22 Confession is Good for the Soul
The Book of James Series
By Pastor Jim May
“Alright, “fess up. You do the crime, you serve the time!” Have you ever heard someone say that to you? Perhaps when you were a kid and you did something you weren’t supposed to and then the time came to face the music. Like all kids, the first words out of your mouth were “I don’t know” or “I didn’t do it.” But you knew you were guilty and you finally had to “fess up”. There’s just something about having to confess that we are wrong that just doesn’t sit well will the pride that is found in the human heart.
First of all there’s the punishment or the price that has to paid for doing wrong. Most of us would confess a lot quicker if we knew that there would be no repercussions. I’d have confessed to doing almost anything if I knew that the switch wouldn’t fly. Secondly, we don’t like being called wrong about anything. If we could just confess what we have done without having to make ourselves look wrong or pay the consequences of our wrong doing then how much easier it would be to confess our sin.
Two questions that I want to try to answer about the confession of our sin are these: 1) Just what should we confess? 2) Who should we confess to?
Some people believe that all they have to do is confess their sins to a priest and then he has the power to absolve them of that sin because he acts as a mediator between them and God. They simply have never learned that only Jesus can be that mediator. What does a confession accomplish if there is no repentance to go with it – absolutely nothing! In fact it can be dangerous under the right circumstances.
Four preachers met for a friendly luncheon. During the course of the dinner and conversation one preacher said, "Our people come to us and confess their sins and problems. Perhaps it would be good for us, as their spiritual leaders, to practice what we preach. After all, they say that “Confession is good for the soul." After a short discussion, they all agreed. The first preacher confessed that he liked to go to the movie theater for a night of entertainment and it just didn’t matter what kind of movie was playing. He just liked a night out at the movies so he could get lost in a fantasy world for a little while and forget his troubles and the work that was always waiting for his attention. Of course he didn’t do it in his own town lest the good church folk would get upset with him. The second preacher then confessed of his love for the taste and smell of a good cigar, so he would hide once in a while and light one up where no one could see him to point a condemning finger. The third preacher spoke up next and confessed that he just loved to enjoy a “Poker Night” once in a while. He just liked the thrill of victory when he did finally manage to get a winning hand. Of course he paid tithes on his winnings and always stopped before his gambling became too costly for his family’s welfare. He could always count on a few of the deacons to join in and they all knew to keep it quiet.
Then it came time for the forth preacher to make his confession, but he wouldn’t say anything. The other preachers kept pressing him saying, "Come on now, we confessed our little indiscretions, now tell us yours. What is your secret sin? Don’t you have something to confess to?” Finally the forth preacher said, "Well, I do have one little problem. My problem is that I often find myself guilty of being the source of some juicy gossip, and I just can’t wait to get out of here.” That was the last time those preachers ever confessed anything to one another.
Some people are easily convinced to confess to doing wrong even if they didn’t. They will take the blame just to restore peace into the situation because they are peacemakers.
At a parochial school it was hard to get the primary age children to go into the confessional. Since their religion taught that regular confessions to the priest were a must to enter Heaven, it was imperative that they come up with some way to train the kids. The headmaster had an idea one day on how to solve the problem and gave instructions that every teacher should have her students to make lists of their sins so that they could read them in the confessional and make it easier. The next morning, the priest entered into the confessional, sat down and slid the window back to listen to the first child who came in to make confession. As he sat there waiting the priest could hear the student unfolding a piece of paper. Then the student began to read his list of sins loudly. “I lied to my parents. I disobeyed my mom. I fought with my brothers and…” There was silence for a few moments; then the student became angry and said, “Hey this isn’t my list. I don’t even have a brother. I’m not a sinner after all.”
Now, let’s turn to the Book of James and look at the end of the 5th chapter because there we will see James teaching about confession of faults and sins.
James 5:16, "Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed…"
Now, what does that first part mean? It seems easy enough to understand, but I think that we often miss the fact that it is two-fold in its description of confession.
First of all, what are we confessing? We are confessing that we have a fault, a sin or something that we, or perhaps even someone else, has caused something to come between us and our brother or sister in the Lord. We recognize that there is a problem and so we confess to God and to one another that there is a problem between us. We don’t try to sweep it under the rug or just forget about it, hoping that it will go away.
I discovered a long time ago that if there is a fault between us, that it needs to be dealt with swiftly. The longer it is allowed to be a dividing factor, the more that it will fester and cause ill feelings. Keeping that fault there is like having a splinter in your hand. It happens and there’s nothing you can do to change the fact that it is there. There’s no going back and doing it differently so that the splinter won’t happen. You have to deal with reality.
