At one conference we were tasked with making a play about this passage. We split it up into two plays, one for the younger brother and one for the older brother, each having their own story. The older brother’s story turned out to be much more interested and the younger brother’s story boring and played out. We tried to find ways to avoid the conventional party scenes that look ridiculous, and which attempt to get cheap laughs. We didn’t feel that it was honest or connected with people, especially to make them feel sorry for their sins and want to repent.

The rule is actually that only public sins should be confessed publicy, i.e. if you somehow sinned against the whole community or sinned in your position as an elder or pastor. Private sins should be kept private if possible. Mt 18:15 says: “If your brother or sister sins, go and point out their fault, just between the two of you.”

When public confession of sins becomes a ritual in high-pressure groups like UBF, this is not Biblical and problematic. Not for nothing it is also one of the points in Lifton’s famous “eight criteria for thought reform” – it is a typical practice of cults and mind control groups. It is also practiced in totalist regimes like Mao’s China and North Korea.

This is because it creates and atmosphere of fear and feelings of unworthyness and indebtedness, while leaders have full control. Those who regularly confess start to feel that they are so sinful and unworthy that they never may criticize anybody else. While the leaders, who only take part in the confession ritual as listeners, exploit their knowledge of sins to subdue their followers. The fact that the leaders do not confess their sins while all the others do also sends the subliminal message that they are sinless servants of God that have to be copied and obeyed while all the others are imperfect.

I can testify that my chapter leader never shared his own sogam during these weekly sessions, but always only listened to the sogams of the members. Also, I have never heared a confession of sins by other leaders like Samuel Lee. On some occasions, I heared confession of “cold sins” by leaders (like e.g. in a mission report), but even that was rare and usually only served to boast about their spiritual mindset.

To be honest I don’t like the public confession of sins in testimonies. It is not something that is confortable. The Catholics have always understood the dangers in public confession. I agree that confession is good, just not publicly- and this includes privately, and then gossiped publicly.

As for me and my brother, my brother is very much the “hot sinner”. He has been caught selling drugs, was suspended weekly for fighting during school. He is the sterotypical “bad person”. I on the other hand have a tendency towards pride and gossip. Which is better? I am not sure, but most theologians have considered pride the worst, including St. Augustine who was very much a “hot sinner” in his relations with women.