We are Accountable

Accountable

Rodney Gehman / 2 Corinthians 2:1-11 / June 8, 2025

[ 001 ] Jodi and I have four children, and when our youngest daughter was probably 4 or 5, she showed up at my desk with some of my wife’s makeup, and said "dad, can we use this?" Now my wife is not someone who keeps a lot of makeup on hand, and for that reason, she doesn’t like to waste what little she does have, and I sort of figured the answer would probably have been no. “Dad, can we use this?” So, I said, “what does mommy usually say?" Scarlett looked away and said, "She usually doesn't see."

We’re on week two of our summer sermon series called “Our Identity as Disciples”, and today, the part of being a disciple that we’re talking about is a word we don’t use very often – [ 002 ] the word “accountable.” You can define the word “accountable” as an obligation to explain, justify, and take responsibility for one's actions, and to answer to someone, such as a person with more authority. It’s about taking responsibility, and answering to someone with more authority, which was the battle for our daughter that day. Do I ask dad? Or just try and get away with it again?

This word accountable, or “accountability” is a word our culture bucks against pretty hard these days. We don’t like the idea of have to justify ourselves or explain ourselves to someone else, or submitting to authority. One of the TV shows I used to really be into was the comedy show The Office, and one of the characters on the show gave a great one-liner that my wife and I still toss around from time to time, where this character was talking about transitioning from one boss to another. And he said, “I want guidance, I want leadership, but don’t just boss me around. Lead me. Lead me… when I’m in the mood to be led.”

That pretty much sums up accountability in our culture. I’ll be accountable when I feel like it. But one of the pieces of our identity as disciples is that we are accountable – not only to the Lord, but as we’ll see today, we’re also accountable to each other. So we’re going into 2 Corinthians chapter 2, where we will take a look at Christian accountability, we’ll look at the goal and motivation for accountability, and wrap it up with a section on forgiveness. But before we dive in, let’s go to the Lord in prayer. [ 003 ]

PRAY

So, we’re all pretty new to 2 Corinthians, so here’s a little bit of info to set things up, and maybe the timeline on the screen can help you. [ 004 ] Paul had started this Jesus community in Corinth, in what is modern day Greece sometime ago on one of his missionary journeys (which we read about back in Acts chapter 18). And after moving on, Paul got a report that things were not going well with this new church. So he wrote the letter that we call "first Corinthians" to correct these problems. And it appears that many in the church rejected Paul's teaching in that letter and rebelled against his authority. They didn’t do what he asked them to do.

And we don’t know exactly what happened, but it appears that a man in the Corinthian church had committed some act of aggression, immorality, or injustice against someone else, and Paul apparently followed up 1 Corinthians by going there in person in what he calls "the painful visit.” Again, we don’t know much about this situation, but based on the verses we’re looking at in 2 Corinthians 2 today, it seems like Paul probably caused some pain to the church leaders through rebuke, like come on guys, quit sleeping on the job here, AND it also appears like Paul might have also experienced some sorrow and grief himself during the painful visit.

Paul apparently had asked the Corinthian church to carry out church discipline on this man who had sinned – basically, removing him from the fellowship of the church until he repented and made things right. And it seems that most of the Corinthian listened to Paul’s advice, they agreed that they needed to discipline the sinner here, but didn’t actually take action on it. So he was in Macedonia now, hoping that he could stop by Corinth on his way home, and celebrate with them because of the action they took, and how it brought about repentance.

But that must have not happened right away, because at the end of chapter 1, Paul basically says, it’s good I didn’t stop in to see you because it would have been another painful visit. I didn’t want to have to come and cause more pain to you all, so I spared you the pain, and [ 005 ]chapter 2:4, 4 For I wrote to you with many tears out of an extremely troubled and anguished heart—not to cause you pain, but that you should know the abundant love I have for you.

You don’t need to raise your hands for this, but I’m guessing many of you grew up in homes like I did, where your parents would tell you, in a moment of painful discipline, “This hurts me more than it hurts you.” And when we were on the receiving side of the discipline, we never understood that. But when you’re on the giving end, it makes total sense. That’s exactly the motivation for Paul’s tearful letter there in verse 4 – he’s telling them in different words, this hurts me more than it hurts you.

That tear soaked letter seems to have done the trick, the Corinthian church did what they were encouraged to do, it worked, and the sinner must have repented, and now Paul is writing what we call 2 Corinthians.

So if you’re completely lost by everything I just said, [ 006 ] here’s what you need to know: A guy in the Corinthian church committed some kind of public sin and they didn’t deal with it. Paul had to get serious with the church leaders so the problem didn’t bring about more pain to the body, because this guy’s sin was affecting everyone. [ 007 ] Look at 2 Corinthians 2:5 “If anyone has caused pain, he has caused pain not so much to me but to some degree—not to exaggerate—to all of you.”

