Introduction
Very rarely does anyone notice that no sinful person was permitted to see the actual resurrection event. There are profound reasons for this. As Paul’s vision of the heavenly world multiplied his God-sent afflictions in order to protect him from the sin of pride (2 Corinthians chapter 12 verse 7), any direct witness of the resurrection would have needed a lifetime of crucifixions to protect them from sin the sin of pride! This simple observation points to the fact that we are all disposed to a stubborn self-centredness that demands help from God to keep our fleshliness in check. Despite current cultural trends, both the Bible and Church history points to confession as the means of grace the Lord has given to help us. Whatever the present case, groups like AA and NA, who were originally unapologetically Christian, have maintained public communal confession as an indispensable dimension of their programme and a key to their success.
Biblical Confession
Evangelicals, being unconsciously anti-Catholic, are conditioned to think of “confession” as something essentially private. This is based on a misinterpretation of scripture. The language of “confession” used in scripture, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”(1 John 1:9) is used throughout the New Testament of public acknowledgement(e.g., Matthew 7:23, Titus 1:16, Romans 10:9, John 9:22, 1 John 2:23, 4:2, 3, 2 John 7). This openness of the Early Church to open confession, see also Acts chapter 19 verses 18-20, is confirmed by the biblical format of prayer for the sick. “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. 15 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. 16 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 chapter 5 verses 13-16). This conviction in the power of confession for healing is grounded in the Psalms (32:5; 28:18).
Forgotten
Once upon a time, when Christians came to church they anticipated being led by their priest/pastor/elder in a General Confession of sin and to hear from him/her, as a representative of Christ, words of absolution, a subsequent declaration of their full forgiveness. How did this practice become an anticipated part of Church life, which it still is in the more traditional churches? Luther was correct in seeing the gospel as the key to identifying what was a means of grace for the Church. Confession plus forgiveness images the death-and-resurrection of Jesus. This makes corporate confession in our services a gospel imperative and not a matter of taste, tradition, or opinion! The widespread neglect of General Confession in our churches can ultimately be traced back to poor models of leadership.
Resistant Leadership
We live in an age of competency when high performance is exalted. The leaders of the largest churches in our denominations tend to be well known, whereas the lowliest and most mature men and women of God in Church are rarely celebrated? This is a sign of our failure to embrace the kingdom truth “the last will be first, and the first last.” (Matthew chapter 20 verse 16). At the deepest level our inability to confess points to a shared unbelief in the finished work of the cross (John chapter 19 verse 30). We fail to be a community of confession because we are a community of shame. The remedy for our unbelief is to confess it, but in mainstream Christian culture to confess sin seems shameful. We have been convinced by the devil’s lies that sin and shame mean guilt. The absence of communities of confession is a sure sign that a layer of shame has descended over the leaders of the Church leading them to pretend they are whole people who do not need to hear the word of God’s forgiveness in Christ. This is a circular problem, for “in Christ” there can be no shame in confessing sins, only glorious liberation from the bondage of iniquity.
Conclusion
Jesus came to build the Church as an all-forgiven community where confession would be freely practiced. If we would see revival in the contemporary Church we need another reformation, one that accepts that confession is vital to a recovery of the power of the gospel as the total and permanent forgiveness of all sin. “in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not reckoning their trespasses against them” (2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 19 cf. Romans chapter 5 verse 1). Ask the Lord for names of people who you can trust in confessing sin for healing in the name of Jesus. Act on who he reveals, you will never regret it.
The Rev. Dr John Yates is an Anglican minister in Perth and has 5 children and 7 grandchildren. He spends time in praying, mentoring and writing.John Yates’s previous articles may be viewed athttp://www.pressserviceinternational.org/john-yates.html