Confession

There were a couple of things that hindered me from appreciating confession at the beginning of this class assignment. As a modern day Protestant believer, my idea of what confession is is tainted by the Catholic practice of regular confession. I cannot hear about confession without picturing a Priest behind a wall listening to my anonymous babble. I also have this picture of certain people in my life who have spilled their guts in the wrong company at the wrong time. I have this gut feeling that confession leads to me knowing too much about a person. It is just too personal. I feel responsible for all of their "stuff," and would rather just carry on minding my own business. Needless to say, my ideas about confession were pretty negative at the start of this week.

However, what I realize now, is that I am just a product of a generation that prefers to keep things easy by keeping things to ourselves. There are a million things that culture has trained me to do in secret. There are another thousand things that are deemed "unfit to discuss" in and out side the Church. I have learned that it's okay to leave some things unsaid. It's okay to repent of our sins, but leave it just between us and God. It's okay to never admit we made a mistake. It is okay, because Jesus died for our sins and all is forgiven. There are so many things that I was taught in my own Bible-believing church about the forgiveness of sins and how to repent. The only problem is, most of them were a lie.

Confession is an important component of the Christian life. The truth is, the power of Jesus on the cross and the resurrection should lead us to disgust of our own sin. We should be entirely striving to live a cleansed life because we are only made alive by Jesus' saving work. A natural result of our salvation should be a turning away from a sinful life into a life that reflects that of Jesus. We need to be appreciative and grateful for the chance at being a part of God's kingdom, guilt-free. But how am I going to do that when I am so comfortable with hiding sin and pretending it isn't there? The reality here is that our American Church has lost the communal piece that fits into our sanctification. If I know I am a sinner, which I am, then I should be confessing that before God. And I do. But I also need to be letting people in on what is going on inside of my heart. A thriving Christian community is one that accepts, supports, and encourages. God created us to live in community with one another, in order that we utilize each other when human nature takes control. God calls us to confess our sins with one another so that we can heal and grow. There is transformitive power in admitting sin and faults to another person and hear them utter the words, "Jesus forgives you." Have you ever actually heard someone speak that Truth to you? I haven't, but imagine how empowering that would feel. God calls us to do that for each other. We can receive confession and forgive it in Jesus' name (Foster, 147). Confession is the road that is going to lead to healing. And healing, broken sinners is the sign of a healthy Christian community that understands the true power of Jesus dying for our sins. 

Some things that I am going to take away from this discipline have a lot to do with this Living and Learning community I am a part of (See blog post one). First, I will be sure to offer forgiveness in Jesus' name to whoever tells me anything. I think that is something that carries a lot of meaning and can provide a lot of relief for someone who just wants to get something off their chest. I also want to cultivate an atmosphere of Confession among the nine of in this Community. We are in the perfect position to practice what it means to rely on brothers and sisters when we just cannot overcome a temptation. This will be practice for me to carry on throughout my whole life after I give it a try this week. Obviously, I am on a journey to what mature, viable confession looks like, but it is definitely something I am now more willing to explore. Personally, I am grateful that I have an entire support system who will help me carry my burdens. Thank God for that.

Blessings,

Alyssa

"God has given us our brothers and sisters to stand in Christ's stead and make God's presence and forgiveness real to us." 
                                 -Richard Foster, Celebrating the Disciplines, 147