Friendship & Accountability
July 1, 1996
At a medical school graduation, the emcee said, "No one graduating today
could have survived medical school without family and friends." That's even
more true in pastoral work. In ministry, as the writer of Ecclesiastes says,
"If one falls down, his friend can help him up. But pity the man who falls
and has no one to help him up!"
But how do we find relationships that feed the soul, provide strength in
weakness, and lovingly confront when necessary? One pastor confessed recently,
"I often feel as if I am pastor to everyone and friend to no one." The articles
in this section help you build friendships and develop healthy accountability.
FRIENDSHIP. In Friends to Die For(p. 22), Scotty Smith, Scott
Roley, and Michael Card talk candidly about their friendship-and its by-product,
accountability. Then Mike Yaconelli tells of his startling realization,
I Don't Have Any Friends(p. 41).
In Training with a Championship Coach(p. 54), Chuck Swindoll
and pastor Bob Roberts, Jr., reflect on what a mentor gave them; Fred Smith
lists seven questions to ask in looking for a mentor.
ACCOUNTABILITY. In a searchingly honest article,Why I Resist
Accountability, psychiatrist Louis McBurney explores our natural
resistance to forthright relationships (p. 34). He writes, "Fear of rejection
often makes accountability scary." Randy Alcorn addresses one such scary
issue—sexual temptations—in Strategies to Keep from Falling
(p. 46).
Finally, in Four Ways I've Found Encouragement (p. 43),
Presbyterian pastor Heidi Husted shares what has kept her from burning out.
Last Updated: September 17, 1996
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