Out of Moab
This is the latest post in my Celebration of Discipline series. Click here to check out the other articles in the series.
Foster’s work has been foundational to my journey – we can only get a taste of it here, but it’s very worth checking it out if you haven’t read it!
With this post, we’re moving into the Corporate disciplines – I’ll be grouping them together, since I’ve found that the corporate nature makes some of them harder to practice individually in the way I’ve been doing throughout this series. This week is Confession and Guidance, and next week we’ll finish with Worship and Celebration.
Confession: choosing to reveal ourselves to each other, to not live behind masks. It is a means of healing and transformation of our inner spirit.
While Protestants usually focus on personal confession between you and God, sometimes that isn’t enough. In those cases, you need the intercession of others.
“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”
James 5:16
I’ve found that confession to others is primarily helpful in overcoming recurring sins or strongholds that I can’t seem to conquer on my own, even after multiple attempts of personal confession and repentance.
In 1 Peter 2:9, believers are called a royal priesthood. One of the functions of Biblical priests was to bring God’s forgiveness to the people they served through sacrifice. Jesus is the final sacrifice, but as priests, we can participate in bringing the reality of God’s forgiveness provided through Jesus’ sacrifice to others. And in my experience, it’s sometimes helpful to have an outside voice that can counteract the condemnation that often accompanies recurring sins.
To practice confession, here are the steps:
· Examination – allowing God to reveal sins
· Sorrow (not primarily an emotion) - being sorry for how the sinful act hurt God
· Determination to avoid sin – ask God to give us a yearning for holiness.
As you practice those steps, pray for clarity on whether this is something for which you need the support of another believer.
Guidance: In a corporate sense, this refers to discernment and listening for God’s voice within a group, trusting the Spirit to lead the group into unity, not settling for majority rule. Note that this is irrelevant to organizational or denominational structures or policies (i.e. having a church government in place doesn’t necessarily mean the church is practicing guidance in this sense!)
There is Scriptural precedent for this discipline. In Acts 13:2 the church was gathered together, worshiping and fasting, and they discerned together that Paul and Barnabas were to be sent out to serve.
Then in Acts 15, church leaders had gathered to work through the circumcision issue. There was debate, but it ended in consensus. They were able to discern God’s voice through the individual contributions of those present.
The church is the Body of Christ – no one person will have everything necessary for the people of God to flourish. We each have unique wisdom and perspectives from our individual life in the Spirit. As we all contribute in a corporate setting the Spirit will guide us together through these contributions.
My Experience with Confession
I have found healing through confession. This isn’t something I’ve done often, but when I’ve been brave enough to reveal a stronghold to someone, I’ve been met with grace – and that grace countered the shame I had lived in and empowered me to walk in freedom from that stronghold.
As I worked on my exercise this week, I realized I hadn’t practiced confession intentionally in a while, even on an individual level.
Foster speaks of confession as not living behind masks, so getting out of the habit of regular confession means that I have been hiding from issues I’ve needed to wrestle through.
So as I walked through the steps, I committed to regularly build this into my spiritual life and practice again, to not let shame steal my identity – to no longer hide from God, others or even myself!
Questions for Reflection:
In many church settings we can feel pressured to wear a mask, pretending to live the victorious Christian life and hiding our struggles. What do you think are some of the factors that contribute to this pressure? And what are some things we can do to foster a culture of safety for people to be honest so they can receive the healing that comes through confession? Comment below or contact me – I’d love to connect with you!
Next week we will be focusing on the disciplines of Worship and Celebration – subscribe, and I will send you the worksheet so you can journey with me this week!
Hey, I'm Deanna!
I'll start with the typical introductory details - I live in Wisconsin and work as an Administrative Assistant for a non-profit organization - but those are the least interesting things about me!
I love reading (theology, spiritual formation, biographies), baking and cooking, hiking and exploring the the beauty God has created - in all 4 seasons! All of these things bring me life, and they are all things I will be writing about here - so if any of that is interesting to you, subscribe and stick around for a while!
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