Confess Your Sins

OK, let's be honest about this one. One of the most difficult things to do in a group context is the very thing we are instructed to do in James 5:16:

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed.

Yeah, we might be good with confessing our sins to God (maybe), but how about to one another? Here is a video a ran across which is related to this subject.

Now, I believe that this guys is on the right track. If we can't confess to one another, what do our confessions to God really mean?

But here's another thing to think about: What does unconfessed sin do to community? Now our American culture which says, "To each his own" and "What happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas" would insist that a person's private life is exactly that, private.

Are you familiar with the story of Achan in the Old Testament (Joshua 6-7)? You see, God told Joshua that Jericho had been delivered to the Israelites and Joshua gave explicit instruction to the people that the city was an offering to God. They were not to take anything for themselves from the city because it was the Lord's.

But Achan took Babylonian wealth for himself and hid it in his tent. And the Lord's anger rained down on all of Israel. Did you get that? All of Israel! Why? Does that sound wrong to you? Well, try this on for size. When Achan confessed his sin, he was stoned, but so were his belongings, his livestock, and his children. All stoned and burned.

OK, let's not go too far off track with this story. The point is that individual, private sins affect the whole community. And maybe, like the video suggested, we don't confess because we don't truly believe. Or, maybe we don't confess because we fear the reaction. If you confess to your Christian brothers and sisters, will they stone you and your entire household? Or, is your Christian community going to follow Christ's instructions. Take a look at the reason, according to James for confessing your sins:

Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. James 5:16