Saving Your Bracelet

This past week I attended Heatwave, Youth For Christ's summer beach trip for the NE part of the country. I have been there many times before, but more times as "video guy" than a Campus Life leader for students. This year I was both. I felt extreme responsibility to be 100% dedicated to both duties, but it was extremely hard to balance the busyness with remaining spiritually open to God's voice. But despite all that I was doing I formed relationships and witnessed other friendships develop. I sat with the everyone else on the porch during our group meetings and listened to students pour out about their lives; who they are (good and bad), what God is showing them, and the witness that has come from friends on the trip.

Last night as I prepared for my Campus Life meeting, I was feeling restless about the topic I chose. I thought, "I need to bring an important element from Heatwave to our meeting tonight," especially since none of the students that night had gone to Heatwave. As I cleaned out my car I found my bracelet from Heatwave. It's a dear thing to the kids, and I know many are still wearing it even after the trip. Why? To remember. What would students say if you asked them what the bracelet helps them to remember? I can almost garantee two answers would soar above them all. 1. What God showed me this weekend. 2. The friendships I made and the closeness I felt in them.

All of this was stirring around and I felt like it was on the tip of my tongue, how it all fits together. I finally got to the point where I was down on my knees praying for direction. Within seconds it came to me. Confession.

I had even been talking about confession the night before, in regard to trips like Heatwave and even life, with my friend Kelly. For some reason I never considered to speak about it though. Confession is what separates Heatwave and trips like it from other camps and whatnot. Many students feel safety and trust and expose their soul for all to see. They stop pretending they are someone they aren't, and desperately want to be free to be, coming clean before God and everyone else.

"The one who covers his transgressions will not prosper, but whoever confesses them and forsakes them will find mercy."

- Proverbs 28:13

It comes so natural with our sin to hide. The shame and the fear cloud any reason we might see of how to remedy the situation. We pretend like the cancer doesn't exist, but it continues to eat away at us inside.

1 Blessed is he
whose transgressions are forgiven,
whose sins are covered.

2 Blessed is the man
whose sin the LORD does not count against him
and in whose spirit is no deceit.

3 When I kept silent,
my bones wasted away
through my groaning all day long.

4 For day and night
your hand was heavy upon me;
my strength was sapped
as in the heat of summer.
Selah

5 Then I acknowledged my sin to you
and did not cover up my iniquity.
I said, "I will confess
my transgressions to the LORD "—
and you forgave
the guilt of my sin.
Selah

- Psalm 32:1-5

Even the first sin in the Garden of Eden was immediately followed by hiding from God (Genesis 3:8-10). God questions Adam, "Where are you?"

Where... Are... You?

Isn't that the question our spirit cries sometimes? WHERE AM I? We have become so out of touch with who we are by pretending. We notice our actions as if we were an outsider and wonder who that person is, because we know it's not us. But at the same time we are so afraid of addressing our sin. We are so afraid of what those around us would think if they knew what we've done, what we quietly think in our minds, and how distressed our spirit is. Maybe we're even afraid that they won't even care when we express this.

Yesterday I visited a site called PostSecret.com. Here, people anonymously send in post cards with their secrets. It's a form of confession, of saying things they are too afraid to really share with anyone. Here is one that struck me.

"I have a secret inside me. It hurts like hell, and I want to let it out, but I don't know what it is."

I feel like that's me. I feel like its all of us, with our unconfessed sin. Sins we have grown so accustomed to, that we have tucked away out of sight for so long, that we forgot they were even there. But they are still wasting away our bones, and we feel them all the time. We are unfulfilled in our fear, shame, and ignoring of them. We need to let them out! But first we need to know them.

Speaking with a friend recently, she told me how horrible things had been coming out of her. This woman who seems like the perfect Christian is saying how much sin was pouring out of her over a few day period. The neat part is that she journals and was looking over her journal from a couple days prior, where she prayed that God would search her heart and show her what was in it. There was sin hurting her inside that she was unaware of, and from her asking, God revealed it so she would then deal with it. Seeking out your "secret," asking God expose it, and listening to His response are steps in discovering what's in you. Most of the time it'll be hidden (because you're great at hiding things) so it won't be evident, other times you'll be very aware of it.

Once the secrets are known, we need to confess them to God and to each other. When you ponder those actions, the first seems more easy to swallow than the second, but they can't be apart.

Because God doesn't gossip, blog, or usually speak audibly to the people we know, we think He doesn't pose a threat to our little charade. But this is not taking into consideration the heart of confession. The heart of confession is acknowledging before God and man that I am broken, that I am sinful, and that I need God's forgiveness for what I've done, and his Spirit to make me righteous. It is embracing my acknowledgment that I am not perfect, and that I cannot pretend I am. If that is what my confession is, confessing to man will only help me to establish more tangibly that I am not IT. It's a testimony that all have fallen short (especially me), and it is only by God's grace that any can be deemed righteous. Confession is absolutely necessary for repentance and salvation.

"People went out to him from Jerusalem and all Judea and the whole region of the Jordan. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan River.

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees coming to where he was baptizing, he said to them: 'You brod of vipers! Who warned yu to flee the coming wrath? Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say t yourselves, "We have Abraham as our father." I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children fr Abraham. The ax is already at the root f the trees, and every tree that does not produce god fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire.'

'I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me will come ne wh is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not fit to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire. His winnowing fork is in his hand, and he will clear his threshing floor, gathering his wheat into the barn and burning up the chaff with unquenchable fire.'"

You need to be real. Otherwise you are a brood of vipers. When we don't confess to each other, the sincere followers will be overwhelmed and downcast. It creates a religion of needing to be infallible, and if you mess up, you must not be as good as them, rather than of faith of mercy, forgiveness, and perseverance.

Lastly, we need to confess before each other because we need each other's help.

"So confess your sins to one anther and pray for one another so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great effectiveness."

- James 5:16

How can we be there for one another when we don't know who our friends really are or what struggles they are going through. Often times prayer requests at church consist of the superficial problems that we aren't embarrassed to admit. How does that do any good in helping the deep hardships, questions, situations, and sins that are eating us away inside. We need to pray with one another. It is effective and it's the action we can always perform to help those we love.

I spoke this message last night at Campus Life. Coincidentally Matthew Paul Turner's blog has a very related post today.

If we are to be a church, we must bring no condemnation toward people. We need to love by doing what will bring the best for them, and allow them to be free and real. If we, being confident in Christ, openly confess our shortcomings, our wrongs, our sin, and God's forgiveness, how much more open will everyone else be to admit their sin without feeling judged and believe God can forgive them as He has forgiven you.

Let's make confession a regular occurrence in our churches, youth groups, Campus Life groups, small groups, friendships, families, etc, etc ,etc. When we do I think people will come in flocks for the opportunity to finally be real, set free from the shame and fear of sin and judgment. Let your life be a living reminder of the real Church, be a living bracelet for all to see.