Accountability Is A Net, Not A Cage
Bad Elders, Pastor Manipulators, And Accountability
How do you keep a Pentecostal pastor accountable?
Here are four things I’ve seen work well when it comes to real accountability—not the fake PR kind, but the kind that actually keeps the train on the tracks:
1. Biblical Foundations
Train the guy in the Pentecostal value of Scripture as supreme authority. If the Bible isn’t his highest court of appeal—obviously God is, but God speaks through His Word—then you’ve got a dude flying solo, and solo theology always ends in a crash. If he knows the Bible, lives the Bible, and can teach the Bible? That’s a sign of health. A man without a robust Biblical framework is just vibes and personality—dangerous.
2. Peer and Pastoral Relationships
He needs brothers who can hit him with a “yo, you good?” on the golf course and fathers who come into the house and shape the culture. That’s real accountability: people who know him well enough to shine a flashlight into the moral basement and check for monsters. If you never see him around peers or mentors, that’s a red flag waving in the wind with a megaphone.
3. Theological Training
This isn’t about ivory tower academics—it’s about doctrinal clarity. He needs to know what he believes, why he believes it, and how it aligns with the movement or fellowship he’s a part of. He should be able to articulate the distinctives of the house he’s building. No generic Christianity. No vibe-based belief system. If he can’t name the foundations, he’s probably not standing on them.
4. Governmental Structure
This isn’t about bureaucracy—it’s about not being alone. Every guy needs some kind of structure: a board, a plurality of elders, some real people with real eyes on real numbers. It doesn’t all have to look the same, but someone has to be holding the financial flashlight. Not Joe Parishioner, but someone with ministry chops who knows the tax laws and the temptation to abuse them. Elder boards aren’t a perfect fix—they’re often done so badly they cause church splits—but done well, they’re a safety net. And that’s the whole point.
Accountability isn’t a cage—it’s a net. It doesn’t restrict movement; it catches falls. It’s not ankle monitors and micromanagement. It’s scaffolding for real growth and safeguards for when the scaffolding shakes. And no, it doesn’t guarantee 100% effectiveness—because this is ministry, not prison. If someone wants to fake it, they’ll find a way. But these four checks? They’ll catch most of the cracks before they become collapses.
In example, here are three primary ways I’ve seen some leaders weave and bob through the previously mentioned modes of accountability: