Comments on: Pious Fellowship Permits No Sinners

By: Ben T

Ben T — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:18:11 +0000

This is a good article that explains how a Christian leader burns himself out and burdens his church members: http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2012/05/13/your-ministry-is-not-your-identity/ I know that as hard, humbling and humiliating as it might feel, I, as an older Christian and a leader, needs tremendous work and tremendous help from others to continually live before the eyes of God and to confess and repent for my own sake!

By: Ben T

Ben T — Tue, 15 May 2012 16:14:08 +0000

Thanks Brian. For sure, true confession can only happen after conversion to Christ by the work of the Spirit. Like any other Christian discipline (prayer, self-control, love, showing mercy, forgiveness, self-denial, etc), confession is not a “work” that we do to get some benefit, even if it is to truly desire an authentic Christian community. Confession is always the result of the convicting work of the Holy Spirit.

What I mainly got from this is that confession must always be 2 ways. A danger in a hierarchical community is when the “younger” Christian is expected to “sincerely repent,” while the “older” Christian is “not required to do so” like the younger person. I don’t believe that this is ever healthy for any church.

By: Brian Karcher

Brian Karcher — Mon, 14 May 2012 23:49:46 +0000

Ben, I can’t wait to read Bonhoeffer!

I don’t see the confession Bonhoeffer speaks of as having any value at all for a non-Christian community. It only makes sense for those who believe in the free gift of God: Christ crucified. For all other fellowships, confession of sin is just a pity party.

I think one reason Christians often stop confessing is that they begin to view confession of sin as a means to get grace. After trying so hard, they find that confession does not bring about grace. The “good for the soul” feeling wears off. Or in the other extreme, some Christians view confession as not being necessary. Why should I confess if Jesus forgave all my sins?

Hopefully I am reading Bonhoeffer correctly… but I don’t see any of those concepts in the Bonhoeffer quotes above. To him, confession of sin “is the conversion” and seems to be something we continue to do after salvation (not before salvation), and as a way to edify the body of Christ. Confession of sin then becomes almost like a glue, bonding brothers and sisters in the Lord together to encourage us to remain in the grace of God, and hold firmly to the foot of the cross.

I like to say that Christianity is not Judaism 2.0. I see so many Christians acting like Jews under the Law, as if the gospel is just an improved form of Judaism. So confession loses its value.