Spiritual Disciplines | Confession
In beginning to look at the spiritual disciplines we do together, we must turn first to confession. The corporate disciplines all seek to pursue God with one another. The most immediate barrier to the pursuit of God comes in the form of our sin. The core of the Gospel comes Jesus Christ coming to save man by bearing the burden of our sins. Yet, for whatever reason, everyone writhes at the idea of needing to confess our sins to God or to others. We fear that people’s knowledge of o ur sin would in some way jeopardize their opinion or thoughts of us. Or we feel that we would let God down or diminish the Gospel if people knew our sins and struggles. Therefore, we silence any discussion of our sins, refusing to confess the actions to anyone, including God. The effects of this are detrimental to the Christian. Sin cannot be buried. Sin must be killed or it will grow and grow. It is a desire that cannot ever be fully satiated.
It’s been said before that “confession is good for the soul.” This is certainly true for the Christian. Confession opens ourselves up to release the burden of our sin. First and foremost, when we confess our sins to God, it released control of the sinful and painful to be healed by the Father. while our sins may be an affront to God, confession of those same sins and believing that Jesus Christ came to save guarantees we will be forgiven. Those who maintain faith in Jesus Christ should not fear rejection of God when we approaching him to lay ourselves raw before Him. Furthermore, confession should be done with one another. The body of Christ should be able to confess our sins openly with one another without fear of judgment. We all can hear confessions from one another and offer forgiveness through the work and power of Jesus Christ. Confessing our sins to one another opens ourselves up to the shared life of joining the body of Christ, making ourselves vulnerable together, as we spur one another on to pursue God together.
Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing praise. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the one who is sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.
James 5:13-16, ESV
Confession And Vulnerability
Confessing our sins to each other, while awkward at first, can be one if the best things we can do for our spiritual growth and sanctification. God intended faith in Christ to be lived out in community with one another. This means all aspects of community, the good and bad, the struggles and successes. Churches recently have referred this as having an “accountability partner.” The concept is the same, though. We need a person we can be vulnerable about what we are working through to borrow strength from one another during the times we need it. We pray for each, knowing the prayers of the righteous produce much. We confess our sins to one another to be healed. As we confess our sins, we can do some with these few reminders.
- Be Open and Honest No one who has been a mature Christian (or adult for that matter) thinks you are perfect. Any attempt at presenting an image of perfection becomes stand-off-ish as people see straight through the facade. Confession will be difficult, especially at first because of the vulnerable nature of confession. God, though, already knows us completely which means our sins and struggles. Our role, for our own good, rests in confessing our sins to one another as we all link arms and approach God together.
- Hold One Another Accountable The idea of confession should always be mutual restoration in the body of Christ. We should approach confession without expectation that the other person would return with their confessions. That would only serve to distract from our confession. Yet, confession operates best as we link arms together in our struggles and sins. We hold one another accountable to our actions, not as a means of condemnation but encouragements and exhortation.
- Takes The Power Away From Sin Refusing to talk about something of the same nature as our sin gives it a power that does not rightfully belong to it. The work of Christ on the cross has been finished. There is no more Christ needs to do. Therefore, we do not need to implore God to break the chains of our sin, they have already been broken. Refusal to talk openly about our sin attempts to withhold parts of our life from God, and gives sin the freedom to persist. Confession brings sin out into the openness and into the light.
No discussion of confession is complete without a brief discussion of judgment. Overall, people tend to fear someone’s knowing the depth of their depravity. Confession is inherently a vulnerable act. Personally, I am grieved by the numerous conversions that have ended in confession after fearing bringing their sin to the church. Not only sins, but struggles and temptations, even ones people have not given in to. The church must be a safe place to not be okay. The body of Christ needs to build up and strengthen its constituent parts and allow the dirty and obscene thoughts to be fairly shared. Too often, we have extended the grace of the Gospel to those outside the church, but ostracized and chastised those within the church as they work out their faith. We must receive confession without judgment or condemnation. We must realize what we have been forgiven of as we discuss the sins of others. Christ forgives beyond our ability to earn it, freely to those who come to Him, without condemnation. The church should do likewise. When a person approaches us with confession, receive it gladly just as Christ received us gladly. We can come to each other struggling and spur one another one to not stay there as we pursue God, together.
