing to make a
commitment and to really mean it. It's quite
another thing to keep it sustained over a significant
period of time so that those things that you
know you want to do, you know God wants you to
do, you find yourself little by little by little
putting a week together into a month and a few
months into a year and a few years into a decade
and a couple decades. And that's how you leave
a legacy. I mean, that's how life really plays
out. It's what I'm doing today with a view to
God's calling, his purpose and legacy in my life.
And, you know, whether it's scanning, you know,
you can look, read the characters in this book,
and a lot of them start well. I mean, I'm reading
through right now just my personal devotional
time, just finished 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 and 2 Kings.
And I got news for you. There's a lot of kings
that start well, but I can only find a handful
that finish well. Samson starts well, doesn't
finish well. Solomon starts well, doesn't finish
well. Demas started well, didn't finish well.
In the second half of life, some people that
we all have admired seem to, something happens.
A lot of churches start well, don't finish well.
A lot of businesses, I mean, remember the book
In Search for Excellence by Tom Peters? There
were 10 companies he profiled in that book. This
is excellence. I could be mistaken, but at least
nine out of ten of those currently are out of
business. They started well. In a season, they
were doing some things well, but it wasn't sustainable.
So, you know, that's really, you can kind of
look at me like, well, gosh, I'm glad there's
the good news for this session. You know? No
one else is finishing well, but somehow, you
know, right? That's the problem. In fact, closer
to home. A lot of marriages start well. A lot
of parenting starts well. A lot of it doesn't
finish well. And now that we've got the problem
isolated, what's the solution? I want to suggest
that the solution, apart from your own relationship
with God, there's no quick, easy, but for people
who really want to follow Christ, for people
that want to honor God, for people who want to
balance their life and do things God's way for
His glory and for their good and for others,
the two words I would give you is biblical accountability.
Biblical accountability. Let me give you a definition.
Biblical accountability is enlisting the support
of those who love me, to help me keep my commitments
to God. In other words, it's biblical. As iron
sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. It's
not simply accountability. That's, in some ways,
a negative word too. This is not getting a group
of people that harass you. You know, this is
not getting a group of people that you can meet
with on a regular basis to make you feel guilty.
This is not calling it, we're involved in accountability
group, but everyone goes about, oh, a little
past the first superficial layer, but you never
really get down to what's really going on. This
is where you ask, you invite. people into your
life and you say, this isn't about expectations
of other people. This is where you say, I want
to be. In my case, I want to be a man of God.
I want to be a great father. I want to be a great
husband. I want to be, in the eyes of God, a
great pastor and a great friend. Will you help
me? Keep my commitments to God. I don't wanna
fulfill your program. I don't wanna fulfill what
you think. I'm asking you, would you enter into
my inner world because of our relationship and
our trust? Will you help me keep my commitments
to God? I'm going to open my life. I'm going
to be honest. I'm going to be vulnerable. I'm
gonna share my victories. I'm gonna share my
struggles. Will you help me? That's biblical
accountability. And I'd like to suggest that
there is no way to fulfill anything we've talked
about without it. It's powerful. Ecclesiastes
4, 9 through 12 says, two are better than one
because they have a good return for their labor.
If one falls down, his friend can help him up.
But pity, notice that, pity the man, pity the
woman who falls. And you know you're going to
fall and has no one to help him up. Also, if
two lie down together, they will keep warm. But
how can one keep warm alone? Though one may be
overpowered, two can defend themselves. A cord
of three is not quickly broken. We have an American
individualistic mindset about spirituality and
walking with God that is rooted somewhere deep
in the heart of John Wayne. All right, pilgrims,
it's me. It's not a very good imitation, by the
way, either. And God? And I'm going to do it
all by myself, you see. That was a little bit
better. I want you to know that every New Testament
command that I can find is in what's called grammatically
the second person plural. Hey, be this kind of
a husband, you all men. Be this kind of a wife.
