The Burden of Hiding and Pretending

We Protestants have been known to react strongly to the view that a person must seek forgiveness from God via a priest. We hold strongly to the view that through Christ we have direct access to God and can confess our own sins directly (thank you very much!). While I agree with Protestant theology in this regard, the Bible does not permit us to overlook human-to-human confession totally. James 5:16 is clear that we are to confess our sins to one another. Yet few believers that I know practise this because they don't understand why we would want to do such a thing considering that it is not a means of obtaining divine forgiveness--not to mention a little embrassing perhaps!

I once read somewhere that in confession we "lay down the burden of hiding and pretending". I found this concept to be helpful in seeking to understand the nature of human-to-human confession. We all tend to want to insulate ourselves from vulnerability and pain and so are apt to hide our true selves from others. But if the church is truly to be marked by community, interpendence and trust, vulnerability is key. Without self-disclosure there cannot be authentic self-sharing. Further, the James passage tells us to confess in order that others might pray for us. In the context of a text dealing with the power of prayer to heal, God prescribes human-to-human confession. I guess that means that confession not only serves as a vehicle through which we share our true selves with others, but it is also a means of receiving personalized prayer specific to our needs.

I do believe the RCs are wrong about the need to go through a priest for absolution of sin. But I also believe Protestants that reject any form of human-to-human coinfession are missing out on a gift that God has given to His church to strengthen interpersonal relationships, and our relationship with God through intercessory prayer.