Self-examination, Confession, and Loving one another

My heart has been heavy.

I have to admit it is discouraging when secret sins are spilled out and splashed across newspapers and internet articles, about famous leaders who profess(ed) to be followers of Christ. It's not the revelation that these leaders are fallible that is shocking, because we are all fallible. It is more the double life they live(d), the hypocrisy that was hidden for so long, their denial of such sin in their lives, and the people hurt and wounded in the wake of their sin.

My husband and I have had many long conversations over the course of the last few weeks. We've been asking hard questions:

How can we be light in such a dark world when the church is filled with such hypocrisy? How can people trust the church or anything Christians say when leaders use their authority to abuse others in secret while simultaneously speaking truth in public? What can we do and what should we be doing?

Since our first conversation, I have not been able to shake the word confess from my mind, and through His word, God has been answering some of these hard questions for me.

James 5:16

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.

Confess (Exomologeo: to acknowledge freely and openly)

Sins (Paraptoma: side-slip, unintentional error or willful sin)

Healed (Iaomai: make whole, cure)

*Greek words in parentheses

"Therefore, freely and openly acknowledge your errors to one another and pray, that you may be made whole."

The word of God calls us to confess, to openly and freely admit when we have willfully sinned or unintentionally been in error. First, I think when people hear the word confess, they think it refers to admitting some "really big" sin in your life, but confession can be admitting to wrestling with a certain temptation and growing weary, admitting to struggling with certain thoughts, or apologizing when you know you were wrong. Confession can simply be stating, "I need help."

Second, I don't know about you, but I think it can be very scary to confess to others, especially when you don't know how they will respond. What if they condemn you or cast you out of their circle of acceptance? What if they tell you that until you've cleaned yourself up, they don't want to be around you? What if they hold your sin against you and think less of you?

These are real concerns. Real responses. Responses, that in some cases, cause people to hide or justify sin in their lives.

God's way is different.

Confess so we can pray for each other and be healed. Pray. This is the response God wants us to have: to come before our Savior and ask for His forgiveness, cleansing, and power, together. Weep over the sin and rejoice in God's forgiveness, together. Trust in God's faithfulness, together.

Confessing to each other and praying for one another is part of God's healing process, because we are aligning ourselves with God's way and helping promote honesty rather than hypocrisy in our lives. How good God is, His way is perfect. When we confess, He freely gives us His mercy, forgiveness, and healing power. He gives beauty for ashes, joy for mourning, strength in weakness, and praise for heaviness.

It takes humility to confess, but God has promised to come close to the humble.

The One who intricately wove me together in my mother's womb, who already knows everything about me, who loves me perfectly and has everything I need, lovingly comes close as I turn to Him-

Abba, Daddy-I've sinned. Forgive me.

The verse above says, the prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective. Prayer for the person robed in the righteousness of Jesus, is powerful and effective because it is an expression of reliance on God; reliance on Him for salvation and for a life lived as His child. Prayer is an expression of our trust in God to give us what we need when we need it, including when we've sinned.

He has promised to forgive us, cleanse us and give us help in time of need.

What can I do? I can choose to yield to God's way and become:

• a follower of Christ who chooses to confess regularly-

• a follower of Christ who is a loving place for others to confess without condemnation or rejection-

• a follower of Christ who is committed to praying with and for others when they confess-

James 5:19-20

My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.

Galatians 6:1-3

Brothers, if anyone is caught in any transgression, you who are spiritual should restore him in a spirit of gentleness. Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ. For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

Caught (Prolambano: to detect)

Spiritual (Pneumatikos: filled with and governed by the Spirit of God)

Gentleness (Prautes: mildness, humility)

Keep watch (Skopeo: regard, to take aim at, look at)

Bear (Bastazo: to lift, carry)

*Greek words in parentheses

The Word of God also calls us to lovingly be on the look out for each other. We can help others by gently and humbly approaching them when we detect sin in their lives and allowing them to do the same for us.

Gently and humbly-

Asking them how they are doing-

Listening to and praying for them-

Studying and praying the Word of God, together.

Notice this verse says, Keep watch on yourself, lest you too be tempted...if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, deceives himself. Take aim at yourself and look closely.

This is a crucial piece-

approaching someone about their sin needs to be coupled with a close, honest examination of our own hearts; an acknowledgement of our own susceptibility to the temptation of sin. It needs to be coupled with prayer and wisdom. The moment we begin to believe we stand above that person, we are allowing deception to seep into our hearts.

We are not better than the person we are approaching. The Word of God calls us to lovingly, gently, and humbly approach someone about sin so that we can pray for them and carry their burden with them.

The fact remains, we all need someone close who is willing to lovingly approach us about sin in our lives, who will pray for us and carry our burdens with us. None of us is above this. No leader, no celebrity preacher, no book writer or blogger. No one. No follower of Christ should be unapproachable or thought to be infallible.

We are saved by grace through faith in Jesus. Every. single. one. of. us.

Every single one of us needs God's grace, His mercy, His forgiveness, and His power daily.

Any humility, any admittance of sin, any turning to God for forgiveness and strength, any desire to pray for and help another person, is the work of the Holy Spirit in our hearts. It is because of the abundant, continual, undeserved kindness of God that anyone of us are able to do these things.

None of us can boast.

What should I be doing?

• If I am going to disciple others in truth, I need to be discipled and hold to the truth I am teaching.

• If I am going to encourage others to confess, I need to confess.

• If I am going to lovingly, gently, and humbly approach someone about sin, I need to allow others to do the same for me.

We are the body of Christ, God's sons and daughters. I believe the Word of God calls us to do these things so we can cheer each other on and build each other up in Christ. So we can point each other back toward God's life-giving boundaries, when we are wandering, and away from the many sinful paths that lead us toward eternal death.

My prayer is that followers of Christ would not grow weary in well doing when we hear terrible news about a famed preacher, but instead, it would drive us to self-examine. That it would inspire us to look to Jesus, the perfecter and founder of our faith. That it would cause us to esteem Jesus as worthy of all our praise, and lift our eyes to the only One able to make us-

• People who hold onto truth-

• People who rely on God's strength to overcome and gain victory over sin, YES!-

• People who, by God's grace, are transparent, honest, and humble-

• People who are dedicated to the work of lovingly approaching each other about sin, so that we can approach God's throne arm in arm to ask for help-

• People who patiently bear up under and carry each other's burdens-

Not people who feign perfection and point out everyone else's sin while hiding their own.

By God's grace, I can help (we can help) make the body of Christ a winsome place where truth is upheld and love is displayed through confession (without fear of condemnation or rejection), forgiveness, prayer, and carrying burdens.

We can help make Jesus' name famous and lift Him high.

Sincerely,

Amy