{"id":245201,"date":"2016-12-09T15:13:26","date_gmt":"2016-12-09T19:13:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/albertlittle\/?p=245201"},"modified":"2018-05-01T06:36:16","modified_gmt":"2018-05-01T10:36:16","slug":"going-first-confession-evangelical-convert","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/albertlittle\/going-first-confession-evangelical-convert\/","title":{"rendered":"Going to First Confession As an Evangelical Convert"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"Confession.
Confession. Photo Credit: Joel Ye<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>

I\u2019m utterly convinced that confession is the single greatest gift God gave to our\u00a0weary world.<\/p>\n

Forgiveness of our sins, yes, but through\u00a0confession<\/em>.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s the mechanism that makes sense of the salvation story in a way that I couldn\u2019t have possibly imagined before becoming Catholic.<\/p>\n

Confession is an incredible gift.<\/p>\n

A gift that, as an Evangelical\u00a0convert to the Catholic faith, has completely blown me away.<\/p>\n

Reconciliation with God<\/strong><\/h3>\n

To understand the Sacrament of Reconciliation requires a little bit of legwork up front.<\/p>\n

First, although it\u2019s commonly called\u00a0confession<\/em> I think it\u2019s best understood, especially by non-Catholics (like myself), by it\u2019s proper name. It\u2019s the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and that\u2019s important because it\u2019s the sacrament which God has chosen to use to\u00a0reconcile<\/em> us to him. That\u2019s the first thing that\u2019s important to understand.<\/p>\n

As an Evangelical Christian I had a skewed understanding of the Catholic view of forgiveness.<\/p>\n

God, as I thought that Catholics understood Him to be, was angry and vengeful and Catholics had to confess their sins in fear and trembling lest the Lord smite them. He was a vindictive God who made<\/em> Catholics drag their shame out into the light for a\u00a0priest<\/em>, of all people, to forgive.<\/p>\n

On the flip side, as a product of the once-saved-always-saved Evangelical church, I knew I was saved by grace and didn\u2019t need to worry about what I did wrong. I had to confess it in my private prayers, of course, and make at least a token effort at repentance, but I didn\u2019t need to worry<\/em>. I didn\u2019t need to drag about that so-called\u00a0Catholic guilt<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I was forgiven because\u00a0the Bible tells me so<\/em>.<\/p>\n

I didn\u2019t need anyone to say it to my face; I didn\u2019t see the point either although I certainly did have some questions about confession even before my Catholic conversion.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

We\u2019re Commanded to Confess<\/strong><\/h3>\n

I remember reading Donald Miller\u2019s seminal book\u00a0Blue Like Jazz\"\"<\/em>\u2014a book which influenced so many of us young Evangelicals in the early\u00a02000\u2019s\u2014and seeing, echoed in his decision to set up a\u00a0confessional<\/em> on his Protestant college campus, so much of my own confusion.<\/p>\n

Miller, in a way, came around to the startling conclusion that I came to when I read my Bible: we\u2019re told to\u00a0confess our sins<\/em>\u2014to each other!<\/p>\n

Confession is, clear as day, \u00a0something we\u2019re\u00a0commanded<\/em> to do in the New Testament.<\/p>\n

And as Evangelical Protestants, we don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

And that has\u00a0always<\/em> bugged me.<\/p>\n

To the Catholic Church\u2014and the\u00a0Christian<\/em> Church for the first 1,500 years\u2014it was simple:<\/p>\n

Jesus gave His apostles the power to forgive. Although it was Jesus\u2019s ultimate sacrifice on the cross that provided us with forgiveness, and reconciled us with God, it was\u00a0His decision<\/em> to dispense that forgiveness through men. Through the priesthood in a pattern that marks\u00a0all<\/em> of salvation history (think about Moses and David and John the Baptism\u2014God\u00a0uses humankind<\/em> to dispense His grace).<\/p>\n

This is where I, as an Evangelical, went wrong.<\/p>\n

This is where, I think, lots of us Protestants go wrong:\u00a0It\u2019s not the priest forgiving by his own power.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Confession\u2019s Roots in the Early Church<\/strong><\/h3>\n

No one, Protestant or Catholic,\u00a0would argue that the\u00a0apostles forgave sins\u00a0in their own names.\u00a0The apostles forgave sins in Jesus\u2019s name, by the power of Jesus\u2014power that He gave them, clearly, in Scripture.<\/p>\n

The early Christians, in fact the\u00a0earliest<\/em> Christians we have record of, clearly understood the system that Jesus established.<\/p>\n

Jesus gave His apostles, whom He directly chose and appointed, the power to forgive sins. He gave this power\u00a0in His name<\/em>. When an apostle died a new apostle was appointed. When church communities began the apostles appointed leaders over those communities. The power to forgive sins\u2014a power given by Jesus Himself\u2014was passed on and on and on.<\/p>\n

Incredible to me, as an Evangelical, was that even the most cursory reading of the Early Church Fathers, the disciples who were taught by the apostles themselves, the second generation of Christians, clearly understood this succession.<\/p>\n

St. Clement of Rome, for example, was directly appointed by the\u00a0apostles to succeed them in their ministry.\u00a0St. Clement, then, naturally understood the power and authority that was given to him. Part of that power was the power to forgive, in Jesus\u2019s name.<\/p>\n

Remarkable to me, as a Protestant, was to learn that the Catholic Church merely carries on the practice of this power. A power given, clear as day, by Jesus Himself to his apostles. A power the apostles clearly practiced and, in turn, passed on. The line, incredibly, is unbroken throughout the history of the Christian Church until the Protestant Reformation\u2014when the early reformers broke off from the body of the Catholic Church.\u00a0This succession of power was not in dispute in the Early Christian Church and the earliest Christians, right up until the 16th century reformation, continued to practice confession of sins to appointed priests.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

