[Tippens in Pilgrim Heart] begins with the obvious: for many of us (I’m in this group) confession is not a group or verbal activity with another Christian. It is solo-solo: only between the person and God. One reason is this: “the Christian community’s demand for respectability often increases the dishonesty” of not confessing.
<idle musing>
Bonhoeffer has a very good section in his Life Together and Prayerbook of the Bible about confession. He firmly believed that every Christian should be actively doing it. But, in good Protestant fashion, he didn't believe it needed to be a priest, but could be any believer. In fact, he was against having only one person hear everyone's confessions because of the dangers inherent for the person hearing all the confessions.
Part of Wesley's class meetings was the confession of sins to one another. I think this is one of the reasons the Wesleyan revival lasted so long. I remember when I first started reading his journal that one of the recurring themes that stood out to me was the confession of sins and honesty before God and man. This from the person most associated with the holiness movement!
Perhaps part of the problem is that we try to jump over confession of sin directly into holiness? Or, perhaps we really don't have a true conception of sin. We think that it is something we do, instead of something we are (apart from Christ). If someone doesn't see themself as a sinner, but just as a good person who occasionally sins, then they don't see a real need for repentance. Which, of course, results in half converted, anemic christians who substitute good works for true holiness of heart and life...
Am I off base here?
</idle musing>
1 comment:
Of course we do not need a mortal priest today, since Jesus Christ fulfills the role. (This is extremely clear in the epistle to the Hebrews, for instance.) There is no gatekeeper now who controls our access to God. The Brethren refer to this doctrine as the "priesthood of all believers", but whatever you call it, the church does not require a sysem of intercessory priests like that of Israel.
I do not think it follows, however, that we never should confess before anyone but God. Just because we can (and should) go to the Lord directly does *not* mean that we shouldn't ever confess anything before men.
Certainly some sins require public confession, due to the nature of the sin. In particular, if the sin is public or has public results, then a public confession is warranted. Of course, there are levels of "public" anywhere from speaking to one other believer up to standing before the church, and in some special instances perhaps even beyond that to issuing a public apology before the world. What is necessary in that regard, I would say, depends on the situation.
Beyond that, speaking with other believers about our struggles can at times be helpful. In my church we break up into small groups (2-6 people) during prayer meeting, which makes a reasonable venue for such things, though of course one can also seek someone out particularly.
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