{"id":5634,"date":"2019-08-19T18:40:56","date_gmt":"2019-08-20T02:40:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/?p=5634"},"modified":"2019-08-19T18:48:07","modified_gmt":"2019-08-20T02:48:07","slug":"celebration-of-discipline-confession","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2019\/08\/19\/celebration-of-discipline-confession","title":{"rendered":"Celebration of Discipline: Confession"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"220\" height=\"330\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/celebration_of_discipline_220.jpg?resize=220%2C330&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"book cover - Celebration Of Discipline\" class=\"wp-image-5484\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/celebration_of_discipline_220.jpg?w=220&amp;ssl=1 220w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/06\/celebration_of_discipline_220.jpg?resize=200%2C300&amp;ssl=1 200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 220px) 85vw, 220px\"><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Blog readers: Chi Alpha @ Stanford is engaging in our annual summer reading project. As we read through an annotated translation of Pascal\u2019s Pensees called <a href=\"https:\/\/smile.amazon.com\/Christianity-Modern-Pagans-Outlined-Explained\/dp\/0898704529\/\">Christianity For Modern Pagans<\/a>, I\u2019ll post the thoughts I\u2019m emailing the students here (which will largely consist of excerpts I found insightful). They are all tagged <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/tag\/summer-reading-project-2020\">summer-reading-project-2020<\/a>. The reading schedule is <a href=\"https:\/\/xastanford.org\/summer-reading\">online<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This week we\u2019re talking about confessing our sins to other people. Biblically, we always confess our sins to the Lord in prayer and then we usually also confess directly to those we have wronged. Sometimes in addition we confess our sins to other believers for the sake of their or our spiritual health. As an example of confessing for the sake of someone else\u2019s spiritual health, I might confess a sin while preaching about how growth comes in a certain area. As an example of confessing for my own spiritual health, I might confess a sin to a friend while requesting their counsel.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>\u201cConfession is a difficult Discipline for us because we all too often view the believing community as a fellowship of saints before we see it as a fellowship of sinners. We feel that everyone else has advanced so far into holiness that we are isolated and alone in our sin. We cannot bear to reveal our failures and shortcomings to others. We imagine that we are the only ones who have not stepped onto the high road to heaven. Therefore, we hide ourselves from one another in live in veiled lies and hypocrisy.\u201d<\/p><cite> Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline, p 145&nbsp;9<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>A few thoughts about confession:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li> Foster\u2019s advice is spot-on when he says, \u201c\u2026we must be prepared to deal with definite sins. A generalized confession may save us from humiliation and shame, but it will not ignite inner healing\u201d (page 151). This related quote has often run through my mind, \u201cWe confess our little faults to persuade people that we have no large ones\u201d (Rochefoucauld). If we confess in a way that makes us look good, there\u2019s something amiss. When you confess, don\u2019t merely confess that you are not perfect. Draw attention to one or more of your particular imperfections. Not simply \u201cI can be greedy sometimes\u201d; rather, \u201cI have been so consumed with desiring that new iPhone that I almost stole money from my mom\u2019s purse. I was shocked at my level of&nbsp;greed.\u201d<\/li><li> I said we usually confess to the person we have wronged. That is not  always the case, however. For example, if you\u2019ve been staring lustfully  at someone, it\u2019s generally unwise to tell that to the person you\u2019ve been  lusting after. You are relieving your emotions by burdening theirs.  It\u2019s selfish.&nbsp;<\/li><li>To whom do you confess when you are not confessing directly to someone you have wronged? Foster\u2019s counsel is wise: \u201cThe key qualifications are spiritual maturity, wisdom, compassion, good common sense, the ability to keep a confidence, and a wholesome sense of humor\u201d (page&nbsp;153).&nbsp;<\/li><li>  In university ministry I sometimes observe two extremes: a community where no one confesses anything to anyone else (usually because of fear) or a community whose worship services sometimes become public confession ceremonies. I have thoughts about&nbsp;both:<ul><li> A community where no one confesses anything to anyone else is held in bondage to sin. People convince themselves they struggle alone, and as result half of Satan\u2019s work is done for him. He desires to isolate Christians as a prelude to destroying us, and yet we foolishly isolate ourselves.<\/li><li>A community where people regularly confess their sins in a public forum runs the risk of indirectly elevating sin. If you\u2019ve never seen this done it is hard to describe, but I have seen it several times. Someone heads to the microphone and asks if they can share something that they feel like they have to get off their chest. And then they confess a sin. And then someone else wrestling with that same sin or a related sin makes a beeline for the microphone after this. And then the dam breaks and it takes over the entire service. This is sometimes a genuine response to the guiding of the Holy Spirit  (we see an example of this in Acts 19:18\u201319), but sometimes it is an indicator that healthy interpersonal confession is not happening and so this substitute is emerging as a replacement.  The dangers are (a) it can make sin seem more pervasive than it is (5% of the people spending 95% of the time talking about their biggest mistakes creates a distorted impression of the community), and (b) without wise pastoral leadership the normal emotions that accompany public confession can be mistaken for the working of the Holy Spirit.&nbsp;<\/li><li>That\u2019s in a worship service. It\u2019s usually a healthy thing when this happens in a small group (although here, too, it can sometimes normalize sin and minimize the transforming power of&nbsp;grace).&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul><\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Here is my suggestion to you: today or tomorrow examine your conscience and identify a specific sin to confess. Meditate upon the sin until you clearly see its wrongness. Then this week find a fellow believer (perhaps in Chi Alpha, perhaps in your church) and confess the sin to them. Then ask them to pray for you that God will liberate you from the power of that sin. See what happens and iterate moving forward.&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>This week we\u2019re talking about confessing our sins to other people. Biblically, we always confess our sins to the Lord in prayer and then we usually also confess directly to those we have wronged. Sometimes in addition we confess our sins to other believers for the sake of their or our spiritual health. As an \u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/archives\/2019\/08\/19\/celebration-of-discipline-confession\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> \u201cCelebration of Discipline: Confession\u201d<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"Some thoughts about confessing our sins to one another.","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[8],"tags":[264,263],"class_list":["post-5634","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-resources-reviews","tag-celebration-of-discipline","tag-summer-reading-project-2019"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6Ded-1sS","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5634","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5634"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5634\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5640,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5634\/revisions\/5640"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5634"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5634"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/glenandpaula.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5634"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}