Based on that verse, here’s point #1 today:

We are accountable to each other

Of course, we are accountable to the Lord, first of all. Hebrews 4:13 says “No creature is hidden from him, but all things are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give an account.” That means one day all of us will stand in front of the x-ray machine that is God’s blazing holiness and infinite wisdom, and have to own and explain our choices and our actions, answering to a higher authority. That’s first, and should be motivation enough to live a holy life.

[ 008 ] But we are also accountable to each other. What do I mean by that?

Well, think about the musicians that were up here this morning – for the music to be good enough that we all know what song it is, what key it’s in, how fast to sing it, they all have to submit to each other and work together, even if one of them is called the leader.

If Amy goes plowing ahead on the keyboard, or Jackson just speeds up the song or slows it down right in the middle of the chorus, it all becomes a little chaotic. They are accountable to each other to stay on time, follow each other, and be in the right key.

Right now, both professional basketball and professional hockey is in the championship series, and after every game, you listen to the players being interviewed and it’s the same answer every time – well, we played good defense, we stuck together, we had some ups and downs along the way but we stuck it out. The other team is tough, that’s a good group over there, but we won.

Why do they say the same thing every time? Because they answer to others for their words. If they say something that hurts a teammate, the locker room will let them know. If they trash the officials, the league will fine them. If they get into it with the fans, they might be suspended. Because they are responsible for their words and their actions.

So when we use the word accountable, I don’t mean we’re accountable in terms of we all have to toe the line and follow the rules – I mean we’re accountable relationally to each other. We belong to each other. We answer to each other for what we do and say.

And for us in Western culture, we hate that, because we think ultimate freedom is being able to do and say whatever you want, post whatever you want, whenever you want, with whomever you want. We worship the idol of self-sufficiency. You know how I know? Every one of us in the room is happy to help someone else move or clean their house, but not many of us (maybe none of us) will call a single person to come help with ours. I’ll throw myself under the bus right now – I have a tree down in my yard that needs to be cut and split in the next 2 weeks, and I haven’t called anyone to help me.

We wear self-sufficiency like a badge of honor. “Do you need help?” Someone asks? “No, I think we can get it, we’re close,” we reply. We are so full of pride in this area, we would rather be stressed out, snowed under, and overwhelmed, than humble ourselves and ask for help. We know Acts 20 says it’s more blessed to give than to receive, but in our pride, we don’t give someone else the opportunity to experience the blessing of giving to us. Get your blessing somewhere else with someone who actually needs the help.

And when it really comes down to it, if you want to cut up your own tree, or do your own projects, fine, go right ahead. Whatever. It’s not necessarily a sin to cut up a tree by yourself.

But here’s what I think verse 5 is getting at, is that because I have associated myself with River City Church, my pride in not letting anyone help, me even if they ask, is a contradiction to what I say I believe about the body of Christ, where we belong to each other, love one another, help one another, care for one another, and by association, my pride reflects poorly on all of you.

If you post something online that is sexually suggestive or racist or politically divisive, we all feel a little uneasy – why? Because you’re one of us! If one of you runs a business or sells things online, but you start under-cutting, over-pricing, going back on your word – because of your association with River City Church, the whole body will pay the price for that sin to some degree. Look again at [ 009 ] 2 Corinthians 2:5 “If anyone has caused pain, he has caused pain not so much to me (Not just to one person) but to some degree—not to exaggerate—to all of you.”

You’re all familiar with the sayings, “you do you,” or “whatever floats your boat,” which basically means, hey just do whatever you want, it’s your life. The early church rejected that attitude wholeheartedly in their discipleship programs, saying, our only hope in life and death is that we are not our own, but we belong to God.

So there are a couple things we learn here, before we move on to point #2. And that is,

Sin isn’t something you just wink at. Open and unconfessed sin, especially between members of the church, is deadly serious, and will grow like cancer in a church if it’s not dealt with.

Another thing we learn is that leaders have a responsibility to deal with the sin, but in verse 24 of chapter 1, Paul says we who are leaders are accountable to you the body to not use our positions of leadership inappropriately. We don’t get to just go around as if we are the lords with all the authority and you all are the subjects. Nor is that how it should be in discipleship groups or among friends, where we’re just always pointing out each other’s sin. Even Jesus didn’t come into the world to condemn it by going from city to city, saying “I know what you did, and who you really are, and what you did.” No, He came to save the world and restore it. He says there in verse 24, the goal of this whole thing is your joy! And that joy comes through repentance and restoration.

