A Call to Examine Your Hearts Before General Assembly - Church Accountability Now
"If you are returning to the Lord with all your hearts, then rid yourselves of the foreign gods and the Ashtoreths and commit yourselves to the Lord and serve Him only, and He will deliver you out of the hand of the Philistines." — 1 Samuel 7:3
As we approach the General Assembly beginning June 22, this is not only a time to gather, discuss, or decide. It is also a time to pause before God and ask whether our hearts are prepared for the responsibility before us.
Every generation has its battles. But the first battle is not always the one around us. Many times, it is the one within us.
In 1 Samuel 7, the people wanted God to rescue them from the Philistines. But Samuel did not start by talking about the enemy. He started by calling the people back to God.
He told them to put away their foreign gods and turn their hearts fully to the Lord. Before they could expect victory, they had to face what had been pulling them away.
That still speaks to us now. Much of the damage we see in our churches, our leadership, our communities, and even our silence does not begin outside of us. It begins when we allow things in our hearts, our homes, and our institutions that should never have been left there.
It is easy to talk about what is wrong in the culture, the nation, the church, or the leaders around us. It is harder to ask what has gone unchecked in our own lives. What have we tolerated? What have we excused? What have we refused to confront? Where have we chosen comfort, access, loyalty, fear, or silence over truth?
The idols may look different now, but the struggle is the same. Anything that slowly takes God’s place in our hearts will lead us off course if we leave it there.
Please know this is not about looking righteous on the outside. It is about being honest before God and letting Him deal with what we have allowed to remain. Real accountability begins there.
Before any assembly can lead to renewal, the people entering that assembly must be willing to be searched by God. Accountability cannot only be something we demand from others. It must also be something we welcome for ourselves.
So before June 22, let every member, leader, elder, minister, and witness begin with the same prayer: Lord, examine me first. Show me what I have ignored. Correct what I have justified. Remove what has taken Your place. Prepare my heart to speak, act, listen, and discern in a way that honors You.
Church accountability begins with truth, but truth must begin within.
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