Forgive Us Our Trespasses

In “high church” traditions, the worship service generally includes recitations of confession and absolution each week. Those of us who attend less liturgical churches may not give much thought to the need for confession and reminders of God’s forgiveness. Even when there is a moment of silence for confession, it can be easy to overlook or minimize any sins we should be confessing. It’s true that we can confess and find forgiveness on our own anytime anywhere, but there is something unique and important about the experience of confessing together as the Body of Christ. Tish Harrison Warren writes in Liturgy of the Ordinary:

“When we confess and receive absolution together, we are reminded that none of our pathologies, neuroses, or sins, no matter how small or secret, affect only us. We are a church, a community, a family. We are not simply individuals with our pet sins and private brokenness. We are people who desperately need each other if we are to seek Christ and walk in repentance… Because of this, I need to hear my forgiveness proclaimed not only by God but by a representative of the body of Christ in which I receive grace, to remind me that though my sin is worse than I care to admit, I’m still welcome here. I’m still called into this community and loved” (58).

Although I’m not a big fan of recited prayers, which can often become meaningless repetition, I do think we all need frequent reminders of the seriousness of sin and the gracious forgiveness of our loving God. Martin Luther wrote that “the entire life of believers should be repentance.” And yet how often do we do so? Rich Mullins shared this story:

“Those of you that are young enough to go to camp and rededicate your life every year you keep doin’ it, ‘cause about the time you get to college you’re gonna learn that you have to rededicate your life about every six months. And then you’ll graduate from college and it will become a quarterly thing. By the time you're in your 40s and 50s you’ll do it about four times a day… Never forget what Jesus did for you. Never take lightly what it cost Him” (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZNYtYRbH6aI).

What might it look like for your church to adopt more regular practices confession and repentance? In many churches, the frequency of communion determines the frequency of repentance for a lot of the members. My church typically has communion quarterly plus a couple special occasions. Why does it take a special service for us to give thought to our need for the grace of forgiveness?

I would challenge all of us to take seriously the call to confess our sins and to walk in the light with Christ and with one another (1 John 1:7-9).

“The Lord is righteous in all His ways and kind in all His works. The Lord is near to all who call on Him, to all who call on Him in truth” (Psalm 145:17-18 ESV).

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

In the Light

I’ve been thinking about sin lately, and I’m not the only one. It so “happens” that the sermon at our church this week was on 1 Corinthians 10:1-13. Just a few days ago, Desiring God posted this article by Garrett Kell, If They Fell,So Can You, which is well worth reading.

What factors may cause us to give in to temptation?

• We don’t recognize something as sin, such as the more subtle sins of pride, gossip, or envy.
• We may have adopted the world’s standards in regards to sexuality, relationships, and money.
• We let ourselves become vulnerable through fatigue, stress, and busyness.
• We have slacked off in pursuing God through Scripture, prayer, and worship.
• We have become relationally isolated from fellow believers.
• We keep our sin secret due to fear and shame.
• We feel unique because we can’t see the sins that others struggle with.
• We judge our private sins to be less of a problem than someone else’s visible sin.

The solution to all of those is abiding in community with the Body of Christ to keep one another accountable. Together we pursue God and bring truth to light—the truth about God and about ourselves.

Another recent article by Jared Wilson on The Gospel Coalition quotes Dietrich Bonhoeffer’s Life Together:

“He who is alone with his sin is utterly alone. It may be that Christians, notwithstanding corporate worship, common prayer, and all their fellowship in service, may still be left to their loneliness. The final break-through to fellowship does not occur, because, though they have fellowship with one another as believers and as devout people, they do not have fellowship as the undevout, as sinners. The pious fellowship permits no one to be a sinner. So everybody must conceal his sin from himself and from the fellowship. We dare not be sinners. Many Christians are unthinkably horrified when a real sinner is suddenly discovered among the righteous. So we remain alone with our sin, living in lies and hypocrisy. The fact is that we are sinners!”

Wilson goes on to say, “I know people are mean, I know people are judgmental, I know people act weird and get messy and cause problems and are really inefficient for the ways we normally like to do church—but if we believe in the gospel, we don’t have a choice any longer to live in the dark. How about we stop being shocked to find sinners among the ‘pious’ and start shocking the fearful with grace?”

I wonder what the church would look like if this were the common experience? I’ve seen it happen on a small scale among a few friends, and it always makes me long for more. It’s hard to live in true Christian community if we’re all hiding secrets from one another. Dare we risk walking in the light?

“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin” (1 John 1:7 ESV).