[ 010 ] That’s main point #2:

2. Our Goal is Restoration; Our Motivation is Love

Back to this man who had sinned in the Corinthian church – Paul’s goal isn’t to kick him out of the church so they never have to look at him again, or because he’s somehow a worse sinner than all the proud and greedy people in the pews. The goal is restoration! He wants to see this guy restored to Christian fellowship through loving accountability. And apparently, that’s actually what happened! That seems to be what he means in [ 011 ] verse 6, This punishment by the majority is sufficient for that person. You don’t need to add more. He has repented now. The discipline worked! It accomplished it’s goal! [ 011-2 ] 7 As a result, you should instead forgive and comfort him. Otherwise, he may be overwhelmed by excessive grief. [ 011-3 ] 8 Therefore I urge you to reaffirm your love to him.

The goal of accountability in discipleship is to restore a brother or sister. We believe the good news that God has moved toward us in love, to restore us – to reconcile us back to God. That’s what we preach as a church whenever we preach the life, death and resurrection of Jesus. That’s what we rejoice in every time we participate in the Lord’s Supper together. The heartbeat of the church is the Lamb who was slain, who reconciled us back to God. It’s even our theme verse as a church, which we’ll study in a few weeks [ 012 ] from 2 Corinthians 5:20 ...we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us. We plead on Christ’s behalf, “Be reconciled to God.””

The goal is reconciliation! The goal is that you are back in right relationship to God! But what should motivate us to work toward that goal? Well, there’s two clues already in the next:

Look again back at [ 013 ] 2 Corinthians 1:23 “I call on God as a witness, on my life, that it was to spare you that I did not come to Corinth.” I wanted to spare you unnecessary pain. What does that say about Paul, that he doesn’t want to hurt them any more than necessary? It speaks of his love for them. He cares about them.

And secondly, [ 014 ] in chapter 2 verse 7, “As a result, you should instead forgive and comfort him. Otherwise, he may be overwhelmed by excessive grief.” What does that say about Paul, where he doesn’t want this guy to be overwhelmed by excessive grief? It means he loves him! He cares about him! Even though he’s calling him out for sin, he doesn’t want to wound more than necessary, and he wants the whole church to be quick to comfort him and forgive him.

So having love as our motivation means even when we are pointing out sin, or speaking the truth, we don’t want to cause any more pain than absolutely necessary. Why? Because we don’t want to see people overwhelmed with grief. Remember, the goal is to see sinners restored. And when the person repents, back to 2:7-8, we are quick to forgive. Comfort. Welcome. Receive. Reaffirm.

So Paul has encouraged them to discipline the sinner, apparently they have. He was hoping for repentance, and apparently it has happened. So now, he encourages them to forgive, to comfort, to welcome, and reaffirm your love for the sinner. [ 015 ]

9 I wrote for this purpose: to test your character to see if you are obedient in everything. He wants to see if they will be obedient in everything. I think part of the reason here is that

Sometimes, the easy part is the punishment. You’re so angry and so hurt that you just want to see justice done. You just want to see that person gone, or at least in pain like you are, or that they know the truth of the damage they have done to you, how much they’ve hurt you. You’re not afraid to be obedient to call out the sin, but as Paul mentions in verse 9, will you be obedient in everything? Will you also be obedient to forgive? Will you also be obedient to restore? Will you also be obedient to not cause overwhelming sorrow, to not cause more pain than necessary? Will we comfort with the same force that we rebuke?

Sometimes it’s the other way. Sometimes the easy part is the welcome, the comfort, the forgiveness. We just don’t want to make things a big deal, just sweep it under the rug, don’t have the hard conversation, it’s all love – is it? Will you be obedient enough to love someone by saying hard things, knowing it’ll cause pain – but also with the goal of repentance and restoration?

I know our reputation as a church here at River City is that we’re good at welcoming and comforting, and I don’t ever want that to be diminished in the slightest. But being disciples that are accountable to each other also means we have to say hard things at times. There may be times we have to ask someone to leave the church for a while until they repent, because their continual disregard for Jesus causes pain to the whole body.

Secondly, [ 015-2 ] verse 10, 10 Anyone you forgive, I do too. For what I have forgiven—if I have forgiven anything—it is for your benefit in the presence of Christ…

Forgiveness is not just for the person you’re forgiving. This person in the Corinthian church apparently is repentant, right? That always means they are coming to you saying they are sorry, wanting to make things right. So when someone has sinned against us, forgiveness isn’t just about them knowing you forgive them – it’s for your benefit in the presence of Christ. It frees you to see Jesus for who he really is. It frees you from the burden of bitterness and resentment. It frees you from the daily weight of anxious anger that can blow up your entire life. It frees you to be restful and joyful in the presence of Jesus, because you have released that concern to Him.

And thirdly, [ 015-3 ] from verse 11 so that we may not be taken advantage of by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes.

