True Confessions

In October 1922, a new magazine hit the shelves, "True Confessions."  Of course, in actuality, it was at best true gossip enhanced in a way to garner sales.  You can still get a subscription on Amazon for $38.94 including shipping (just so you know).  In E. Stanley Jones' book, "The Christ of The Mount," he tells of a gathering called, The Confession of Sins Club.  He thought it was quite novel idea until he found it was the confession of others' sins, or a gossip guild.

Of course, as Christians, we're familar with confession, whether Catholic or Protestant.  But we're not really so familiar with true confession.  What I mean by that is in the Catholic tradition, you go into a closet with a vieled partition between you and the priest your are confessing to.  So you can confess a sin without necessarily revealing who your are.  In the Protestantt tradition, you come before the entire church but so often just confess "I have sinned," without naming the sin.  And, in both traditions, the whom you've sinned against is generally left out.

In neither tradition does one necessarily step completely  out of the shadows, revealing the precise sin and to whom it was precisely against.  There is so often a good deal of cover and the sting of embarrasment is held to a minimum.  The full light of truth is not being allowed to bring its cleansing power to bear.  In our hearts, we know that there are still details not known, interested parties not addressed. wounds still not mended.  What is left in the dark is a darkness in our hearts and souls that we continue to carry.

True confession, on the other hand, as revealed in James 5:16 is to "confess your sins one to another and pray for each other so that you might be healed...'  Did you notice the "one to another" part and the "so you can be healed?"  That personal and mutual confessing of sins and wrongs and hurts brings about true healing, not just a pass on the sin but a power over that sin.

Oh, as Paul Harvey used to say, "Now here's the rest of the story."  You recall hearing the quote, "the prayers of a righteous person is powerful and effective," but did you know it was the second half of thee verse quoted above?  Read James 5:16 and you will see that the effective and powerful prayer is built upon the foundation of face to face confession.

Don't hide your sins in your heart or they will darken it.  Confess to God what is between you and him alone but don't fail to confess to another when your sin is against them.  Open and honest confessing of our sins against others is the only way to open our hearts to full release and complete healing.  Jus' Sayn.