Accountability appears, as a concept and a principle, to be increasingly undefined. I am not sure if the grayness is due to my age and expectations or the reality the views of the communities we live in have and continue to evolve.
Experience with the way this word is changing, in meaning and use, continues to be shaped by several factors. With the complexity of life today and uncertainty that comes with it, along with a desire to always feel good about one’s self and life, applying accountability fairly is not as simple as it might appear. When one adds to the idea that the “ends justify the means” to the equation, just and fair accountability can be problematic.
I find myself coming back to three distinct thoughts around this subject.
Accountability has two components. Recognition and action. The first word is a function of responsibility. With responsibility and action, one has accountability.
Second, accountability starts within me. I choose if, when, and how I am willing to be accountable. Others can, through their role in the community so that the community functions, hold me accountable. The community action revolves around holding me responsible. Sometimes it is corporate accountability, like the psalmist note that “Then he called down a famine on the country, he broke every last blade of wheat.” (Psalm 105.16) Other actions are be applied individually. However, when it comes to being accountable, the “but” occurs when others enforce accountability on you or me, it does not follow that we will be accountable and the actions that follow reflect our accountability.
Third, accepting responsibility and embracing a willingness to be accountable does not mean that life is or becomes fair. Occasionally, accountability is singular and clearly defined. Most of the time, it is fuzzy. Pieces of accountability rest with several individuals. The failure of one may influence another. Dependencies exist.
I find myself wrestling with the actions of others even as I begin to see opportunities for me to be accountable. For me, accountability starts within. It is my opportunity to make life better.