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

Unhidden

Every now and then I wish that the Protestant church had not abandoned the sacrament of confession. While I understand that that was a byproduct of acknowledging the priesthood of all believers, I think that for many Christians today it has become the “priesthood of no believers” or perhaps the “priesthood of me.” No, we don’t require a priest to serve as an intermediary between us and God, but there is something sacred that happens in fellowship when one believer is able to remind another based on Scripture, “God has forgiven you and He loves you.” Those words draw us closer to one another and to God as we look toward the cross of Jesus Christ.

Certainly there were abuses in the Catholic Church in the use of the confessional, penance, and the selling of indulgences. And there were those like Martin Luther who felt so burdened by his own sinfulness that he spent excessive amounts of time trying to remember and confess every sin that might possibly separate him from God. He hadn’t yet learned the freedom of grace and mercy in Christ. Those abuses and errors required correction and the Reformation was greatly needed. Unfortunately, I think many modern Christians may have taken things too far. There are many who see no need for the local church at all. They believe they can live out their faith without any input from anyone else. They refuse to accept that gathering together is a spiritual discipline that is necessary not only for their own growth in sanctification, but also for the growth of others. We are all weakened when some try to go it alone.

Specifically as it relates to confession, participating in close fellowship with others provides opportunity for accountability, encouragement, and reminders of the truth of God’s Word. I know there have been times when I’ve needed someone keeping me accountable for my actions, not so that they could enforce penance but so that I remember that there is someone who cares whether I stand or fall. (There is such a thing as beneficial shame that provides an extra incentive to endure.) There have also been times when I’ve needed such a person but I’ve opted not to find someone, and that is always a recipe for failure sooner or later.

Accountability to another person also serves as a reminder of the seriousness of sin. Without accountability, we can easily dismiss or rationalize our pet sins. With accountability, we see more of the eternal and relational consequences of sin, but also the abundance of grace that comes through Jesus’s death on the cross.

James wrote, “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” (5:16 ESV). Yet that seems to be the last thing many of us would choose to do. Confessing to one another is a way of agreeing with God that sin matters, grace abounds, God’s love endures, and we matter to Him and to one another.

Charles E. Moore wrote in Called to Community: The Life Jesus Wants for His People:

“Confession means far more than unloading one’s problems on someone else or striving for personal betterment. We bare our souls before our brothers and sisters for the sake of building up the body of Christ. Only by sharing life to this degree can we show the world that Jesus really does have the power to forgive sins, set burdened people free, and restore broken relationships.”

Paul David Tripp wrote:

“Confession shouldn’t be this scary thing we do our best to avoid. Sin, weakness, and failure shouldn’t be the constant elephant in the room that we all know is there but can’t (or won’t) talk about… It should be liberating, not understood as a moment of personal and relational loss. Our confession should be propelled by deep appreciation and gratitude toward God, who has made it possible for us to no longer fear being exposed.”

Olan Stubbs put it this way:

“Sometimes being honest with another person eye to eye about our sin forces us to be more honest with ourselves about our sin and ultimately more honest with the Lord… Whether it’s a small group, or an accountability group, or some other arrangement, we all need the help of other Christians in the church to assess, call out, and rebuke our sins, and to encourage us in holy living. Take advantage of the great gift God has given in providing not only forgiveness (Romans 8:1) and sin-killing power (Romans 8:4) by faith, but also other believers (Romans 12:5–8) to whom we can confess our sins and have them speak truth and grace back to us.”

I challenge all of us, myself included, to consider how we can better facilitate true community through the vulnerability of confession.

“Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper, but he who confesses and forsakes them will obtain mercy” (Proverbs 28:13).

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On a related note, Sam Storms had a couple recent blog posts that are worth reading on the importance of church membership:

http://www.samstorms.com/enjoying-god-blog/post/10-things-you-should-know-about-church-membership

http://www.samstorms.com/enjoying-god-blog/post/why-do-people-object-to-the-concept-of-membership-in-a-local-church

© 2018 Dawn Rutan. Unless otherwise indicated all images are copyright free from pixabay.com.

Off Target

I’ve found this quote from Dietrich Bonhoeffer to be challenging but true:

“[We] must ask ourselves whether we have not often been deceiving ourselves with our confession of sin to God, whether we have not rather been confessing our sins to ourselves and also granting ourselves absolution. And is not the reason perhaps for our countless relapses and the feebleness of our Christian obedience to be found precisely in the fact that we are living on self-forgiveness and not a real forgiveness? Self-forgiveness can never lead to a breach with sin; this can be accomplished only by the judging and pardoning Word of God itself… Our brother breaks the cycle of self-deception. A man who confesses his sins in the presence of a brother knows that he is no longer alone with himself he experiences the presence of God in the reality of the other person. As long as I am by myself in the confession of my sins everything remains in the dark, but in the presence of a brother the sin has to be brought into the light” (Life Together, 115-116).

