Confession: Do Something Different
by Jason Carr
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. (James 5:16)
You can find posts here and here about what confession is, and read some ideas for practicing this discipline in your everyday life. I’m racking my brain, trying to figure out what this blog should be about. I’m tempted to outsource this job to A.I. but I won’t.
It’s moments like these that I despair in the power of fresh ideas and more words to accomplish anything of lasting value. Do you really need me to tell you for the thousandth time a spiritual idea? Our journals are full, our Bibles are marked up and annotated, and we only have so much time in a day to listen to Francis Chan, John Mark Comer, and John Piper (fill in the blank with your favorite Christian teacher). We’re drowning in spiritual content but starving for transformation. We don’t need more words. We need honesty. And we need to do the work. So let’s try something different today.
Today, call or text a trusted friend—a Christian friend—and set up a time to meet this week. The place should be semi-private. Sit down, pray, and then confess to them your sins. Put it in its most honest terms, don’t try to sweeten it up. Tell it like it is. Tell the truth—plain and unfiltered.
Does that sound scary? Good. That means it’s probably overdue. And if it’s overdue, it probably means your spiritual life is suffering. Confession has become a thing we simply do not do in the church anymore, and it’s to our detriment. James tells us to “confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.” Confession heals us because it exposes the issue; it brings light into the darkness. Sin brings us shame, and shame causes us to hide. Confession to a trusted brother or sister in Christ brings us out of hiding and out of shame.
You may be thinking, “I can’t possibly confess the things I’ve done. People will think differently of me.” Good. That person you are presenting to the world is not really you anyway. And the energy you are spending to keep up appearances is exhausting and making it nearly impossible to truly experience love from others. It’s also keeping you from the healing promised in James 5.
Confession brings us into the light and into true community with others. It’s not optional. It’s not just for the start of our faith. It’s a lifelong discipline that keeps us alive to God and others. The longer you wait, the easier it is to convince yourself you don’t need it. Don’t hesitate. Text that friend. Set the time. Experience the freedom of being known—and healed.
If it happens that you can’t think of anyone to text, I want you to know you are not meant to live in spiritual isolation. The New Testament is emphatic that we are brothers and sisters, members of one body, and intended to bear one another’s burdens. Not casual acquaintances. Deep, intimate, close relationships. Your relationship with God is deeply intimate, but it is not meant to be isolated. If you don’t have a trusted person, I implore you, join an MC, get to know the people, and intentionally pursue deep relationships. Your spiritual health depends on it.
“But since the sin must come to light some time, it is better that it happens today between me and my brother, rather than on the last day in the piercing light of the final judgment.” —Dietrich Bonhoeffer