Introduction to the Confession of Sins
Perhaps no discipline in the Way of Jesus is more misunderstood and less practiced than confession. Exaggerated images of priests sitting in a wooden box listening to parishioners rattle off their recent mistakes cross our minds when we think of confession. Or if you’re like me, that scene of Antonio Banderas in a confessional listening to Catherine Zeta-Jones confess her “impure thoughts” plays as comedic relief; confession is a distant, foreign practice. Or a joke.
There’s a scene in American Psycho after Patrick Bateman gets caught in the act of a heinous crime. He’s sorry, he’s groveling, he’s showing remorse, he’ll never do it again. So he confesses his crime to the authorities. He’ll go to jail, probably, for the rest of his life. But then it becomes clear that he didn’t actually get caught. There’s no evidence; he won’t go to jail; he’s free. So, what becomes of his confession? He reneges on it immediately. Since he didn’t actually get caught, he’s not actually sorry.
“My pain is constant and sharp, and I do not hope for a better world for anyone. In fact, I want my pain to be inflicted on others. I want no one to escape. But even after admitting this, there is no catharsis; my punishment continues to elude me, and I gain no deeper knowledge of myself. No new knowledge can be extracted from my telling. This confession has meant nothing.” Patrick Bateman, from American Psycho
So more people will die.
Real confession means something. It’s woven throughout the New Testament as a key element of repentance. Why do we need to practice it?
Without confession, reconciliation is impossible.
Reconciliation involves 1) Confession (owning up), 2) Repentance (changing), and 3) Forgiveness. There can be no healed relationship without—first—confession.
Some time ago, a friend confessed to me that in college he had damaged my car, and never told me. For ten years he felt wrecked by guilt like that ol’ Geo Prism. (It eventually exploded, which is another story altogether.) It affected our friendship, even though I was unaware of it. When we wrong others, things get awkward. The more time passes, the more estranged we become.
Some of us understand this first hand. There are old issues between us and family members or friends that continue unresolved. Nothing has been said about them. Every holiday, every hangout we spend together without bringing it up plunges those hurt feelings deeper and deeper into our souls. The bitterness poisons us toward them like snake venom moving closer and closer to our hearts. Soon, even talking to that person becomes impossible.
That’s why we need to confess our sins. Confession is the antidote.
Jesus recognizes the seriousness of this issue, and puts it high on our priority list, above even worship. He instructs:
“If you are offering your gift at the altar and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar and go. First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift.” (Matthew 5v23–24)
Jesus says, “Don’t wait to confess your sin! Don’t even go to church.” Go make things right, and then come to worship. Remember how David describes confession and repentance: “For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it… The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise” (Psalm 51). A broken spirit—contrite through confession—is more important than the sacrifices.
God wants loving relationships, a network of healing and support and health. And since we often sin against each other, confession is a necessary piece of a healthy community. Without it, reconciliation is impossible.
Without confession, reconciliation with God is impossible.
Confession involves admitting you’re not who you say you are. Owning up to your faults. Reciting with honesty the ways you’ve hurt others. It implies you’ve not lived up to your potential. That you’re a sinner.
No wonder it’s difficult for us to confess! It feels negative, a total bummer. There are things we’d rather keep hidden, mistakes that we’re ashamed of, regret that we fear will bring judgment from others.
Confession is about telling the truth. To continue hiding who we are and what we done is to live a lie. And we cannot have a real relationship with God based on lies. John writes:
If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us… If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1)
In other words, people who don’t confess don’t know God. Without confession, reconciliation with God is impossible.
In Beauty and the Beast, Belle’s father Maurice has been captured by the terrifying “Beast” and imprisoned in a dark, derelict castle. Belle finds him there, locked in his cell, with no chance of escape; the Beast bars the way. In a beautiful scene where Belle substitutes herself in exchange for her father’s life, she says what is now an iconic line.
Please, let him out. Can’ t you see he’s not well? He’s an old man. He could die! Wait, please, take me instead! If I stay, will you let him go? …
Come into the light. Belle, from Beauty and the Beast
The Beast was living in darkness, overcome by bitterness and hatred, cursed by his selfishness and greed. Now an innocent man’s life has been ruined by it. But this woman offers herself to redeem him, to take his place in the cell.
Her only requirement: The Beast must step into the light.
John goes on to describe confession as “walking in the light, as he is in the light” (1 John 1v7). Jesus has stepped into the cell, taken our place, burdened himself with our sin, gone to the cross on our behalf, and atoned as a substitute. He is our redeemer.
But there’s a requirement: We must come into the light.
We must be honest about our need, our failings, our weaknesses, and our mistakes. If he is to move in and take over the Dark Tower of our lives, it’ll be on the condition of honesty. But it is this honesty that leads to our salvation.
Confessing our sin is also confessing faith in the Savior. Admitting we are sinners is also admitting how great Jesus is. When we come clean about the things we’ve done wrong, our attention is immediately brought to the one who makes things right.
Confession, then, isn’t a bummer, but a total joy! It’s about telling the truth and unburdening ourselves from the weight of guilt! It’s not pessimism about life but optimism about God! It’s not a burden but a relief!
Come into the light.
If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness… My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world. (1 John 1v9–2v2)