Walk in purity, you all. Second person plural
means you can't do it alone. It's not hard. It
is important. impossible to be a man of God,
a woman of God, the kind of husband, the kind
of pure single person, the kind of employer,
employee, church member, elder, deacon. It's
impossible, impossible to do what God's called
you to do. You, God, your Bible. You need people.
I need people. But not people that are at a length,
not people that know you superficially, not people
that you let in on just certain things and the
real deep struggles and the secrets and the difficulty
and the pain and the hurts never get out on the
table. You were never designed, it is impossible
for you and impossible for me to make it apart
from other people. We all agree. I mean, at this
point, I love your faces. You're telling me,
I agree with that. Intellectually, everyone agrees
with biblical accountability. I mean, back to
you are your brother's keeper. Our experience
affirms it works. Some of you will look back
and you could say, you know what, I would not
be the person I am today apart. And you're either
thinking of a real close friendship, a mentor,
a small group, a season at times that it was
just like, wow. And there was connection, open,
honesty, you were motivated. History affirms.
I mean, we've got the Moravians, the Wesleys,
the Korean movement, the small group movement.
I mean, they didn't call them Methodists for
nothing. It was their methodology. You were in
a small group. You shared. In Methodism, people
would meet twice a week and they would have a
corporate confession. This is where I sinned
this week. Reintroduce that, see how it works.
The Moravians did something very similar. If
you see the mushrooming of the church in Korea.
built around the small group movement of holistic
small groups, really ministering to one another.
In fact, the world has learned it. They know
that overcoming certain things, you know, if
you go to AA, right? If you go to Al -Anon, if
you go to Celebrate Recovery, if you go to Weight
Watchers, if you go to Jenny Craig, I mean, what
has the world learned? People don't make lasting
change unless... They are together with other
people, loving, encouraging, and holding one
another accountable. And yet, the great majority
of all the Christians do not have or experience
biblical accountability. I mean, you know, what
do they do in group counseling, rehab centers?
Isn't it? Have you ever been through? Have you
ever been around someone who's been through a
12 -step program? Unbelievable. I mean, the level
of honesty, I'll never forget this. Power of
accountability. We started a Celebrate Recovery
program. Santa Cruz is where I pastored for about
12 and a half years. I mean, if you had an addiction,
we had you in our church. I mean, it's a wild,
crazy, crazy place. And so we started this, and
this guy I never met came up afterwards, and
he had a notebook in his hands. He says, excuse
me. I said, hi. He said, could I do my fourth
step with you? And I said. I don't know what
the fourth step is. He said, well, I go to the
Celebrate Recovery here and it was on Friday
nights and a whole group of people that, you
know, they hadn't made it quite to church yet
and they were making a lot of progress and, you
know, doing worship and God was working. And
I thought, you know, I should know more about
this. So I said, sure. He said, well, it'll take
two hours. I said, well, you know, why don't
you get with my assistant? We'll figure it out.
So we blocked off from two to four and later
that week he came in and he came in over and
sat down. He goes, I mean, no, like, hey, how
you doing? Are you ready? I said, yeah. I said,
exactly what is the fourth step? It says it's
a total moral inventory where I go back through
my life and try and discern. And I've asked,
you know, it's not the higher power here. We
believe Jesus is the higher power. He is my God.
And I've asked God to reveal to me anything I've
ever done to hurt anyone at any time. And I want
to own the responsibility for what I've done
and stop blaming anything or anyone, including
God. And you got to get specific. I said, okay.
And he had a yellow pad, all handwritten. He
goes, when I was seven years old, he started.
When I was 11 years old. And I mean, he told
me stuff I'm thinking, I would not, I mean. You
know? And I'm thinking, here, I'm a pastor of
a church. I have staff meetings. We talk about
vulnerability. And you know, I'm thinking, I
think we're doing like a C minus in terms of
honesty and vulnerability compared to this guy.
And that's why the secrets get out and strongholds
are broken. We need one another. Well, if we
agree we need one another so much, we know it
works. Question, why don't more believers have
authentic biblical accountability that allows
you to sustain the discipline and the arenas
that God is revealing to you that you know you
want? and you long for him to change in you.
