Good accountability draws us into the presence of God in prayer. Why? Because only at the throne of grace before our merciful Father can we plead for escape from temptation, for holiness, and for restoration.

Looking back at my former life as a Roman Catholic in New England, I can almost smell the varnish and stale cushions of the confessional booth. I would walk into the wooden box slumped over with guilt; a few minutes later, I would walk out standing tall. In my own mind, I had unloaded my guilt before God at the feet of the priest. He listened to my confession through the latticed opening in the thin wall. After a few rote declarations and a prescription of prayers, I believed my sinful slate was wiped clean. My hope in those days can be summed up in just two words: Rinse. Repeat.

But accountability shouldn’t work this way. It’s not a mechanical transaction that washes away our guilt. The ultimate aim of any accountability should be to lead us into the presence of the only One who grants grace.

In other words, most of our accountability, though sincere, is too horizontal. It needs more of God. It’s easy to become so focused on policing one another’s sins that God becomes an afterthought. It’s also easy to “keep it light” and largely avoid talk of our sin and God’s holiness. Both errors are problematic. If we act as the sin police, we’ll eventually become legalists. If we fail to address sin, we’ll become antinomian.

We need to foster better, more vertical accountability in our churches. How do we do that?

1.Good accountability is deadly serious about sin

John writes that God is light, and good accountability is serious about shining light into the dark corners of sin. We can define accountability as partnering together to walk in the light (1 John 1:5–7).

God is holy. His warnings against pride and pornography are severe. To the untrained ear, they may seem harsh, like the blare of a smoke alarm at 2 a.m. But God’s warnings issue forth from his covenant love.

It may seem strange to meet at the local coffee shop or in our living rooms to meditate on God’s utter hatred and judgment of sin. The last thing we may want to do is meditate with another believer on the first half of Romans 6:23 (“For the wages of sin is death…”) or the warning passages in Hebrews. But love demands that we warn each other of where sin ultimately leads.

It’s worth considering the rhythms or structures of accountability in your life. For instance, have you ever sat down with a brother or sister struggling with pornography and loved them enough to sound the alarm of 1 Corinthians 6:9–10?

Or do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God?

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