Thursday, March 03, 2011
Helping us confess our sins to each other...
If we are going to practice this spiritual discipline in fellowship, we must create an atmosphere of confession. We do a number of things at Southern Hills to facilitate this. Our Garden of Prayer helps. Elders walk the aisles among our flock, making ourselves available for prayer. Few people are going to walk down an aisle and "confess" their sin, but many will do it in a small group or with an individual elder. We set up many spiritual counseling sessions this way.
We celebrate success. We often refer to people who have found healing from their sin by coming to us for help. We speak of healed marriages and conquored addictions. We have testimonies from people who found healing.
Our leaders are authentic. I frequently say publicly that there is nothing one of our flock can confess to us that at least one on us has not struggled with -- or someone very close to us has. Nothing. We will not be shocked, we will not be disgusted, and we will help in healing.
We as leaders even confess sin and struggles. We have had elders acknowlege that at one time in their lives they were away from God, had marriages in trouble, struggled with sexual purity, and then we are able to point at healing in our own lives. If he can do it for us, he can do it for you.
Admitedly, not every individual elder or minister will be that transparent. But some of us are. And we don't give details publicly of our past sins, tho sometimes some do privately. But we are creating an atmosphere of confession.
We stress the outcome: healing. Confession is not what you do just because you got caught. It is not something you do generically. We don't think much of the whole "if I did anything to offend", or "they misunderstood", or "it's not my fault" confessions.
But we are trying. And God is healing. And the alcoholics are becoming sober. The sexual addicts are becoming pure. The angry are becoming sweet. The stingy are becoming givers. The captives are set free, the lame walk, and the blind see.
Every day by the power of God at work thru the community of his people.
We celebrate success. We often refer to people who have found healing from their sin by coming to us for help. We speak of healed marriages and conquored addictions. We have testimonies from people who found healing.
Our leaders are authentic. I frequently say publicly that there is nothing one of our flock can confess to us that at least one on us has not struggled with -- or someone very close to us has. Nothing. We will not be shocked, we will not be disgusted, and we will help in healing.
We as leaders even confess sin and struggles. We have had elders acknowlege that at one time in their lives they were away from God, had marriages in trouble, struggled with sexual purity, and then we are able to point at healing in our own lives. If he can do it for us, he can do it for you.
Admitedly, not every individual elder or minister will be that transparent. But some of us are. And we don't give details publicly of our past sins, tho sometimes some do privately. But we are creating an atmosphere of confession.
We stress the outcome: healing. Confession is not what you do just because you got caught. It is not something you do generically. We don't think much of the whole "if I did anything to offend", or "they misunderstood", or "it's not my fault" confessions.
But we are trying. And God is healing. And the alcoholics are becoming sober. The sexual addicts are becoming pure. The angry are becoming sweet. The stingy are becoming givers. The captives are set free, the lame walk, and the blind see.
Every day by the power of God at work thru the community of his people.
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It is a human reaction to not want to be stigmatized by our actions, you read about it often in PTSD victims. I hope your congeration will be successful in reaching out in a safe enviroment to provide support to those in need.
All of us want peace of heart, humility-to be at rest when we are blamed or despised.In the end, God can forgive anything, we just have to ask.
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All of us want peace of heart, humility-to be at rest when we are blamed or despised.In the end, God can forgive anything, we just have to ask.
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