Many people mistakenly misinterpret
James 5:16. It reads, “Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed.”
This verse is often taken to mean that unless one shares their dirty laundry with other Christians, they will never be freed
from the shame and guilt of what they have done. However, Jesus paid the price for our freedom, and our errors should be covered
under His blood.
Jack
Hayford wrote concerning James 5:16, “[James] does not enjoin a general
public confession of all sins without any discretion whatever. Certainly, public wrongdoings that have tainted the whole church
should be confessed before the church, but James especially refers to confessing
sins to the individuals injured by them (Matt. 5:23-24). There is also a place for confidential confession to godly intercessors
who will offer prevailing prayer for the offender and provide wise counsel to him.” In other words, God does not want
believers embarrassing themselves telling a lot of other people all of the sins
they have committed. Some things are better kept secret, and that does not mean they have not been repented of.
In one
of my classes at college we have been studying a revival in which people regularly stood in front of a crowd and told others
everything they could think of that they did wrong. Watching a video of this, it seemed unedifying to me. There were some
testimonies that encouraged me, but a number of them just did not appear purposeful. I did not need to hear so many personal
details of things that God could deal with privately.
There have
also been a couple of instances before when I found out how my previous pastors lived before they knew Christ, and when I
discovered their sins, it actually disturbed me. I did not like picturing them living without the Lord, doing all sorts of
wicked acts. They were godly people, and to me there should be little discussion of who they used to be before being changed.
Psalm 103:12
tells us, “as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.” We do not have
to carry around the baggage of our past with us, identifying with things that God Himself does not even remember any longer.
People may accuse us of being hypocrites because we are not “open” and “accountable,” but God knows
when we have admitted our faults before Him. We do not need another man or woman to serve as our priest, bringing us the relief
that only Jesus can (Hebrews 2:17-18).
I know that several friends
that I have witnessed to outside of church lately have been afraid of getting close to me, seemingly because they are ashamed
of something and do not want me to find out. In situations like these, I want people to understand that I do not care to find
out about their mistakes! We are all miserably evil without Christ. Thank the Lord though, He can make our scarlet sins as
white as snow (Isaiah 1:18)! He took our humiliation for us on the cross, and we will never have to bear that burden ourselves
if we serve His purposes. Hallelujah!
