Accountable

Mondays are the worst...what more can be said about that? This Monday, in particular, found your's truly sitting in a large room, listening to some lecture on how to use Crusade's new company credit card. For the uninitiated, we basically have a credit card that is to be used whenever we need to purchase something on behalf of the ministry. I feel bad for the guy giving the group of us the tutorial. He tried not to bore people. Definitely deserves props for that.

I read an article on the ESPN site a week ago and it reminded me of something spiritual. I was pretty amazed at that. The article was about Derek Jeter (for those of you who don't know America's pastime, he plays shortstop for the hated New York Yankees) and his baserunning skills. Here's what I found interesting:

"Jeter made one (baserunning error) as a rookie in 1996. He was caught stealing, the dreaded third out at third base. Manager Joe Torre was livid about such a rookie mistake. A half inning later, after playing in the field, Jeter came in the dugout and sat right next to Torre on the bench. Without saying a word, Jeter was telling his manager, 'here I am, I screwed up, let me have it, I'm accountable.' Torre looked at him, laughed and said 'get out of here.' It was probably the last big mistake Jeter made on the bases."

I'm only a mild Derek Jeter fan, so I don't say this because I have his poster on my wall or own three dozen of his rookie baseball cards...but I think that's a pretty good example of being accountable. We talk about wanting/needing others to hold us accountable, but that really only works if we hold ourselves accountable, too. When I screw up (which is multiple times a day), the last thing that I want to do is to face up to the music. I'd rather go hide and keep to myself, hope that nobody noticed. At the very least, I'd rather just get chewed out and after that, avoid the one that I've wronged or is keeping me accountable. I don't need to look any further than Genesis and Adam's response to God after his sin in order for me to see that this is true of me, too.

It takes a lot to go face up to my mistake and hold myself just as accountable as someone else is. To not hide away and try to avoid it, but to deal with it and grow from it. Derek Jeter may or may not live this way in any other aspect of his life. He's really not the point. The point that I see for myself is that if I can hold myself up to a higher standard and be accountable in one area of my life, then there's hope for me in many other areas, too. But only if I'm accountable.