I was tagged by Doug a couple of weeks ago for a confession meme. It has taken me this long to get around to it because I did not want to just quickly write something down and forget about it. I really wanted to take this seriously and appreciate Doug suggesting this. I have been thinking and praying a lot since then about my need for confession (not something that is necessarily encouraged on the protestant side of the church) and just wanted to say that these confessions really do come from the depth of my heart.Here are the rules for this procedure.
- 1. Apologize for three things that Christians have often got wrong. Your apologies should be directed towards those who don’t view themselves as part of the Christian community. Alternatively, apologize for things you personally have done wrong towards those outside of the church.
2. Post a comment at the originating post so others can keep track of the apologies.
3. Tag five people to participate in the meme.
4. If desired, send an email with the link to your blog post at the Christians Confess site, giving permission for your apologies to be added to the website.
Three Confessions
I confess that I have not always taken seriously God’s mandate to “steward creation and make it flourish”. Care of creation was the first responsibility that God gave to the human race yet we in the church have often polluted rather than cared for God’s world.
I confess that I have not always shared with the poor and the vulnerable out of the abundance that God has given me in spite of the fact that 1 John 3: 16, 17 are scriptures I often quote (This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for one another. If any one of you has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in you?)TNIV.
I confess that I am often more likely to criticize and judge others who are very different that myself rather than looking for how the image of God is revealed in their face and in their life. And yet I strongly believe that the image of God is present in every human being and that part of what it means to be a Christian is not just to look for that image but to deliberately work to enhance that image in places where it is distorted and disfigured.
I tag the following people to participate in this meme
Filed under: Christianity, Prayer, Rhythms of life, spirituality |
Godspace 
Christine,
Thank you for contributing, and for your thoughtful confessions.
By the way, I heard you and Tom speak in Sydney when I used to live there several years ago, and very much appreciated you both.
Thank you Christine for participating in this confession – I appreciated reading your thoughts.
Your welcome. I hope that this stimulates others to think about the place of confession and repentance
John it amazes me how often I run into people (either in person or on the internet) who have read our books or been where we are speaking. And of course I am always delighted to connect to someone who is familiar with my home town.
[…] , Justice , Church , Community , Life Christine Sine from Mustard Seed Associates has tagged me for a confessional meme related to Christians Confess. Accordingly, I have three confessions, some […]
Annnd, as Trackback has indicated, I have responded here!
Thanks for tagging me.
Mike,
Thanks for participating. Great stuff.
Here’s my confession:
http://finishedwithreligion.blogspot.com/2007/08/oohh-oooh-me-me.html
Johnny,
Very interesting confession. Do I detect a note of cynicism?
[…] also been tagged by Christine Sine, and that post is coming…it just requires a little more […]
I was tagged by Mike Morrell. Here’s my confession.
http://transmillennial.blogspot.com/2007/08/confession-good-for-soul.html
[…] was tagged for confession a week or so ago by Christine Sine. The instructions for the meme are: 1. Apologize for three […]
Looks like my trackback already got to you. Thanks for the tag…i created a fair amount of reflection. I think the biggest challenge was narrowing down to the three that seemed most pertinent for me to say!
John,
I agree that an exercise like this creates a fair amount of reflection which is very good for the soul. It is good, and challenging for all of us to spend time reflecting on what we need to confess but definitely not a very protestant thing to do. Thanks for participating.