Forgiveness is an act of War

Someone who has been sinned against looks at you and says, “Why should I forgive them for what they did? I don’t care if they are sorry – I don’t believe them. They haven’t groveled with their face in the dust enough. I want answers and action, not more I’m sorry! Why should I forgive?!” And right here in verse 11 is the answer: so that you are not taken advantage of by Satan.

Satan knows that the church is tied together by the Spirit. He knows we are accountable to each other. He knows that our sin doesn’t just affect us, but the entire body. He knows that when a believer forgives another believer, we are acting out the gospel – rehearsing the story of how Jesus forgave us of all of our sin, carrying it as far from us as the east is from the west! How he prayed for his executioners from the cross, Father, forgive them – they don’t know what they are doing. Satan knows that when we forgive each other, we are emphatically saying to the powers of darkness, that we would rather follow Jesus into death than obey our own flesh, and grieve the Holy Spirit.

[ 016 ] For that reason, FORGIVENESS IS AN ACT OF WAR against the enemy of your souls.

Ephesians 6 tells us about the armor of God, and who our battle is really against – that it’s not against other humans, but against real spiritual beings, and it says to strap up with the helmet of salvation, the breastplate of righteousness, the shield of faith, the sword of the Spirit, the belt of Truth, the shoes of readiness – why? So that you can take your stand against the schemes of the devil. Right? Because our battle isn’t against each other, it’s against him.

Back to 2 Corinthians 2:11: why should we forgive? “So that we may not be taken advantage of by Satan. For we are not ignorant of his schemes.” Same word. According to Paul, here in 2 Corinthians 2, the reason you should suit up with the armor of God is so that you can take your stand against the unforgiveness, bitterness, and resentment that those powers of darkness want to work into your heart.

Paul’s like, we’re not ignorant of his schemes. We know what Satan is up to. He wants to destroy the people of God, he always has. And we know that he uses division, and bitterness, and unforgiveness, and the lies of self-sufficiency to do it. This isn’t news to any of us.

So Paul says, suit up! James says RESIST HIM! And one of the ways we can proactively resist the devil is by being willingly accountable to each other, realizing that our actions and attitudes affect the church as a whole. So we willingly make ourselves accountable and let others speak the truth to us, and humbly receive correction without retaliation or bitterness, being quick to repent, because we want to know how we can love the people around us more!

We also speak the truth in love to others, but making extra sure to not cause any more pain than necessary when we do. We don’t want to see our friends in overwhelming grief because we hammered them so hard. We want to see them restored, affirming our love for them, and making sure they know that we want them close to us again. And when they repent, we quickly forgive them, comfort them, and welcome them back to fellowship. That’s how you resist the devil. That’s how we do warfare together. That’s why we put on the armor. That’s how we take our stand against the devil who wants nothing more than division and backstabbing and gossip and bitterness to take root in the church.

Once again, Jesus is our example. How was he accountable? Multiple times throughout the book of John, Jesus says, I only do what the Father tells me to do. I only say what he tells me to say. That’s probably what he’s doing late at night when he’s in prayer – Father, help me to not get ahead of you, but only do and say what you want me to do and say. The goal of Jesus coming to earth and showing us the Father, was reconciliation and redemption, meaning, every time we work to help restore a sinner, we are rehearsing the gospel to ourselves and to each other.

And we’re not left on our own to try and figure out how to do it. God has given us his Holy Spirit to guide us, convict us, strengthen us, comfort us, and to remind us of how much we’ve been forgiven, remind us of how much we need grace in our own lives, and to let love lead the way.

[ 017 ] So as we go to the Lord in prayer this morning, first of all, I encourage you to look around at the people next to you. Make eye contact with someone. Give them the old Midwest nod, if it makes it less awkward. Smile at someone.

If we are in Christ, we belong to each other. So first all of, in prayer, just begin by thanking the Lord for the people sitting next to you, in front of you, behind you.

[ 017-2 ] Secondly, is there anything I need to repent of? Have I been acting as if I am my own, and will not be accountable to God or anyone else? Is there any unforgiveness, bitterness, division in my heart, where I’m allowing Satan’s schemes to work?

[ 017-3 ] Lastly, remember the good news of the gospel, that when we were far away from Christ, he came to us in truth and in grace. Remember that we don’t earn our way into God’s family, but it’s a gift. Remember that our motivation in calling out sin is love and fellowship and restoration. Remember that the reason we can forgive others is because of how much we’ve been forgiven. And remember that Jesus rose from the dead, he’s alive and well right now, interceding for you and me, our ever present help in time of need.

SOURCES

The Bible Project, 2 Corinthians, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lfPK2vfC54

Paul Barnett, The Message of 2 Corinthians: Power in Weakness, The Bible Speaks Today, (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1988), 43–47.

Albert Barnes, Notes on the New Testament: II Corinthians & Galatians, ed. Robert Frew, (London: Blackie & Son, 1884–1885), 30–38.