tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18738050.post116097477930981669..comments2023-10-15T07:53:13.985-05:00Comments on Washing Windows: ConfessionJonathan Kinghttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07877675228692221845noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18738050.post-1161015621912418722006-10-16T11:20:00.000-05:002006-10-16T11:20:00.000-05:00You're so right. It is a truth that is not easy t...You're so right. It is a truth that is not easy to swallow. As I wrote this post last night, I knew that there was another side to this coin and I am so glad that you brought it to light. As always, thanks for your insightful thoughts, Colin!<BR/><BR/>Our confession is not always received with grace and forgiveness, but more often than we'd prefer, with pain and judgment. Our vulnerability can lead to being wounded more deeply, but it is a risk that we must take. And I am not advocating open confession to just any one, but to our trusted friends. However, sometimes, open confession, say for example, by a pastor to his flock, can be overwhelmingly powerful. It helps to draw the community closer under the umbrella of transparency and honesty, and ultimately, humility.<BR/><BR/>In small groups that I have been a part of, when someone honestly reveals an issue with a particular sin or a wound from the past that still haunts them, the community has more often than not rallied around that person in love in a way that is more powerful than nearly any way that I can think of. To display the grace and forgiveness and acceptance of Christ to one another is so sweet!Jonathan Kinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07877675228692221845noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18738050.post-1161010294966867642006-10-16T09:51:00.000-05:002006-10-16T09:51:00.000-05:00It's amazing how children can innocently yet poign...It's amazing how children can innocently yet poignantly encapsulate certain truths! My children have often provided the most significant examples of faith to me.<BR/><BR/>I am not saying you're wrong. In my heart I know what you're saying is true, and do cry out for the church to be a community of people where, like Andrew in your story, I can bare all (which, of course I mean figuratively) and where others can do likewise. Honestly, though, time after time when my faith was more like that of a child's, such instances of confession, openness and trust, only resulted in more pain and judgment.<BR/><BR/>In a sense even writing this to you leaves me feeling vulnerable - and I know of many, many others who feel the same way. It's also a fact that some of these 'many others' (and perhaps myself too, in less guarded moments), are those who want this for themselves but aren't willing to offer it to others. We like it in principle, but in reality it's not very comfortable standing naked in front of your church, or seeing someone else do the same.<BR/><BR/>Some churches are very understanding of new converts being very open about the life they were saved from, but are more intolerant of people who are seen as 'more established' in the faith. <BR/><BR/>Suffice it to say, at present my wife knows me inside and out. With others - no matter how well intentionned they may be - I have become a lot more guarded. I wish I didn't have to be, but (and I do not mean this as harshly, or arrogantly, as it may sound) perhaps Jesus' words of warning about 'casting [one's] pearls before swine' bears heavily upon this issue?<BR/><BR/>(BTW: I wrote a little piece, at your prior recommendation, on the Gregory Boyd interview. I'd love to discuss it further with you. It's over at my site.)Colin A. Lammhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09664725153256328396noreply@blogger.com