And I would like to give you five reasons why
accountability is essential for spiritual success.
And what you're gonna find is, we're gonna start
right where we were in the last passage. I'm
gonna make the case that the Apostle Paul, one
of the greatest Christians, if not the greatest
Christian of all time, is going to say, here's
my greatest desire, and here's my greatest fear.
And his greatest fear is that he would blow it.
And then he's going to teach us through 1 Corinthians
10, the necessity and the reasons for biblical
accountability. And then at the very end, I'm
going to say, okay, I mean, you know, have you
ever had someone say, you know, I think they're
trying to sell me. I think they're trying to
persuade me right now, you know, but I'm not
sure. I want you to know, I am. Okay, I mean,
all, you know, no holes barred. I'm going to
try and convince you. from Scripture, and by,
I pray, the Spirit's energizing power in His
Word. When I get done in about 20 minutes going
through these passages, I hope you'll go, I got
to have biblical accountability. I mean, whatever
it takes, I got to have it. And then I'm going
to give you just a little game plan, some practical
ways to get it operational, and then the ball's
in your court. All right? Here we go. Five reasons
accountability, biblical accountability is essential
for spiritual success. Number one, because we
never outgrow the need for personal accountability.
We never outgrow the need for personal accountability.
And you say, Chip, where do you get that? Well,
let's listen one more time to what the Apostle
Paul said. He says, verse 24 of chapter nine
of 1 Corinthians, do you not know that those
who run in a race all run, but only one receives
the prize? Run in such a way that you win. And
everyone who competes in the games, those Olympic
games, exercises discipline or self -control
in all things. Well, they do it to receive a
perishable wreath, but we do it an imperishable.
Therefore, application, I run in such a way,
not without aim. I box in such a way as not beating
the air, clear -cut goal. I buffet my body and
I make it my slave, discipline, lest possibly
after I preach to others, I myself should be
disqualified. Paul's greatest desire, great use
for Christ. Paul's greatest fear, I think I might
myself get disqualified. I'll get off track.
You're listening to Living on the Edge, and Chip
Ingram will be back to continue our series, Balancing
Life's Demands, in just a minute. But let me
quickly tell you that we are more than a broadcast
ministry. We're supporting pastors globally,
developing helpful resources, and sharing the
gospel with this next generation. So if you'd
like to join us in these efforts, become a monthly
partner by going to livingontheedge .org. Thanks
for your support. We'll hear again as Chip. Here's
the principle. If Paul had those concerns, how
much more should we? I'm thinking to myself,
can you imagine, I mean, if it was possible,
can you just imagine, what if the Apostle Paul
just showed up in the flesh? And can you imagine
sitting down across from him? It would never
enter my mind that this guy down deep in his
heart is concerned that someday, someway, through
subtle deception, he might no longer be God's
man and walk with him. But that's what he's telling
us right here. Leaders are among the most susceptible.
And by the way, the more responsibility one gets,
the more accountability that you need. Leaders
have more time alone than others. The more you
lead, and by the way, it can be in your family,
it can be in your church, it can be in your company.
People start assuming you've been in the Lord
a long time. People go for you for wisdom and
this and that. No one asks you the hard questions
anymore. In fact, it would be embarrassing to
ask some of you people the hard questions because,
I mean, you're so mature, you're so godly, you
would never have those thoughts, right? Wrong.
And so we never outgrow the need for personal
accountability. And the greater the responsibility
you have, either spiritually, family -wise, and
by the way, when I say leaders, ladies, don't
click into that. Some of you will. I do most
of my leading at home. Is that not like the most
important leadership role? Isn't that all future
generations? So, you know, I need this, you need
this. There's great pressure as you lead and
therefore great opportunity for compromise. So
the first reason is you never outgrow it. The
second reason that we need biblical accountability.
for spiritual success is because past successes
are no guarantee of future faithfulness. Past
successes. I mean, and this is very subtle. I've
been walking with God for years. I read my Bible.
