Living in Confession

This isn’t some grand exposition. Rather it is more of a thought I had driving to church today.

Unfortunately, it seems that the longer we have been Christians, the less likely we are to admit our weaknesses. We see in the young and the young in the faith an exuberance that trumps all pretension. Whether they feel they have permission to not have their lives 100% in order or that they are so enamored with the love of Jesus Christ, they seem more willing to lay bare their lives for the sake of fellowship and sanctification. Perhaps as we age and establish more of a history as believers we feel that we should have it all together by now. We always talk about sin in the past tense. We only feel willing to share our struggles with others when we feel that we have properly managed them. How many of our limited years are wasted because we are not honest about our flaws and failings?

John writes in one of his letters: If we say we have no sin we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

There are few of us who would claim that we don’t still struggle with sin. It would take quite a lot of delusion to claim that we were perfectly following Christ. Yet at the same time, we seem to be becoming less willing to own up to that reality. Contrary to our tendencies, the mark of the mature believer should be an increased willingness to confess our lingering sin and selfishness. The condemnation is gone, dead and buried. Our admission may well disqualify us in the standing of men and women who hold perfection as the requirement of faith. Our honesty might cost us. What we gain however, will far outweigh the cost. What we gain is healing, true community, and a renewed and honest relationship with our Creator.

James writes:

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed.

I think it’s time we confessed our sins. I think it’s time we admitted our frailties. It’s probably time to be open about our budgets, kids, marriages, our jobs, and our doubts. Our honesty will cost us. But our dishonesty will cost us far more.