Initial Interview
Why accountability?
1 1)
What do you believe about the Bible, prayer and
being led by the Holy Spirit? Do you
think your views would line up with the beliefs of most of the leadership in
this church? Do you have any
applications of God’s word that you think might be unique to you? Do you think the rest of modern day
Christians are wrong about certain things? What do you believe Christ’s death and
resurrection did to our requirement to follow the law? If we are under grace rather than the law
then to what benefit do we have in continuing to submit ourselves to the law? If we are no longer under the full Islamic
law of the Old Testament. How do you
know what aspects of the law you are to follow and what aspects are not
required? If God is still the same
yesterday, today and forever then does this age of grace allow us to be in
God’s presence, and be guided by His word and Spirit if we live continually
seeking grace without true repentance?
Do you have aspects of your lifestyle that you know are against God’s
law that you choose to participate in regularly. For example:
Everyone in my family explodes at the drop of a hat that is just how we
are. God made me this way. Therefore you have stopped repenting and
trying to change. Not only have you
stopped repenting you now justify and defend your behavior. Are you open to re-evaluating your
justifications in light of God’s word and guidance of the Holy Spirit?
*You may need to stop and reassure the person you are
interviewing that you are not trying to judge them. They may be afraid to answer honestly if they
struggle with wrong thinking about God’s word.
Remind them that you are only here to help them see themselves in light
of God’s word. It will be their choice
to allow the Holy Spirit to convict. It
is important as the interviewer to NOT try and persuade them to right
thinking. Speak truth, from the
Word. If you sense resistance write a
note to yourself that this is an area of you will pray for them to have a break
through. Remind yourself you have sewn
God’s seed, you must water it with prayer and possible fasting. Resorting to many words to convince them will
only fuel their fire to defend their position.*
2)
2) What do you believe the bible says about the
standard leaders are to be held to?
Let’s have a look at some verses.
OK now that we know, let’s unpack these verses. How do you see that you measure up? Is God calling us to a level of perfection no
man can attain? If not, what are we to
do when we have moments, days or season where we are not meeting this
standard? Is our only choice to step
down, hide it or quit? If not what are
our options?
3) 3)
Do you believe that accountability could help
you be the leader God intended you to be?
4) 4)
What hang-ups or preconceived ideas do you have
about accountability that makes it less than desirable? For example I already have a nagging wife, I
know my faults all too well, and my dad never stopped pointing them out. What I like about being an adult is not
answering to anyone. Be prepared to show
empathy and reinforce that criticism is not in and of itself helpful for growth. Be prepared to share verses about how
authority misused to dominate causes pain and suffering. Be prepared to pray and break the lies that
have been spoken over this person. You
may want to set a separate time to pray and seek God’s healing as you don’t
want to move to quickly and negate the Holy Spirits moving.
5) 5)
What do you think good accountability would look
like? Have you ever experienced it?
What would you be accountable for?
6) 1)
What does your quiet time look like? How often and for how long do you
read/pray/praise. What do you do to
apply God’s word? How often do you feel
inspired by the word? How often do you
find yourself caught up by the Holy Spirit?
Delighted to be in God’s presence?
How often are you thinking about other things, bombarded with other
thoughts, not able to even remember the words you have read? Tell me of a time in your life when your
quite time really spoke to you? What was
different? In light of this conversation
what do you want your quiet time to look like and how do you want me to keep
you accountable? *Help your interviewee
to stretch themselves but be practical.
7)
2) What does your relationships with your wife and children look like? Do you have areas in the way you respond to them that troubles you or them? *Redirect the conversation if they try and point fingers at the poor behavior of those in their family. For example: Wow that would be hard to deal with. I can see how that would be frustrating. Let’s look at how you respond when that happens. Is it helping or hurting the situation? Also if they bring up major issues you may want to refer them to getting some outside help.* Now that we have reflected on how you react to your family what would you like to be held accountable for? *Keep this to a short list if they are seeing need for much change. Remind them that trying to change too much at once would most likely lead them to a path of failure. Now have them share what they are doing right in there relationships. Add this to your list. You want them to share the good they are doing weekly as well as the areas they struggle with.
2) What does your relationships with your wife and children look like? Do you have areas in the way you respond to them that troubles you or them? *Redirect the conversation if they try and point fingers at the poor behavior of those in their family. For example: Wow that would be hard to deal with. I can see how that would be frustrating. Let’s look at how you respond when that happens. Is it helping or hurting the situation? Also if they bring up major issues you may want to refer them to getting some outside help.* Now that we have reflected on how you react to your family what would you like to be held accountable for? *Keep this to a short list if they are seeing need for much change. Remind them that trying to change too much at once would most likely lead them to a path of failure. Now have them share what they are doing right in there relationships. Add this to your list. You want them to share the good they are doing weekly as well as the areas they struggle with.
8)
3) What does your relationship with yourself look like? For example: Do you push yourself to hard, do you lack self-discipline, do you have emotional issues, depression, mood swings, do you have some “go to” patterns of sin that are waying you down? *I know this may seem heavy. So let’s move on to what you feel you are good at, what you want to keep doing.* so what are the ways you are taking good care of yourself?
3) What does your relationship with yourself look like? For example: Do you push yourself to hard, do you lack self-discipline, do you have emotional issues, depression, mood swings, do you have some “go to” patterns of sin that are waying you down? *I know this may seem heavy. So let’s move on to what you feel you are good at, what you want to keep doing.* so what are the ways you are taking good care of yourself?
9)
4) How are you impacting those you have influence
on? *Let your interviewee know that good
leadership will be a byproduct of them having success in the above 3 areas of
their life. For when we are free from
the entanglements of sin and are listening to God he will lead us to lead. So the abundance of opportunities they have
had to influence or lack thereof will most likely be in direct proportion to
how they pursue God’s path in these areas.
*Now this information should be converted into a concise
bulleted document that can be used by both parties for accountability and
prayer. Now establish how and when you
will meet. You may decide to meet
electronically weekly and just once a month face to face. Be realistic.
You want this to be a help not a burden.
The interview process should be the longest meeting you have. I recommend giving each person only 5-10
minutes per topic. If a topic seems like
it needs more time table it. Then after
both parties have shared in all areas you can decide if you have time to
revisit the tabled topics. You don’t
want either party to be short changed nor do you want time to become a burden.
