Innocent as doves - and shrewd as snakes

We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift. For we are taking pains to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of man. 2 Corinthians 8:20-21

At one point in my ministry we employed a young man to work with us as assistant pastor and youth worker. He was as sincere and enthusiastic as you could wish to find, and threw himself whole-heartedly into his responsibilities. Both I and the church as a whole trusted him totally.

So I was a little embarrassed when he insisted, every week, on giving me a full account of what he had been doing and how he had been spending his time.

“You don’t need to do this!” I told him. “We trust you!” But he wouldn’t have it. As he saw it, he was paid by the church and also answerable to the church, so it was important to him not only to do what was right, but also to be seen to do what was right. Never once did I feel the need to check up on the information he gave me; but the point was that I could have done if need be.

I could only respect and admire him. And his attitude taught me an important lesson. You could sum it up in a single word, albeit a rather clumsy and not very exciting one: accountability. To be accountable is to be responsible and answerable; indeed, as the word implies, happy to give an account if required.

The apostle Paul was many things: preacher, teacher, missionary, church-planter, pastor, letter-writer, to name the main ones. But it’s easy to overlook another role he took very seriously: fund-raiser.

In Romans 15:25-29 he refers to a collection he is organising “for the poor among the Lord’s people in Jerusalem”. It seems that the church there (what we might call the “mother” church of Christianity) had fallen on hard times, and Paul wanted the churches he had founded to offer financial support.

This is the background to 2 Corinthians 8-9, where (without actually mentioning the word!) Paul talks about money and how it should be handled in the church. And what comes across in 8:20-22 is that he is very keen to be properly accountable: “We want to avoid any criticism of the way we administer this liberal gift... we are taking pains to do what is right not only in the eyes of the Lord but also in the eyes of man”.

Among other things, this involved making use of respected delegates approved “by all the churches” (that’s Titus, verses 16-17, and two other unnamed “brothers”, verses 18 and 22) to be responsible for actually delivering to the Jerusalem church the cash collected.

That happened two thousand years ago. But it’s right up to date for us today, because the plain fact is that churches are not always what they should be when it comes to accountability.

This isn’t just about money - though we are all familiar, I’m sure, with those stories the papers love to print (and who can blame them?) about church treasurers who help themselves to the funds. And, of course, especially in recent years, it’s about sex - barely a week seems to go by without reports of some grim new scandal.

It’s relevant, in general terms, to questions of responsibility and leadership. Because a church is (or should be) a community of love and trust, there’s a tendency to not ask questions that sometimes need to be asked, to turn blind eyes rather than cause any embarrassment.

Those of us who occupy (or, in my case, who have occupied) leadership positions need to take notice. We are well used to the corny jokes when the hardships of work are being discussed: “Of course, you wouldn’t know what we’re talking about - after all, you only work one day a week” (ha-very-ha). But we need to recognise that sometimes “truth may be spoken in jest”.

Just occasionally some bold and cheery soul may come right out with it - “What do you actually do all week?” - but I suspect  it’s pretty rare. But why shouldn’t they? Certainly that youth worker I started with wouldn’t have had any objection.

The principle is simple: leaders need to be held to account, and this means that those who are led are perfectly entitled - and indeed right - to hold us to account. Do it, of course, with love, respect and humility (please!); but if you don’t do it, who will? And if you don’t do it, who knows what horrible unpleasantness or even scandal might be brewing a year or two down the line?

Ultimately, of course, it is to God himself that all of us are answerable. But, as Paul puts it with crystal clarity, we are “to do what is right, not only in the eyes of the Lord, but also in the eyes of man”.

Doing things “properly” may sometimes be a bit boring, and may seem “worldly” or “unspiritual”. But it matters; it really does.

Lord God, help all of us in your church, whatever our position, to speak and act with total honesty, integrity and accountability - to be, as Jesus said, as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Amen.