The Extraordinary Gift of Confession<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If there\u2019s one thing I\u2019ve learned about the Sacrament of Reconciliation, after experiencing it first-hand, is that it\u2019s the most extraordinary gift from God.<\/p>\n

And that it makes sense.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ve shared before that God giving us grace through man<\/a> makes a lot of sense. It\u2019s not that God\u00a0needs<\/em> priest to dispense His grace. Ultimately, all of our grace comes from Jesus\u2019s incredible act on the cross\u2014make no mistake about that. But, in Catholic theology\u2014and the theology of the Christian Church for the first 1,500 years\u2014God has\u00a0chosen<\/em> to work through man.<\/p>\n

And\u00a0this<\/em> is an incredible gift.<\/p>\n

As an Evangelical, I often struggled to feel forgiven. I knew I\u2019d\u00a0sinned, I\u2019d done something wrong, and I needed to make right. I needed to confess, so I\u2019d pray, privately, and ask God for forgiveness.<\/p>\n

Now don\u2019t get me wrong, there\u2019s nothing wrong with this. We\u00a0should<\/em> be, privately, asking God for forgiveness all the time. We do stupid stuff. Paul was the\u00a0chief<\/em> sinner, he said and Peter, regardless of what you think about him, was certainly the chief apostle and he\u00a0denied Christ<\/em>. These were people\u00a0hand-picked<\/em> by Jesus, and they screwed up. Nevermind the Patriarchs and Prophets of the Old Testament.<\/p>\n

But the struggle for me, as a Protestant, was to\u00a0feel<\/em> forgiven and if there\u2019s any area of the Christian life where head knowledge and heart knowledge collide it\u2019s in the notion of forgiveness.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s one thing to know I\u2019m forgiven by Jesus\u2019s ultimate sacrifice but it\u2019s another thing entirely to stop holding onto the hurt, and to let it go.<\/p>\n

And then I confessed to a\u00a0man<\/em>.<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

My Incredible First Confession<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Confession\u2014the Sacrament of Reconciliation\u2014is amazing, and God designed it this way. I\u2019m convinced.<\/p>\n

Because how much more powerful is it to hear the words, \u201cYou\u2019re forgiven,\u201d from the lips of an actual human being than it is to imagine them in your head and your heart.<\/p>\n

Think that over, again, because it bears repeating.<\/p>\n

I can\u00a0know<\/em> intellectually that I\u2019m forgiven. I can have read and studied and turned it around in my brain every which way but to actually\u00a0feel<\/em> forgiven and have that forgiveness move into your heart is a whole other thing.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why Jesus intended us to receive forgiveness from His appointed priests. Priests who have their authority in succession from the apostles. Leaders who can trace the power they have to \u201cforgive sins\u201d right back to the very first command Jesus gave after his resurrection.<\/p>\n

Think about that, too: the\u00a0very first<\/em> command that Jesus gave His apostles.<\/p>\n

To confess all the frustrating things I\u2019ve done in my life and hear someone say, \u201cYou\u2019re forgiven,\u201d and to know that\u00a0I am really forgiven<\/em> is the most incredible gift I\u2019ve experienced.<\/p>\n

To actually\u00a0hear those words<\/em> instead of trying my best to muster up the feeling (to go along with the knowledge).<\/p>\n

<\/h3>\n

Re-branding the Catholic Church<\/strong><\/h3>\n

If I were in charge of marketing the Catholic Church\u2014and I might take a run at the job if it opens up\u2014I would put\u00a0the Sacrament of Reconciliation on the top of the list of things to \u201csell.\u201d I\u2019d put up billboards across the country touting the amazing power of forgiveness that exists in the Catholic Church\u2019s practice of confession.<\/p>\n

A remarkable power\u2014and power remarkably different from anything I\u2019ve ever experienced as a Protestant.<\/p>\n

I\u2019d advertise confession as a gift<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Because I\u2019m convinced that the sacrament is\u00a0the<\/em> most under-valued gift. One of the greatest hidden treasures of the Catholic Church. And something that\u2019s completely blown my mind and convinced me, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this is how God intended Christ\u2019s sacrifice to have worked.<\/p>\n

To actually be able to\u00a0hear<\/em> that I\u2019m forgiven, to know that I\u2019m\u00a0truly<\/em> reconciled with God\u2014that our relationship is repaired\u2014is absolutely mind-blowing.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I\u2019m utterly convinced that confession is the single greatest gift God gave to our\u00a0weary world. Forgiveness of our sins, yes, but through\u00a0confession. It\u2019s the mechanism that makes sense of the salvation story in a way that I couldn\u2019t have possibly imagined before becoming Catholic. Confession is an incredible gift. A gift that, as an Evangelical\u00a0convert […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2332,"featured_media":515,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[13,21,30,63,67],"class_list":["post-245201","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christian-living","tag-catholic","tag-confession","tag-evangelical","tag-sacraments","tag-sin"],"yoast_head":"\nGoing to First Confession As an Evangelical Convert<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"As an Evangelical convert to the Catholic faith my first experience of going to confession was absolutely mind-blowing.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/albertlittle\/going-first-confession-evangelical-convert\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Going to First Confession As an Evangelical Convert\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"As an Evangelical convert to the Catholic faith my first experience of going to confession was absolutely mind-blowing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/albertlittle\/going-first-confession-evangelical-convert\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Cordial Catholic\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-12-09T19:13:26+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-05-01T10:36:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/573\/2015\/03\/4062803631_579f26f038_z1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"360\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"K. 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