The Confession Obstacle

Shame and fear are two of the biggest obstacles to confessing our sins to other Christians, or even simply to God. We are all broken people, but to admit that reveals our weakness and imperfection. In addition, we fear being judged. The church should be the safest place for people to confess, but too often we don't feel safe confessing there because we're afraid we will be rejected.

As we choose to practice the discipline of confession, we must remember that the shame and fear we experience simply are not the truth. Both are diametrically opposed to what the gospel is. The Scripture is truth. Grace is truth. So as difficult as it may seem, we have to do the opposite of what our fear tells us. Fear wants to keep the bad things hidden and encourages us to live with shame, lacking purpose, holiness, and purity. But that's not what God intended for us.

Although the fear that holds us back from confession isn't going to go away, we can still act courageously. Confession doesn't ever get easier, but it does become more natural as we begin to experience the fullness of God's forgiveness and grace.

The point of confession and spiritual self-examination isn't, thankfully, just to beat ourselves up and feel guilty. Confession is a way of naming the problem, admitting it, and saying, Look, there's this mess, Lord, and I'm not going to clean it up on my own. I'm not able, nor am I entirely willing, to let go of these things without some serious divine assisstance. We confess our sins, receive absolution (forgiveness), and seek to make things right. The spiritual discipline of confession is a way of counterforming the self - of rightly forming the self.

That said, it can be dangerous to become scrupulous - obsessed with scrutinizing our sin. We should not fall into a works-righteousness approach to faith. But the opposite danger is to neglect sanctification, because we've overemphasized justification: "Oh, you're justified; oh good, you're done. Now you can sit on the couch and relax." Justification is the beginning of the project, not the end.

As we make progress in our spiritual lives, we see how deeply the things we're struggling with are rooted. Sanctification implies that progress isn't only possible but also expected, and that becoming more and more like Christ is both a journey and a destination.