Accountability is critical....here's why.
I like when ideas are simple. When they don't come cloaked in mystery or deep theology or secret words that only some people know. And this idea is definitely a simple one.
"If the smartest man on the planet messed up, chances are you might too."
That's it, the summary of what this post is about. If Solomon, who arguably owned the best brain every gifted to a human not named Jesus, could get something wrong chances are you could too.
Here's what we find in 1 Kings 11:4-6
As Solomon grew old, his wives turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God, as the heart of David his father had been. He followed Ashtoreth the goddess of the Sidonians, and Molech the detestable god of the Ammonites. So Solomon did evil in the eyes of the LORD; he did not follow the LORD completely, as David his father had done.
Now before you think, "hey the guy struggled with ladies, that ain't so bad" you need to realize what this dude Molech was all about. Molech and his followers were big into child sacrifice. Killing your kid for favor from Molech was like dropping your tithe envelope into the bucket on Sunday.
Solomon didn't just sin, he blew it in massive, tremendous ways. He was given everything under the stars but still found himself marrying hundreds of women and encouraging child sacrifice.
What's that have to do with you? Only this: Solomon was smarter than you and still blew it.
And he was a lot smarter than me and I don't want to blow it. I hope the next time I feel bigger than God or high on my own intelligence, I'll remember old Solomon who aged worse than Elvis. Sure, the king of Graceland got fat and did bad shows in Vegas, but he wasn't a babykiller.
So where does that leave us? Alone, even if we're hyper intelligent, we are going to fall. We will stumble, we will make mistakes early or late in life. But we are not designed to be alone. We must surround ourselves with accountability partners that love us enough to tell us the truth when we're too smart to see it with our own eyes.
We can all be Solomon if we're not careful.