Fear begat Worship, which begat Confession…

Confession is a far under utilized practice in the church today.  Aside from Catholics who confess regularly, very little confession ever goes on amongst Christians.  Typically, when a person finally arrives at the point at which they are willing to confess their sins one to another (James 5:16), their sins have already been found out and what the individual is doing is validating all the rampant gossip surrounding whatever recent incident that needed confessing.  The problem with this is that it is not confession, nor is it all that constructive.  Confession is for the sake of healing and growth.  As is evident in the passage concerning confession found in James 5 as well as Isaiah 6.  

Please Read:

Isaiah 6: 5-7

James 5: 13-16

When we have contact with the Lord through worship, as well as the regular going-on of our gathering together, confession is a natural step.  If we were to use this element of our Christian lives more regularly, there would be far less timidity concerning our own need for confession. 

However, the most important step to making the act of confession valuable to the growth of the believer is that it must be met with an attitude of redemption instead of condemnation. Redemption is the immediate response from the Almighty when Isaiah confesses his sin, and is the immediately following the act of confession in James’ letter.  We must begin to be a people of reconciliation, and redemption if we are to ever achieve the example set before us by Jesus Christ.   

For it is He who has reconciled us to good work and to eternity, and though he did not sin, we have laid upon Him the iniquity of us all. 

Let us take great care to show confessors compassion rather than heaping upon them guilt and shame.