One thing that I must point out is that quite often only one party may even be aware that there is a problem. The other party may be totally oblivious to the fact that there is a problem and even when told that one exists, he or she may not believe it since they have done nothing to cause it. We have to realize that whether we did or not, the other party believes that we have and the fault is real to them even if it isn’t to us. We have to deal with their perception and what seems real to them.
So what do we do with the splinter? Do we immediately get a needle or tweezers and remove it, or do we let it alone, hoping that it will work its way out in time? Getting the needle and the tweezers can be a painful and tedious task, but it’s definitely the best way. If we get it out quickly, the wound heals faster and the pain stops almost immediately. But if we allow it to stay, it will soon begin to fester and become red, sore and swollen. Very often we have to end up getting the needle and tweezers anyway but now the process of removing the splinter is much more painful and then the wound takes a lot longer to heal. Sometimes it even takes extra medication to get the wound to heal.
That’s the way it with faults that come between two people. If the fault is confessed, recognized and dealt with very quickly, the ill feelings will be easier to forget and the forgiving process will be easier. But the longer our feelings are allowed to fester, the more we harbor a grudge and the less we want to forgive and forget.
Families, friend and relationships have been shattered because of a fault where feelings were hurt. Distrust and animosity kept building up and now it would take a real miracle to heal the wounded hearts and spirits of those involved. Often it takes outside counselors or intervention from a neutral party to finally get the issue solved. That happens in marriages, in churches, on the job or in the home all the time.
Professional counselors make millions of dollars every year because people refuse to confess a fault to one another. Many pastors are inundated with church members who want counseling because they refused to settle their differences quickly and now the hurts are too deep to let them go.
The first thing James says is that we should ever be on the lookout for things that will become a fault between us and when we see that fault, we should quickly confess to ourselves that it is there and that we must take care of business.
Now the second part of confessing your faults to one another is this. We must also we willing to not just recognize that there is a problem, but we must also be willing to go one on one with the other person and try to settle the matter to the best of our ability.
Matthew 5:23-24, "Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought against thee; Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift."
Whether the issue can be settle is not always up to you alone. When two people or more are involved, it takes everyone agreeing together to make it work. Nevertheless we are commanded to leave our sacrifice of service, lay our pride down, go do whatever it takes and try to be reconciled. Only after we have done all we can do will God accept our gifts.
Keep this in mind: we cannot enter Heaven with un-repented sin in our hearts. If we harbor grudges and refuse to forgive, it is always based on the sin of pride. Grudges, ill feelings and unforgiven faults between us will keep us out of Heaven. Whatever you are upset about, or whatever made you mad, or whatever happened 5, 10 or 20 years ago – is it worth losing your eternal soul? Get over it! Get past it! Forgive and forget as much as is within you. Don’t let past hurts cause eternal pain! If God can forgive us for being the reason that his only begotten Son had to die a cruel death on the cross, then why can’t we forgive one another no matter what we have done? There’s enough pain in the world without adding to it or keeping it hidden inside.
There’s a Spanish story of a father and son who had become estranged. The son ran away, and the father set off to find him. He searched for months to no avail. Finally, in a last desperate effort to find him, the father put an ad in a Madrid newspaper. The ad read: Dear Paco, meet me in front of the newspaper office at noon on Saturday. All is forgiven. I love you. Your Father. On Saturday 800 Pacos showed up, looking for forgiveness and love from their fathers.
While I’m on the subject, let me say that we must also be very careful not to involve any more people than necessary in this process of confessing and forgiving of our faults. Too many people begin to carry their problems to others who have no real involvement in the situation and the first thing you know, the whole church, or the whole family is wrapped up in the turmoil. Keep your problems with other people between you and them. It makes it so much easier to deal with them when just a few people are aware of the situation.
The problem is that people love to gossip and the greater the number of people who are involved, the further the news will travel, the more it will get changed and the more vicious the gossip will become. Given enough time and enough loose tongues, there may never be a chance for complete forgiveness and healing of our hurts. Don’t go confessing your sins, your faults or your problems to everyone around you. That’s asking for more trouble than you can handle.
Should you confess your sin to the preacher? Why would you? I can’t forgive your sins or wash them away. The only times I need to have any involvement in the process are when either the two parties involved need a mediator, or if the problem is going to have an impact upon the rest of the church. Otherwise, work it out between yourselves and the Lord. Confess your faults one to another, and confess them unto the Lord. God will forgive when you forgive and that’s all that’s needed.
