Next Level – Week 3

Accountability | Dec 3 – Dec 9, 2017

Series Big Idea

Next Level friendships help us grow in our relationship with God.

Message Big Idea

Next Level friendships mature with accountability.

Scripture

Galatians 2:11-14

Ice Breaker and Opening Thought

1. If you could have an endless supply of any food, what would you get?
2. Today’s topic is accountability, which is about inviting others into our daily lives to help us pay attention to how we live even when everything seems to be going well. How is this definition similar or different to what normally comes to mind when you hear the word accountability?

Bible Discussion

Read Galatians 2:11–14. This confrontation started because Peter (or Cephas) was discriminating against and excluding Gentiles or non-Jewish people from the meals they were sharing. Even though God had already told Peter not to exclude people because of their ethnicity, Peter didn’t change his behavior until Paul confronted him to his face.

3. What do you suppose would have happened to the early Christian community if this issue hadn’t been addressed?
4. The text says Paul opposed Peter to his face. What do you think that means, and why would it be important to oppose someone to their face rather than by some other means?

Life Application

5. How welcoming are you to accountability in your life? Why?
6. We can get accountability wrong when we don’t fully understand it. Read the statements below and discuss how they might inform the ways we form accountable relationships:
   • Accountability is about inviting not imposing.
   • Accountability is also about hard words, not harsh words.
   • Accountability is about growth, not discipline.
7. In what areas of your life would you welcome more accountability?
8. Who could you ask to hold you accountable?

Challenge

As you think about inviting someone into your life to help you watch yourself, it may help to ask these three questions:
1. What do I want more or less of in my life?
2. Who do I trust to help me watch myself?
3. What am I specifically asking them to do?
As you ask these questions and invite people into your life, know that God will transform your life and as a result transform your relationships. He longs for us to enter into deeper relationships with one another so that he can take us to the next level.