In Richard Foster’s Celebration of Discipline, he introduces the Discipline of Confession as the first Corporate Discipline. You may ask, “How is it that confession is listed under the Corporate Disciplines? I thought this was a private matter between the individual and God.”
Frankly, the answer is not “either/or,” but “both/and.”
Biblical teaching—underscored in the Reformation—pointed out what Paul said in 1 Timothy 2:5, “There is one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.” In addition, James 5:16 says to “confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another…” This teaching seems newly appreciated in our day. Both of these teachings are from Scripture, and neither need exclude the other.
As Dietrich Bonhoeffer once wrote, “Our brother…has been given to us to help us. He hears the confession of our sins in Christ’s stead and he forgives our sins in Christ’s name. He keeps the secret of our confession as God keeps it. When I go to my brother to confess, I am going to God.”
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