| Topic: |
Religions > Bible |
| User: |
"Ninure Saunders" |
| Date: |
05 Nov 2004 07:33:12 AM |
| Object: |
(~) Subject: Confession of Sins |
(~) Subject: Confession of Sins
J. Heinrich Arnold
Excerpted from Freedom from Sinful Thoughts.
Jesus says in Matthew 6:22-24 that as long as we try to serve two masters,
we live in darkness. How, then, can we find the singleness of heart that
brings us into his light? First, we must see that our inner eye is pure,
and not lowered by the shame of unconfessed sin. As long as we remain
burdened by hidden guilt, we will never find full freedom or joy: the eye
will stay sick, and so the whole body will remain in darkness.
Confession - the act of unburdening our sins to someone else in order to
be freed of their weight - is simple enough to define, but never easy to
practice. As psychiatrist Charles Baudouin writes, "When we discover that
we have created our own misery, this recognition contains something so
humbling for us that we are reluctant to acknowledge it." He goes on, "Yet
precisely because we have created our misery, it is essential for us to be
absolutely truthful about our failings in order to find healing."
Despite the unmistakable advice we find in the Letter of James - "Confess
your sins to one another" - many Christians today question the need for
confession. Some dismiss it as too "Catholic" an idea; others emphasize
the importance of a private personal relationship with God and argue that
it is sufficient to bring our sins to him. But that is a poor argument:
God already knows our sins (Heb. 4:13). Unless we move beyond merely
recognizing our sins and acknowledge them to another person, we will not
be relieved of their weight.
When our burdens are comprised of specific conscious sins, as is usually
the case, these must be confessed without fail. Here the "absolute
truthfulness" Baudouin advises is vital, for without it a truly clean
conscience remains an impossibility. Sometimes, however, we may feel
attacked by evil in a more general way, and be fearful that we might have
given in to it or responded inadequately. If such anxiety persists, that
too should be confessed. This does not mean digging into the subconscious
for every little thing. Where God tells us through our conscience that
something is wrong, we should admit it so that it can be forgiven. But the
goal of confession should always be liberation, not increased
self-concern. We want to find Jesus, not ourselves.
Faith and a good conscience are completely interwoven. If we do not heed
the voice of our conscience, our faith will suffer shipwreck. And without
faith, we lose the possibility of finding a pure conscience in the first
place. That is why the Apostle says that the consciences of those who do
not believe are not clean. It is bound to be like this, because without
faith the conscience has nothing to hold on to.
Beyond this, it is clear that when we confess a sin to someone we trust
and love, a new bond is created through our admission of guilt. Jesus
attaches great weight to this bond, as indicated by his emphasis on
community throughout the gospels: in fact, he promises that where two or
three are united in his name, there he will be in the midst of them. To
me, this unity means community - whether in the form of shared work or
food, common prayer, or reading and reflection with a friend or spouse.
The important thing is the strength - and safeguard against sin - that
comes from fellowship. A solitary heart is one in great danger.
In and of itself, confession is no help. People pay good money to tell
psychiatrists their sufferings and sins, and these psychiatrists use all
sorts of therapy to help them quiet their distraught consciences. In the
end, without remorse for the sins we reveal, confession remains a mere
"dumping" of sin from one person to another and can have no redeeming
effect.
With remorse - with the desire to truly undo the wrongs we have committed
by turning away from them for good - confession becomes a joy. In casting
off the veil that has kept our sin hidden, it removes the spell of
secrecy. I have seen people change in an instant; people who came to me in
such distress that their sin seemed to burden them physically, but who
almost skipped away once they had everything off their chests.
Bonhoeffer describes this transformation in a wonderful way and shows us
that it is more than an emotional thing, but something with eternal
meaning:
In the confession of concrete sins the old man dies a painful, shameful
death before the eyes of a brother. Because this humiliation is so hard,
we continually scheme to avoid it. Yet in the deep mental and physical
pain of humiliation before a brother we experience the Cross of Jesus as
our rescue and salvation. The old man dies, but it is God who has
conquered him. Now we share in the resurrection of Christ and eternal
life.
Ninure Saunders aka Rainbow Christian
The Lord is my Shepherd and He knows I'm Gay
http://Ninure-Saunders.tk
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