It’s easy to remain in sin if it stays in the dark. Even if you’re truly confessing to God, the secrecy and shame often remain behind. But when you confess before a brother or sister in Christ, they can remind you of the truths of God’s Word—of forgiveness, fellowship, and freedom.

“But if we walk in the light, as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin. 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 to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:7-9 ESV). Note that forgiveness isn’t just between us and God, but it is an essential part of having fellowship with one another! Fellowship is hindered by secrecy, sin, and the illusion of superiority.

The comment is often made that the Greek word for sin can be translated as “missing the mark.” But using that as a definition of sin can be misleading. That gives the impression that you didn’t quite hit the bulls-eye, but came close, and if you just try a little harder you’ll be okay. The fact is that in our own strength we can’t even come close to the target. It’s more like trying to shoot an arrow to the North Star. It doesn’t matter how hard you try, it just ain’t happening! That being the case, why are we so reluctant to confess to one another? We’re all in the same boat, so why can’t we admit it?

“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed…” (James 5:16a). It’s also commonly noted that confess means to “say with or agree with.” Yes, we have to agree with God that sin is sin. However, this verse from James leads me to think that we also need to say it with one another— “I’m a sinner.” “You too? I thought I was the only one!” We need to truly hear from one another so we can encourage one another and remind each other of who we are in Christ.

I was just listening to a talk by Amy Simpson on mental illness, and some of her comments can also be applied to sin: “We need to start by humbly acknowledging our own problems… I know that everyone in this room is flawed… The only people who are truly effective in ministering to others are those who are aware of this in themselves… If we set the example of acknowledging the reality that we are imperfect people and that our own families are imperfect, we help create a culture of authenticity that benefits all of us.” We can minister to others by being open and honest.

“But now that you have been set free from sin and have become slaves of God, the fruit you get leads to sanctification and its end, eternal life” (Romans 6:22). Secrecy is its own slave-master, but it is slavery that can be broken if we so choose.

 “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery” (Galatians 5:1).

© 2017 Dawn Rutan. 

Unforgiven

A presidential candidate has been reported as saying he is a Christian but doesn’t ask God for forgiveness. No doubt there is a faulty understanding of what it means to be a Christian. This is the heresy of antinomianism that the Apostle John was addressing in his first letter:

“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 to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make Him a liar, and His word is not in us” (1 John 1:8-10 ESV).

But I wonder if that same misunderstanding tends to creep into the thoughts of established Christians at times. We talk about accepting Christ or inviting Him into our hearts. We may refer to an initial confession and repentance at the time of conversion, but sometimes that’s the last we hear about confession. Have you ever been in a church service (maybe even “revival”), and when the hymn of invitation comes, no one ever goes forward to pray? If someone does go forward, there may be some raised eyebrows as people wonder what’s going on. The implication is that only the unconverted or backsliders need to confess. I love some of the hymns in the invitation section of the hymnal; however, some convey the message that after conversion a person will never again need to confess.

The March 2016 issue of Christianity Today includes an interview with Fleming Rutledge in which she states: “American Christianity, as Richard Neibuhr pointed out long ago, has tended to preach a gospel without judgment and a Christ without a cross. This is an old problem. We want to be happy. We want to be positive. We want to overlook the almost unbelievable problems we face today.” She indicates that we are inclined to gloss over the Crucifixion and jump right to the Resurrection. We want the Good News of salvation without ever hearing the bad news of our sinfulness.

Martin Luther said in his 95 Theses, “When our Lord and Master Jesus Christ said ‘Repent,’ he intended that the entire life of believers should be repentance.” A life lived without confession and repentance is a life devoid of God’s forgiveness. The idea that one can be a Christian without ever asking for forgiveness is part of a greater deception that says, “It doesn’t matter how I act or what I say. My faith is private.”

Luther went on to say that faith is, “a living, creative, active and powerful thing, this faith. Faith cannot help doing good works constantly. It doesn’t stop to ask if good works ought to be done, but before anyone asks, it already has done them and continues to do them without ceasing. Anyone who does not do good works in this manner is an unbeliever… Thus, it is just as impossible to separate faith and works as it is to separate heat and light from fire!” (Introduction to Romans).

A living and active faith will be one of continual repentance, but it will also be made evident by the good fruit produced by God’s work in and through us. “What good is it, my brothers, if someone says he has faith but does not have works? Can that faith save him? …So also faith by itself, if it does not have works, is dead” (James 2:14, 17). If one claims to have faith without having either repentance or good works, he is deceiving himself and one day will be called to account. We can only pray that such people will see the error of their ways before it’s too late.

“For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of Me and of My words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when He comes in the glory of His Father with the holy angels”(Mark 8:36-38).

© 2016 Dawn Rutan.