In Depth:  Graham Hooper

Can you do a little mental arithmetic? Assuming you live to your early 60s, how many hours will you have spent at work? Now, do a similar exercise. Think about how many hours each week you spend on overtly ‘Christian’ activities, time at church in worship, at Bible study and in prayer groups, time at leadership meetings, teaching kids, or working with youth.

If you were to work 50 hours each week, then you would have spent about 100,000 hours at work by the end of your working life. If you were to spend (say) an average of ten hours a week in ‘Christian ministry’, then, over that same 40-year period, you would have spent 20,000 hours. In summary: 100,000 hours at work; one fifth of that time in so called ‘Christian work’.

Accountability is often optional. Here in Dubai, on my morning walk I pass a ‘Boot camp’, a group of people who, for some strange reason, have chosen to get up at the crack of dawn to be shouted at and coerced into pushing themselves physically to the limit.

These people have chosen to subject themselves to this discipline and, of course, they can choose to leave at any time. In this and other similar groups, accountability is self-imposed. You may decide to make yourself accountable to other like-minded people for your progressive weight loss or improved fitness levels, but it is entirely voluntary. More seriously, such accountability groups are of great value to alcoholics, drug and gambling addicts in reinforcing their self-discipline in overcoming addiction.