¿Habla español?

True Confessions

Admittedly the idea of pouring out our souls to someone is both intimidating and counter-cultural.  In a nation that celebrates the successes of people and condemns the failures; we like to keep our confessions to ourselves.  However, in the upside-down kingdom of God, we are supposed to do the exact opposite.  Wait!  Before you click away, can I give you my confession? If I'm being honest, confession is awkward and it makes me feel vulnerable and soft and as an aggressive personality, I don't naturally lend myself to these feelings.  Be that as it may, when I reach toward Christ and intentionally decide to follow the practices laid out in scripture, I naturally fall upon the practice of confession.  

As I began to explore this topic the question that floated to the surface of my heart was, "what IS confession?"  I mean, if I'm going to start practicing it, I should know what it is.  There are two examples of the word confess in the Bible.  The first is simply a profession of faith and the Bible tells us that we are to do this openly and to all who will hear.  The second, and to some, the most challenging, is admitting wrongdoing or sin. In scripture, we have good examples of both.  
The confession of Christ appears in the gospels and throughout the epistles we find in the New Testament.  In Luke12:8-9 Jesus says:
"Also I say to you, whoever confesses Me before men, him the Son of Man also will confess before the angels of God. But he who denies Me before men will be denied before the angels of God."
Here we see the importance of making a public declaration of faith.  Put simply, this is letting the people around you know that you are a follower of Christ, and this is important for two reasons.  

The first is to give people a reference point to which they can look at in your story.  Everyone has decided to follow Christ at different stages in their life. Some, at a very young age and so, to most observers, their faith is apparent in their past and present.  Others have decided to follow Christ later in life, and the decision may not have been as known.  Confessing Christ is like highlighting your story, it helps others see and identify your decision. It's like saying "this is where it got good!" Also, making a public profession has a way of making you accountable because your behaviors will change, and if they suddenly change back you are able to identify the habitual behaviors that you need to surrender to God.  

The second reason we need to make this public confession is to acknowledge the fact that we are in divine relationship with Christ and, in doing so, we are acknowledging that we are submitting our lives to Christ (1 Timothy 6:12-14).  I love how this makes confession relational, as we gather our hearts towards God and gather in fellowship with our sisters and brothers in Christ we experience the true confession of faith.  That confession is not always perfect, in fact, a lot of times it is messy.  But it's there in the messy parts that we get to pray St. Patrick's prayer: 
"...Christ before me, Christ beneath me, Christ to my left and right, Christ all around me!"

The other example of confession found in scripture is to confess our sins one to another (James 5:16).  Here confession is transformational and very personal, as it involves sharing fears, weaknesses and shortcomings. Although uncomfortable, as followers of Christ this is a very important part of confession.  However, it is important to look at the meaning of the word sin here.  In the Greek the word for sin is "hamartia" and that word translated to English means "missing the mark".  The original word was used in regards to archery. Hamartia was the term used when the archers would miss the bullseye.  When we look at sin through this lens it gives a completely different understanding of the word, which in turn should reframe how we approach confession.  The practice of confession doesn't have to have the negative connotations of shame or judgment attached to it, if anything, when we look at sin through this lens, we simply see that confession is key in helping us correct our aim.

The final question that I had about confession was "to whom do I confess?"  As a Protestant this spiritual practice seems foreign to me as there is no set way for me to give confession. But all you need is to have is a method set in place for you to practice confession.  We see examples of this through scripture.  In Jewish culture the practice of confession is done alone before God.  And in the book of Acts we see that they confessed in a corporate setting (Acts 19:18-19).  The point here is not to whom or where you confess. The focus should be that you do confess, keeping in mind that confession should be done without shame or feeling judged.   And if you are confessing to someone, they should be a trusted person who has also surrendered his or her life to Christ.

Finding and following Jesus is not something that one achieves; it is a life's journey.   These spiritual practices can not only make that journey less rugged, but if shared in community they can turn our confessions into compassion and offer the strength we need to endure.

