Two of the hardest types
of people for me to engage in two-way outreach conversations with have been
salesmen and politicians. They have often
developed a “spiel” that they feel compelled to share, whether they are trying
to sell a product or make a name for themselves in politics. I have to be very patient as they share the “stump
speech” that has developed over time interacting with so many people about the
same topic.
Rather than give a stump
speech of my own, I’ve needed to learn to patiently listen to others’ as I try
to figure out just how I might tailor my message to their particular place of
faith. That’s what I needed to do with Ken,
a local community activist who is running for a statewide office from out
area. To get on the ballot, Ken needed
well over 1200 signatures of support, and had done the work of getting out in
the different communities of his district and collecting them personally. He had gotten into the habit of sharing his talking
points with each of those potential supporters, and he shared them with me too.
I’ve had to pay
close attention to determine when people are ready to listen to me, and some
people may just not be ready to do so in a particular impromptu street
conversation. Ken is deep into campaign
mode and in the habit of telling voters what they want to hear and wasn’t
really ready for a theological conversation. So I’d like to do that now in the hope that he
will read it at his convenience and that others who read this might relate.
As a lifelong
Catholic, Ken was very confident of being in God’s good graces when he dies,
because he sees himself as an obedient follower of God and believer in
Jesus. Yet when asked how he might be
forgiven of his sins, instead of placing his trust in Jesus and the cross, he
began to talk about the sacrament of confession, a point which is confusing to
many Catholics.
I believe the
misunderstanding comes from confusion over a passage from 1 John 1, which is
often a part of the liturgy, It says “If
we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If
we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and
purify us from all unrighteousness.”
From the sound of it
many people assume all we need for forgiveness is to confess our sins, which is
what often makes Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection seem less important. But 1 John was a letter written to people who
were already believers through repentance and faith in Jesus. Salvation had an extremely high cost – the death
of God’s own Son, which is what allows our sin-debt to be paid and believers to
be adopted into the family of God.
Confession, then, is
something people who are already believers do not for their salvation, which
has already been won, but for the fellowship with God which must be maintained.
It’s much like a marriage relationship.
A husband and wife are married, which gives them a legal status that doesn’t
change even if they have a fight and aren’t speaking to one another. They are still legally married but their
fellowship has been cut off and can only be restored when one of them (usually
the husband!!) confesses and asks to be forgiven.
In the same way,
once we are legally adopted into God’s family through repentance and faith in
Jesus, God won’t “unadopt” us. But our
sins will stand in the way of the warm fellowship with God we were created to
enjoy.
So Ken, I know this
is right in the middle of a busy campaign, but I hope you will take time out
each day to maintain a relationship with God that begins with repentance and
faith, but is maintained with prayerfully reading God’s word and following it, and
yes, that does includes confession.
So that’s a part of my
own spiel, my stump speech, my talking points.
I’ll repeat it a thousand times over as long as I can get people to
listen to me, not because I like to hear myself talk, but because I like to
hear God’s word do the talking.
Thanks, Ken, for
allowing me to record our conversation, and God bless your campaign
efforts! The video van be seen HERE https://youtu.be/bBSnEjKtWHA
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