Several times over the past few months, our worship has included a more structured time of corporate confession, confession of faith and corporate prayer. It is a more "liturgical" practice than has been typical of churches in our evangelical and Reformed family. The conversations I've had with folks afterward have all been interesting, and mostly positive.

These "experiments in our corporate worship" grow primarily out of my concern for the lack of deep roots - deep in the Spirit, Scripture, thinking and community - that seems to be the experience of many American believers. I look around and see a very "make it up and figure it out as you go" sort of individualistic faith. Take our rightful emphasis on a "personal relationship with Jesus" place it in a consumer focused culture and slim it down with hectic, overcrowded lives and what is left seems very different than the faith that turned the world upside down as recorded in the Book of Acts.

I realized this summer while reading Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Prophet, Martyr, Spy by Eric Metaxas that there were some distinct patterns of life together in the underground seminary that he led. There was a reason that 80% of his seminarians resisted the Nazis, when only 20% did across Germany.  They included corporate confession and Bible meditation. 

Shortly after that, I heard a presentation by Jim Belcher - author of Deep Church - at a meeting of our presbytery. He shed more light on everything floating through my heart and head. Click Here for my blog post for more detail and to hear that presentation.

This week, I came across a stirring article: Three Views: Why Confess Sins in Worship When It Seems So Rote? How the habit heals us.  Click Here to link to the article: 

The value of corporate confession comes simply from the fact that we are doing it with people-those we've been glad to share ministry with, and those we find more difficult to appreciate. A person in the next pew may have slighted us; we may have just learned that a person across the aisle was insulted by something we said. Corporate confession is a time to air it all out and reflect on our regrettable tendency to harm one another. It is a great equalizer, reminding us that we are all guilty of sinful actions and omissions, and that we all need forgiveness.

The Gospel of Grace builds a different kind of community than the "consumer - vendor" way of our world. It's a community that shares life together, and sooner or later, that will mean facing our sin against one another and needing to confess that sin with one another to God and to one another.  Let's keep learning to do exactly that. 

Pastor Bill will be attending the Liberate 2014 Conference: Inexhaustible Grace for an Exhausted World at Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Ft Lauderdale from Feb 20-23. Speakers include Scotty Smith, Paul Tripp, Sally Lloyd-Jones, Tullian Tchividjian, Elyse Fitzpatrick and Matt Chandler. Consider a winter break and join him!  http://2014.liberatenet.org/