No Comments


Categories

Tags

1 Kings 12 Days of Christmas 20 minutes 2020 Acts Adonai American way America Antelope Valley Apostle Paul Apostle's Creed Bibile Bible study Bible Birmingham Book of Acts But God COVID-19 COVID Calvary Charlies Angels Christian Voter Guide Christian home Christmas Church Colossians Communication Confessional Prayer Corinthians Dallas Willard David Devotional Doing Life Together Eastertide Easter Ecclesiastes Emmanuel Ephesians Epiphany Esther Father in Heaven Father's Day Father Galatians God With Us God first God is good God of peace God still Moved God's Will God\'s Will Good Friday Gospel of John Gospel of Luke Gospel of Mark Gospel of Matthew Happy Father's Day Hawaii Hebrews Holy Spirit Hosea How are you doing How to Pray I want that Instagram Isaiah 43 Isaiah James Brown James Jenna Bush Hagar Jeremiah 29:11 Jeremiah Jesus John 3:16 John Hughes John Wesley John Judy Garland King David Kingdom Come Kingdom of God Leadership Lectio Divina Light of the World Lord Love is Love your neighbor Luke MLK Malachi Mama Bear Mark Martin Luther King Jr. Mary Matthew Memorial Day Merry Christmas Micah 6:8 Micah Molly Ringwald Monday Night Manna Mother Hen Mothers Day Nancy Drew Nehemiah New Testament Old Testament Only God Knows Paul Pentecost Peter Philippians Prince Phillip Prince of Peace Proverbs 13 Proverbs Psalm 10 Psalm 139 Psalm 23 Psalm 40 Psalm 42 Psalm 46 Psalms of Joy Pursuing the Presence of God Queen Elizabeth Revelation Romans Ruth Haley Barton Savior Sermon Sheridan Voysey Son of God Son of Man Son Spider Man Sunday School Surprised by Joy TV Target Thanksgiving The Free Market The Lord's Prayer The Sound of Music Timothy Titanic Today Show Twelfth Night Veggietales Voter Guide Wizard of Oz Women in Leadership Women of Faith Women's Bible Study abide abstain accused act justly action adoration adventure advice advocate afraid allelon alone anchor anger answers anxiety app art ask attack authority awe awkward back to school balance baptism be kind be open be prepared be still and know beaten and condemned beauty and struggle beauty belief believe belonging betrayed by a kiss betrayed black friday blackbelt blameless bleeding woman blessed blessing blog body bond bookmark book boundaries breadsticks broken brotherhood burden butter called by God called by name called carbs care cause celebrate centered in Christ challenges change childbirth children choice choosejoy choose christian christ chronic illness church nerd alert church online citizen civil rights clean hearts cleaning comfort comment community compassion into action compassion compost confession of faith confession conflict resolution conflict confusion connection connect consumer culture contemplative prayer conversation with God conversation corruption court tv court creation creative juice creativity cross crucified and kind crucified crucify dad dating daughtership daughters death defense delight denied depression differently abled disabled discernment discipleship discipline discovery discrimination distracted divine divinity do good do the action donate doughnuts dreams dream early church eating disorder eden election emotional health emotions empathy encouragement endurance enjoy enough excess expectations failure faithfulness faith fall family dynamics family fun family of God family systems family fangirl fasting fast favorite scripture favorite things fear feel find and follow Jesus fine flexible forgiveness forgive free time freedom free friendship friends fruit funeral fun future gaining faith galaxy garden generations generosity genesis gift give it away give life giving goals god good news good shepherd gospels gospel government grace of God grace grass is always greener gratitude gravy great cloud of witnesses green bean casserole green thumb grief grieve grit groups growth ham hangover happiness harmony harsh truth head healing healthy habit heart sick heart help holding tight holidays holiday homeless homeostasis homeschool honor hope deferred hope how the Lord speaks how to read scripture how to talk about loss how to worship how to humanity human humility humor innocent inspiration intercessory prayer intimacy introvert invitation isolation join journal journey joy just believe justice kids kindness kind kingdom of heaven knock lament laughter learn lent let it be life together light listen live loneliness longing losing faith loss love in action love mercy love story love the Lord love loving like Jesus magi map marathon march marginalized marriage mashed potatoes meditation memorial memories mental health mentalhealthmonth messiah momlife mom motivated by joy mourn moved with compassion move mystery navigate need neighbors neighbor new beginning new normal new season new year newlywed news new nickname normal not alone not easy note to self nothing but joy nourishment now and not yet nowandnotyet nurse offering one body online overflowing with gratitude pain pandemic parenting parents pastor patience patient peacemaker peacemaking peace perseverance personal prayer perspectives perspective petition phillipians pity planted by water plan play something podcast politics potatoes practice of confession practicing gratitude pray for pastors pray without ceasing prayer request prayerwarrior prayer praying praywithoutceasing pray preach prepare presence of God present priortize prize promise of God promise prophetic psalms psalm purpose quarantine questioning God questions quiet race read reconciliation reconnect recovery reevaluate reflect regather regret rejoice relationships relationship remember repentance repost research resilience resources respect rest resurrection retreat rhythms riot road to the cross roles routine ruby slippers rules sabbath sacred sadness safe at home safe salvation scalloped potatoes schedule scripture about justice scriptures about fear scriptures about joy scriptures about peace scriptures about race scriptures scripture searching seasons season seek self-care self-denial self-differentiation serve serving share shelter at home shepherds signs silence simple pleasures single dad single mom single parent sing sinking sink slowly smile sober social distancing social media soil solitude sonship soul care soul music spiritual disciplines spiritual health spiritual practices spirit spring stars starting point star stayathome still good stop and look up storm storytelling streams of water strength stress struggleisreal study success sudden suffering of Christ suffering summer support surrender take heart talking with kids teacher tears technology template thank God the truth is out there the truth will set you free the way the truth and the life theology thessalonians think thisistheday time tithe to be honest together traditions transformed transition trauma treasure tree of life trials trust and obey trust in the Lord trust truth turkey understanding unfailing love unity universe vacation vice president virtual voices volunteer vote vulnerable waiting waking up walk humbly we cannot go back weather wedding welcome welcoming prayer wisdom wise counsel woman at the well woman caught in adultery women pastors women wonder worry worship yield youmatter zoom