For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not use liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another (Gal:5:13For you, brethren, have been called to liberty; only do not [use] liberty as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.) 

The subject of personal Accountability can not be examined without a discussion about liberty. God has given everyone ‘free volition’ or the ability to make choices. The unregenerate are spiritually disabled and cannot use that free volition to honor and bring glory to God, but the Christian is set free from the bondage of the law (Gal:5:1Stand fast therefore in the liberty by which Christ has made us free, and do not be entangled again with a yoke of bondage.) and the power of darkness (Col:1:13He has delivered us from the power of darkness and conveyed [us] into the kingdom of the Son of His love,). They possess a freedom that is given to them through Grace and are instructed to be cautious with the exercise of that freedom as it pertains to others. 

Liberty therefore, is not a right but a weighty responsibility and a freedom to bless others. It is the condition of not being controlled by one’s own needs in order to be instrumental in meeting the needs of others. This is true Christian liberty. Unwise and immature men try to exercise their personal freedom in a way that gains them power or pleasure, yet genuine pleasure and real ‘power’ are found in accountability to that principle. The selfish and unchecked drives in a man’s life can lead him to do the unthinkable at the expense of others as opposed to the uncommon for the benefit of others. 

How a leader views his liberty is prerequisite to the way he views accountability. If he views his liberty as his defendable right to do as he wishes, he will be accountable only to those he chooses. Conversely, if he views liberty as a responsibility for which he must give an account, he will embrace the accountability, knowing that God has determined that he is answerable for his actions on several levels. Our liberty is not ours to do with as we please but God’s. He has purchased our liberty for himself and for his pleasure. The apostle Paul in 1 Cor:6:19-20 [19] Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit [who is] in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? [20] For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's. writes “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God's.” The mature leader realizes that God has both entrusted him with liberty and gifted him with accountability. Liberty and responsibility are inseparable. 

For example: if the Pastor of a church has no working schedule because he feels it is his ‘right’ to do with his time as he wishes, he will act and feel as though he is accountable to no one. He views his liberty as a right. If on the other hand, he feels that the congregation deserves his ‘best’ and that he is privileged to be their pastor, it is likely that he will have a working schedule of some type. The way he views his liberty will determine his accountability. 

Integrity is therefore the proper and spiritual view and use of liberty. The duplicity, which is so sadly common today, is the result of separating liberty from responsibility. It is viewing liberty as something I have a right to use as I please, instead of a responsibility to serve others. It is the selfish denial of accountability.