“This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.”
-1 john 1:5-10 (ESV)
St. Augustine said, “the confession of evil works is the first beginning of good works.” With such good news at the outset, why do we wrestle so with the onset? In a world of cancel culture the notion of profound transparency regarding our sins is one that carries a heavy weight of consequences and potential hurt. But in God’s upside down economy for this world and for our lives, we are called to be revolutionaries who practice daily confession so that we might be assured of our pardon and set on the path of good works. Confession therefore is no invitation to judgment, it is a reminder of our cleansing and good standing with the Lord.