I pray. I go to church. My family's done this.
And you know what? I mean, I'm a man or, you
know, I have a few little struggles here and
there, but I'm not having big problems with internet.
I mean, hey, you know, lighten up, guy. I mean,
I'm just, I'm okay. Past successes are no guarantee
of future faithfulness. And you say, well, where
do you get that? I get it from what Paul said.
After Paul just finished telling me, I'm afraid
I might blow it, he reaches back into the Old
Testament, and he's going to go back and look
at, wow, let's take a look at the Israelites,
and let's get some lessons from them about people
that had some pretty cool experiences. I mean,
that's in past success. How would you like to
be on the, I went through the Red Sea team and
got a t -shirt at the end. Hey, I was there.
Or the, I was on the manna team, 40 years. You
know, a little picture over here, you know, a
little logo that says, you know, I ate special
kind of bread for 40 years and never. Or how
about, I was on the, I watched Corey get swallowed
up, you know, on team, you know? Remember that
part? Or remember, or maybe the group that has
a little insignia of a snake. Remember when those
people were grumbling and the serpents and...
I mean, oh yes, I was on the fire by night and
the Shekinah glory by day team. Do you realize
how many amazing, overwhelming, supernatural
experiences the children of Israel had? I want
to tell you something, but write this down. Your
spiritual experiences will not sustain you. God's
works will not sustain you. Only his ways will
sustain you. And this is in the notes, but jot
down Psalm 103, seven. After that great introduction
about not forgetting and blessing the Lord, there's
almost a weird verse because like, where does
this fit? It's the hinge of that Psalm. And after
he talks about remembering all of God's works,
his works, his works, his works, his works, and
then after verse seven, it's all about his character,
his faithfulness, his love, as far as the east
is from the west, you know, all that. There's
this funny verse. He made known his ways to Moses,
his acts to the sons of Israel. God's acts. You
know, he healed your boy of cancer. They came
through the car wreck. You didn't go into bankruptcy.
I mean, these amazing acts, we could pile them
up. God's done so many things and yet two months
later, two years later, you have a crisis, what
happens? Oh God, where are you? That's no different
than the Red Sea and the manna and the serpents
and all the rest. It's his ways that sustain
you. That's why Moses wasn't saying, God, give
me one more great experience. He said, Lord,
I wanna see your glory. I want to know you. I
want to know what you're like. I want to know
your heart. So he reaches back in the Old Testament
and notice the connecting word for. He's giving
a reason. He says that I should be disqualified
because Paul's looking back and saying, if those
people with those amazing experiences can get
disqualified, who am I? He says, for I do not
want you to be unaware, brethren, that our fathers
were all under the cloud. They all passed through
the sea. And they were all baptized into Moses
in the cloud and the sea. And they all ate the
same spiritual food, the manna, and they drank
the same spiritual drink. For they were drinking
from a spiritual rock which followed them, and
the rock was Christ. Underline the next word,
nevertheless. Nevertheless, with most of them,
God was not well pleased, for they were laid
low in the wilderness. Walking with God in the
past is no... guarantee that you'll walk with
him in the future. Yesterday's experiences do
not make you useful for tomorrow. There is no
such thing as spiritual autopilot. We now have
him, we're at 30 ,000 feet, if you can lean back,
put up your slate tray, boop, you will walk with
God until you die. Wrong. You're either growing
or shrinking spiritually. For all of us. You
could tell me stories of some of your great heroes.
a pastor, a mentor, a church leader, that, I
mean, you just, I mean, somewhere in your spiritual
journey, they were like, whoa, someday, someway,
I want to be. And right now, they're a moral
failure, right? And we all have at least one,
I've got more than a few, of people that I will
tell you far more gifted than me, love God far
more than me, who are not only not in the ministry,
but they're not married to the same person or
involved in horrendous things. I mean, there's
people that have led thousands of people to Christ
and had amazing impact who somewhere along the
line thought there was a new set of rules for
them. Doesn't really apply to me. I'm under a
lot of pressure. I have a little more freedom
than other people. And boy, it's sad. The third
reason is because we constantly underestimate
the power of our own. sinful passions. I mean,
it begs the question, well, how? How can some
of the most committed, gifted people in all the
body of Christ, both in Bible times and our times,
how in the world can you get off track? And hopefully
in your heart of hearts, you're saying, I don't
ever want to get off track, and I don't know
how I could get off track, but gosh, if Paul
thinks he could get off track, and if all those
people, the nation of Israel got off track, and
some people that were my heroes got off track,
I guess I could. But how? I mean, what happens?