The second thing that James says is “pray for one another”. Now that’s the perfect thing to do. You can’t harbor a grudge or hold on to animosity against your neighbor and pray for them at the same time. The Holy Spirit within you will convict you of your sin, if sin is there and you’ll have to forgive them before you can truly pray for them.
Jesus said in Matthew 5:44, "… Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;"
The problem with us is that we want to interpret the verse and pray this way: “Lord, I pray that you will help me to be more like you, but God you know I don’t like Bill over there. He’s been a burr under my saddle for a long time. He can’t speak without being hateful to me and I can’t stand to be around him. Lord, either take him out of the way, or move me on somewhere else. Smite him, Lord, until he realizes that he is wrong.” I don’t think that’s the kind of prayer that James, or that Jesus, was talking about. You have to have forgiveness and compassion in your heart for your enemy and for those who spitefully use you before you can really pray like you are supposed to.
The key is that if we pray one for another, confessing our faults one to another, and get them covered under the blood, then the door is opened and God is able to bring a healing spirit into the situation. If we really pray for one another, that we may be healed, that healing may effect both our relationships on earth, and our relationship with the Lord. That’s part of the meaning of the words of James in the latter part of verse 16 when he says, “… The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much."
Of course, that part of the verse can mean so much more. The effectual, fervent prayer isn’t some little memorized ditty of a prayer; its prayer that comes from a searching heart, and a spirit that is truly reaching out to God for an answer that will bring glory to the work of God.
The prayer of a righteous man, is the prayer of one whose live and heart are focused upon the will of God and wanting God’s best in all things. He has been made righteous in Jesus Christ and not in his own self-righteousness. His heart is in tune with God’s heart. His mind is one with the mind of Christ. His words reflect God’s Word and his will has been conformed to God’s Will. When that kind of man prays, you know he is praying according to God’s will and you know that what he prays for will surely come to pass. His prayer accomplishes much in the eyes of God.
He prays for mercy, knowing that God is a merciful God. He prays for deliverance knowing that God will deliver those who sincerely call upon him. He prays for Jesus to be exalted in the earth, knowing that if Jesus is exalted, that is in God’s perfect will. He does not pray selfishly, but only for the perfect will of God to be done in all things.
James then give us an example of a righteous man who prayed a fervent prayer and had his prayers answered.
James 5:17-18, "Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain: and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit."
Elijah was a man just like you and I. He was born in sin and was no better than anyone else. He was "subject to like passions as we are"; both in body and soul. He became hungry, he got tired and sometimes he became very discouraged. He was afflicted, persecuted and at one point even asked God to kill him and take him on to Heaven because he couldn’t stand the pressures of life anymore.
In spite of all this, and notice that God never answered his prayer to die, Elijah prayed earnestly, fervently and with faith believing that God would answer his prayer and that somehow God would be glorified through the answering of his prayer. He prayed and kept on praying, never giving up until the answer came.
“Lord God of Heaven, don’t let it rain until I tell it to rain. Let me be the one who decides when Ahab and Jezebel have had enough, and when Israel is ready for your blessings again.”
Why did Elijah pray that prayer? Wasn’t that being a little presumptuous? Was he placing himself as judge and usurping God’s power and authority over Israel? Could Elijah be so bold as to think that he could be allowed such power?
What we must realize is that Elijah was in tune with God. He knew God’s will and he prayed just what God wanted him to pray, so God have him the answer that was needed.
We aren’t called upon to be the judge all the time, or to call down judgments, but Elijah was. He was chosen as God’s man for the hour to show Israel that God was still in control and not the idols of Jezebel and Ahab.
At Elijah’s word, the rain ceased for 3 ½ years, and at his word, after he prayed again, knowing that in the mind of God it was time for the judgment to come to an end, the rain fell and the famine was over.
The effectual, fervent prayer of a righteous man will accomplish God’s will in the earth. God is moved by those who pray according to his will. His mercy is extended at the request of those who seek it. His love is ready to reach out to those in need. All he is waiting for most of the time is for just one righteous child of God to seek his face.
Just as the earth brought forth her fruit, the prayers of the righteous man will result in the fruits of whatever he has prayed for. God stands ready to answer any prayer that is prayed according to his will. The answer has already been prepared. All He is waiting for is one person who will use his own free will to ask and accept the answer. God won’t force feed the blessings if we don’t want them enough to ask for them.
How much are we missing out on because we simply don’t ask for it? God supplies our needs because of his love for us, but there’s so much more. Not just in earthly treasures and worldly gain, but in the realm of the Spirit that we could have if we would only ask.
