Jesus, cast a look on me. Give me sweet simplicity. Make me poor and keep me low. Seeking only Thee to know.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

The Discipline of Confession

So I've been making my way, s-l-o-w-l-y, through the book Celebration of Discipline by Richard Foster.
In chapter 10, not only is the importance of our own confession addressed, but also the discipline of becoming someone whom others can come to as a safe place to confess their own burdens. Foster quotes Bonhoffer...
"Anybody who lives beneath the cross...will find there is no sin that can ever be alien to him. Anybody who has once been horrified by the dreadfulness of his own sin that nailed Jesus to the cross will no longer be horrified by even the rankest sins of a brother."
Foster writes...
"This is the one thing...that forever delivers us from conveying any attitude of superiority. We know the grace and mercy of God's acceptance. Once we see the awfulness of sin we know that, regardless of what others have done, we ourselves are the chief of sinners. Therefore, there is nothing that anyone can say that will disturb us. Nothing. By living under the cross we can hear the worst possible things from the best possible people without so much as batting an eyelash. If we live in that reality, we will convey that spirit to others. They know it is safe to come to us."
*emphases added by me.

...something for me to strive towards, no doubt.


James 5:16(NKJV)
Confess [your] trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.

2 comments:

  1. Food for thought, Bean. I am nothing like that-I am sometimes shocked and heartbroken over sin- especially grievous evil. I should at least learn how to fake not being shocked, huh? It kind of goes back to our conversation about if we weren't Christians, would we really be as bad as sinful as some people, e.g. Hitler. A lot to ponder.
    Poppy Pickering

    ReplyDelete
  2. What I mean is, if someone was confessing a terrible sin to me, I shouldn't look repulsed, even if I am. I should be approachable.

    ReplyDelete