You and I underestimate the power of our own
sinful passions. So let me ask you, do you have
genuine, authentic relationships to keep you
personally accountable? I mean, I use the illustration
of David, a man after God's own heart. I mean,
a man who knew God's word, a man that God used
to actually speak God's word to us. If he can
blow it in the right circumstances, at a weak
time, in a moment where his guard is down, that's
true of all of us. And so I want to ask you two
questions. Number one, where are you most vulnerable?
And number two, do you have at least one person
in your life? Let them see the good, the bad,
and the ugly. Know that you will not be judged
and get the secrets out and say, I need help.
Will you help me keep my commitments to God?
Do you have that person in your life? We all
need that person. Otherwise, You do slip. You
do struggle. It starts with a little thought.
It starts with just an idea. And then it begins
to germinate in your heart. And then you act
on it in some very small little way. And maybe
it's a visual issue or a financial issue or,
you know, a coveting issue. And then it starts
to grow inside your heart and inside your mind.
And then the enemy creeps in and begins to bring
the condemnation. And you call yourself a Christian
and then begins to entice what could happen and
how sweet it would be and what you can have.
you in a period of days and weeks and months
you can have an interior and an exterior life
that are going two completely different directions
and then you think it could never happen to you
you would never seriously do that whatever that
is and yet you find You make a mistake in a moment
of weakness with the right circumstances that
destroys your life, destroys your relationships,
mars God's reputation. And so I appeal to you
today, what is the area where you're most vulnerable?
Is it lust of the flesh? Is it lust of the eyes?
Is it the pride of life? I mean, is it the wanting
of more? Is it work? Is it money? Is it sex?
Or is it being a big shot? I don't know what
it is. We all struggle. Identify it today and
then find one close friend. Maybe you even have
to make a phone call. Maybe it's an old college
roommate. Maybe it's a pastor that you had at
the last church. Find someone that you can be
honest with today and say, here's what's going
on in my life. I just needed to share it openly.
I've asked God to forgive me. Will you help me
keep my commitments to God? Confess your sins
to one another, James says, that you might be
healed. The only thing that keeps me from doing
this personally is my pride. My pride that I
don't want anyone to think that I would, quote,
still struggle in that area or in that way. But
grace flows toward humility. Humble yourself,
therefore, into the mighty hand of God that he
could lift you up. He wants to help you today.
Deal with it. You'll be glad you did. Great word,
Chip. Well, if you've been challenged to deepen
your relationship with God, we'd love to support
you. Go to truespiritualityonline .org and check
out our resources. You can order Chip's popular
book, True Spirituality, get the small group
study, or watch countless helpful videos. All
of these tools were designed to show you the
clear path to becoming a genuine follower of
Christ. So check them out today. The website
again is truespiritualityonline .org. dot org
well chip before we go i can see you're wanting
to jump in here one last time to share something
with our listeners thanks so much dave As we
wrap up today's program, I have to tell you that
one of the greatest things that happens through
Living on the Edge is people make Jesus the Lord
of their life. And I've read literally thousands
of emails. And the change that happens is just
absolutely amazing. And it's a chain reaction.
And so I just want to thank all of you that support
the ministry financially. Because when someone
makes Jesus Lord, their marriage changes, their
parenting changes, who shows up at work changes.
Thank you very, very much for your financial
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us next time as Chip continues his series, Balancing
Life's Demands. Until then, I'm Dave Drewy saying
thanks for listening to this edition of Living
on the Edge.