AN EXPERIMENT OF A CORPORATE CONFESSION OF SINS
AS A WORSHIPING COMMUNITY
Our faith suggests that Jesus bore the sins of the world for our sake. So, as a Body, what if we confess our ancestors’ sins and our neighbors’ sins as our sins even as other members took on our sins to confess?
Can we confess the racism of our church’s history as well as the sins of our neighbors in our church and other churches? What you are doing is, rather than trying to deny our participation in racism, confessing we are part of our race-torn society. Then we trust in the transforming power of grace helps us both to own the sins of our community past and present and be liberated by God’s love for a better future.
Too often our Confession of Sins becomes a guided action of individual confession. We forget that we are responding to the God of Grace as a corporate body that needs to confess all our sins.
For example, what if our prayers of confession were like this:
confession of sins
“God, we gather in your gracious presence. Probe our souls and lift up any thoughts where any of us have felt superior to others because of race, economic status, educational levels, gender, etc. (pause for 15 seconds for each to reflect) God, examine this church and identify any misuse of power, attitude, or status in the past or the present that has distorted the diversity that reflects your love for us. (pause 15 seconds). Lord, help us to release personal and community judgments and liberate in each of us the capacity to reflect the sacrificial love you offer to flow out from this community into your hurting world. Trusting Christ as our savior enable us to be the loving community that offers hope and healing as a reflection of your image.”
Is this a way we could get beyond the guilt of our history and be liberated for the future as a community of faith? Let me know what you think.
