We’re still celebrating the Christmas season and the New Year, so here’s a classic issue from the first day of 2008!
In a wide-ranging interview with a series of megachurch pastors for Outreach, Craig Groeschel (senior pastor of LifeChurch.tv in Edmond, Okla.) talks about the steps he takes to be accountable in his personal and ministry life: “I have an intricate system of checks and balances. A while ago, my mentor and accountability partner had an affair, and he stepped down from ministry. A few years later when I started LifeChurch.tv, he asked to come and work for me, and I had him sit on the bench for a year. Well, he ended up stealing money from the offering as an usher. I confronted him on it, and he killed himself. It rattled my world. I saw what sin could do.
“Today, my life is set up so it would be very hard to fail, not because I plan on failing, but because I plan on not failing. My Internet access is monitored. I have no access to the finances here. My salary is set by lay people. I haven’t been alone with a woman besides my wife in I don’t know how long. I never travel anywhere alone. Every moment of my day is kept accountable by someone.”
What steps will you you take as a church leader in 2014 to be accountable and to avoid moral lapses?
Blessings!