Responding To God: Confession

Some think of confession as an honorable thing “a well-dressed businessman steps valiantly into the police office, looking manly even as he steps through the miniature swinging gate, and says ‘I confess. I’m the guilty one.’” The police are tempted to break out into applause, as this man clearly is a good and honorable person. In actuality, the confession we’re talking about looks more like this:

Chunk is afraid, hopeless, and without honor. He confesses everything to the Fratellis. As embarrassing as his actions are, can you imagine what it’s like to be confronted by God? We can try, but it’s no use; every analogy we imagine involves his creation, and he is holy, separate, other. Thankfully, we’re not left to our finite imaginations. We see in scripture that confrontations with God involve a fearful response, followed by a confession. Unlike Chunk’s confession, this is simply recognition of the truth. In the fantastic book Recalling The Hope of Glory, Allen Ross describes it this way: “At the outset there must be a personal acknowledgment, verbal or mental, of who this God is and of who we, the worshipers, are.” In John 20:28, when the risen Jesus confronts him, Thomas exclaims “My Lord and my God!” His prior demands, theories, and pride vanish the instant Jesus speaks, and all of Thomas is worshiping God in that moment. It’s humbling but true: all of our faculties are meant to worship God, to recognize him as Lord and Creator and we as his created worshipers.

This reaction is easily swept aside in our day-to-day worship, not to mention the corporate gatherings of the church. This is due to pride. We will worship God, but desire to appear respectable and maintain control. We’ll confess on our terms, in our timing, and in a manner comfortable to us. However, God is unwilling to share his glory with anyone, meaning he doesn’t budge on the whole “I AM” claim. In our pride we respond, “Yes, you are, but I AM just a little bit.” And praise the merciful, loving Father, who instead of wiping us clean off the face of existence, patiently draws us to himself, and effectively burns the pride away. At some point, we will each realize that it doesn’t matter what we want, what we are comfortable with. All that matters is God’s glory!

Don’t miss this part of worship- confession is not simply a step to make sure we’re in good graces with God. At each moment of our lives, our thoughts and actions should be supported with this foundation, “God is God, and I am not.” If we overlook or minimize this, we are holding onto control that we are not capable of maintaining as created beings. This could be a major reason for the issues we’ve had as a church in corporate response and individual faithfulness - many of us are trying to worship God from a heart that loves itself more. If we do not confess Jesus as Lord, both verbally and in our actions, no song we sing will be worship.