We Confess

In some ways, confession is quite simple. A person stands before a church or before his family and friends and states that he believes in Jesus as God’s Son. But of course, it’s not that simple, or at least it shouldn’t be. Imagine what that confession meant for the people who made it in the first century . . . they were publicly identifying themselves with Jesus Christ and a burgeoning movement that had no social capital. In fact, depending on where you were, it could lead to your being disconnected from your family, cast out of the synagogue, or even beaten or killed.

Imagine what confession means to someone today in North Korea, Iraq, Iran, or parts of China?

I think we need to consider seriously the implications of confession, not just as a “step” on the way to salvation but as a day-to-day way of living that identifies us with the risen Christ. At our baptism, we said it publicly, and every day we keep saying it–not only with words, but with attitudes, actions, and priorities.

Every day we wake up and make the decision to confess Christ and also to confess those things we do that are inconsistent with someone who claims to follow him.