The modern church has replaced biblical accountability with something safer and softer: “check-in” groups where everyone shares their struggles, nods sympathetically, and goes home unchanged.
But God’s standard for accountability is heavier than that: it’s the watchman.
“But if the watchman sees the sword coming and does not blow the trumpet and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes a person from them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require from the watchman’s hand.”
—Ezekiel 33:6 (LSB)
A watchman’s job wasn’t to empathize with an enemy approaching, it was to blow the trumpet and save lives.
In God’s design, you and I are watchmen for each other’s souls. If you see sin, false doctrine, or drifting in a brother’s life and you stay silent, you’re not just “minding your own business.” You’re guilty of his blood.
This is why biblical accountability can’t be reduced to swapping confessions in private. True accountability is covenantal. It happens inside the local church and is enforced by the authority Christ gave His body (Matthew 18:15–17). It’s not a hobby; it’s war.
“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, in falling away from the living God. But encourage one another every day, as long as it is still called ‘Today,’ lest any of you be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin.”
—Hebrews 3:12–13 (LSB)
The watchman doesn’t wait until next week’s meeting to “check in.” He calls out in the moment. He pulls his brother back from the edge. And if you think that’s too intense, remember… this is the standard of love God gives His people.
“Better is open rebuke than love that is hidden. Faithful are the wounds of a friend, but deceitful are the kisses of an enemy.”
—Proverbs 27:5–6 (LSB)
If your “accountability” never risks the relationship, it’s not love but self-preservation.
Semper Reformanda
Some will argue, “You can’t just go around confronting everyone… you’ll push people away.” They may point to Matthew 7:1, “Do not judge, so that you will not be judged,” as if this forbids calling sin what it is.
Others claim accountability should only be mutual and voluntary, “Don’t speak into my life unless I’ve invited you.”
But Matthew 7:1 condemns hypocritical judgment, not righteous judgment (see John 7:24). And Scripture makes no allowance for passivity when you see a brother wandering:
“My brothers, if any among you strays from the truth and someone turns him back, let him know that the one who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.”
—James 5:19–20 (LSB)
The church is not a social club where privacy is king. It is a kingdom outpost where holiness is guarded.
Truth That Withstands
The watchman principle means your brother’s danger is your responsibility. Silence is not neutrality. Silence is betrayal. And in God’s economy, failing to warn is as deadly as the sin itself. Blow the trumpet.