iPhone Confessional

           If you're good with technology and are Roman Catholic, you have a new way of practicing the sacrament of penance. Recently, a Catholic bishop sanctioned an app—called “confession” and available on iPhone—to allow penitents to type in the sins they wish to confess in a confessional box and then receive instructions on how to make penitence.

            Since so many Catholics are now refusing to go to confession, some leaders are hoping this virtual confession will entice more Catholics to return to the real-life confessional booth.

Mid-life Crisis—and Lavish Praise

            Today's story comes from two sources—Robert Coleman and Charles Colson. In the 1740s, a 57-year-old man was going through a severe depression. He had been rejected by the best and the brightest in Great Britain. His business deals had not worked out, and he was deep in debt. He was exhausted, and he retreated into seclusion.

            A manuscript arrived from Charles Jennings, a well-to-do, self-supporting poet. Jennings gave the man suffering a “mid-life” crisis a document celebrating the work of the Messiah, Jesus.

            Jennings's lyrics, or libretto in the musical term, utilized 53 scriptures. They told the story of Jesus’ birth, His life, suffering, death, resurrection, and His second coming.

            Now, the aforementioned depressed man was a composer. He had collaborated with Jennings before. After receiving this latest material, he locked himself in his room for several days. Refusing food and company, he worked maniacally on his composition.

            At last, he finished. Today, we know this work by the name of that depressed man; it is an adjective; people all over the planet call this work, “Handel’s Messiah.”

            With our lips and lives, whether depressed or exultant, by faith we offer our confession of Christ unto God for the sake of the world.

14 For here we do not have an enduring city, but we are looking for the city that is to come.  15 Through Jesus, therefore, let us continually offer to God a sacrifice of praise—the fruit of lips that confess his name… (Heb. 13:14-15.) NIV 1984

I Deserve My Punishment

        The publication, TODAY IN THE WORD,* once carried a story about the Prussian king, Frederick the Great. The king was touring a Berlin prison.

         Inside the prison, all of the prisoners fell on their knees before him to proclaim their innocence—except for one man, who remained silent.          

         Frederick called out to him, “Why are you here?”

         “Armed robbery, Your Majesty,” was the reply.

         “And are you guilty?”

         “Yes indeed, Your Majesty, I deserve my punishment.”

         Frederick then summoned the jailer and ordered him, “Release this guilty wretch at once. I will not have him kept in this prison where he will corrupt all the fine innocent people who occupy it.”

*Today in the Word, December 4, 1992

Confession is Good for the Soul

     You have probably heard this one before.

      Four preachers gathered around a campfire. As campfires inevitably do, this one established an atmosphere of intimacy and introspection.

      During the conversation, one preacher said, “Our people come to us and pour out their hearts, confess certain sins and needs. Let's do the same. Confession is good for the soul.”

      In due time, trust was established and all agreed.

      One preacher confessed he liked to go to movies and would sneak off when away from his church.

      The second preacher confessed to liking to smoke cigars.

      The third preacher confessed to liking to play cards.

      When it came to the fourth preacher, he wouldn't confess. The others pressed him saying, “Come now, we confessed our sins. What is your sin?”

      Finally, the fourth preacher answered, “It is gossiping, and I can hardly wait to get out of here.” 

      

The "Ugly" Truth

I hope Tiger Woods is being honest; I really do. I want to see him save his marriage and his family. I want to see him become a better person. Of course, I would really like to see him become a Christian.

If he is being truthful, Tiger appears to be cultivating a self-concept that unfortunately many Christians do not. One evidence of this is a remark Tiger made last week, “You start coming to the truth of who you really are and that can be very ugly.” Indeed, it can. That is why so many do not want to go there.

The Bible repeatedly makes clear that we are all sinners who fall short of the glory of God. It also makes clear the fact that envy, pride, jealousy, bitterness, greed, and other sins of the heart are anathema to God. Still, we want to avoid seeing ourselves as we really are because it is painful.

The irony is that, often, it is those like Woods (whose overt behavior is so ugly it draws public scorn) who ultimately find healing. The road to healing for anyone begins with the act of seeing ourselves as we really are. This we wish to avoid. The more covert our sin, the more we avoid facing our real selves.

We refuse to face our true inward selves at our own peril. When we blind ourselves to our—selves, the only way to cope with what we inwardly sense is... legalism. Legalism is a diseased place to be.