If it’s so good for the soul, why is it so danged hard? At least in this season of Lent it should get a little easier. Confession means repentance, change. You know, the hard work of being a Christian. Everything around us changes, and we don’t get a say in that. We get slightly arrogant, don’t we, when we feel like adjustment is imposed on us. Our pride tells us that we need to be in control. But confession is meant to perform the exact opposite in us. Total surrender. Allowing ourselves to be completely humbled. More “Jesus-like.” Confession cannot be reduced to a few minutes in a booth. There are critical stages, like self-examination, working toward repentance (the “never again” aspect), a commitment to more righteous living, and being able to forgive yourself. You hope and pray to come out of the experience smarter. It is hard to be confident in our own ability to be a confessional Christian. This is when God steps in through Christ as in 2 Corinthians 1:20: “for all the promises of God find their Yes in him.”

I have only been a pastor for thirteen of my fifty-eight years. There are many sin-scars, much I have had to confess. Saying “yes” to the call, the tug, the “shove” of ministry means to embark on a path that is full of loneliness, depression, frustration and adequacy. I call it the “joyous burden.” As followers of Jesus, perhaps that is as it should be. Bearing one another’s burdens is confessional in its own way. In our congregation’s Sunday worship bulletin, it is usually the very first word of the liturgy: CONFESSION. Just like that – bold and in caps. (That seems contrary to the big “no-no” of texting!). This is important and significant: how can we truly, with a clean heart, come before God in His house to praise and worship unless we do this “heavy lift?” How can we in clear conscience approach the throne of grace at the Lord’s table if we harbor resentment, division and pride (“well, I’m right and Bob is wrong”)? I am no different than my parishioners at this point. The burden of trying to live up to unreasonably high standards is, in my humble and perhaps flawed opinion, one of the reasons for church decline. Broken trust. That, and oh-so-many reasons that take us to dead ends and down rabbit holes. Open up “The Blame Game”; unwrap the tokens, shuffle the cards, roll the dice. Will anyone come out a winner?

It is God, only God, who grants us the courage to owe up to a confessional posture. Let go of your pretense. Let go of the fear of never measuring up. Claim, then let go of, your weakness, so that you can grab a hold of His strength. May there be no deficit disorder when it comes to confession. The deficit will remain because we are human, yes. Hate to break it to you! But in that awareness is plenteous redemption. There is unconditional love.

Pastor Art