Is confession really good for the soul?

Is religion helpful or harmful in dealing with our guilt and shame? 

What's the Story? in Waterford #2 

The skyline of Waterford city is marked by spires and steeples stretching upwards.  It is a place full of churches and full of religious history, once known as, ‘Parva Roma’ or ‘Little Rome’ in the 1650s.  Today, whilst the buildings remain, the church for many has been humbled and emptied of significance.  

In recent years wave after wave of reports and enquiries have uncovered the guilt and shame of the church.  It has lost its lofty esteem in the eyes of many, who in turn have ended up losing their religion.  No wonder, then, that the practice of confession has been lost.   What was once a regular practice is now limited to very few occasions, including making your first holy communion.   

How could a church covered with such guilt and shame be trusted with your deepest and darkest secrets and regrets?  

There is little authority to offer forgiveness.  

If we are to cast aside the notion of sin as an instrument of control by restrictive religion, what need have we to confess at all? 

There is little appetite for it. 

The positive self-esteem movement instructs us to throw off any sense of regret, shame or guilt as damaging to our view of ourselves.  At best we might acknowledge our failings, but are given little ground to deal with deeper hurts.  

The secular creed we live by, which calls out injustice at every turn, can in turn prove exhausting and exacting.  We must practise what we preach at all costs.  Whilst we might divest ourselves of religious rules as markers of guilt and shame its much harder to silence our strong inner sense of truth.  What if our failings and faults are more than mistakes, so we can feel their hurts on us, on others and maybe even on a God who we are made to know?  The causes of rising anxiety in our society are complex and multi-faceted, but might they include the angst that comes from a deep sense of being troubled in soul by our guilt and shame?  Perhaps counsellors have taken the place of priests in providing a listening ear to our deepest hurts.  

It seems like guilt and shame linger, even when religion is disposed of.  A survey amongst almost one thousand Irish people exploring the big questions of life and faith showed one of the key questions to be, ‘Guilt and shame: will I ever be good enough?’.  What hope might we have then of dealing with our guilt and shame? 

Jesus was no stranger to shame.  He was deeply despised by the most religious people of his day.  He was born with questionable parentage, being conceived outside of marriage.  He grew up in a small town, Nazareth, and carried this accent with him.  He stepped out to minister to those in parochial Galilee, being looked down on by big time Jerusalem.  The Pharisees and scribes, the religious authorities of his day, regularly shamed him and despised him and even plotted to kill him.  In his crucifixion he experienced a death so humiliating and shameful that respectable citizens tried not even to call it to mind, never mind watch it, let alone experience it.  He was no stranger to shame.  So he understands the shame we feel.  

One of the key prophecies that helped the early church understand Jesus’ shameful suffering was Isaiah chapter 53.  It is quoted in six different places in the new testament scriptures.  In this prophecy we are offered relief for our guilt and shame, through what Jesus suffered.  

He was despised and rejected by mankind,

    a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.

Like one from whom people hide their faces

    he was despised, and we held him in low esteem.

 Surely he took up our pain

    and bore our suffering,

yet we considered him punished by God,

    stricken by him, and afflicted.

 But he was pierced for our transgressions,

    he was crushed for our iniquities;

the punishment that brought us peace was on him,

    and by his wounds we are healed.

The Christian gospel holds that Jesus suffered shamefully,

so that we might be free of our guilt and shame. 

He was wounded so that we might be healed.  

The shift in religion in Ireland today is described by sociologist Gladys Ganiel in her book, ‘Transforming Post-Catholic Ireland.’  For her, ‘post-Catholic’ does not mean that Ireland has decisively left it’s Catholic heritage behind, but rather that its monopoly has been broken, which creates space for other expressions of Christianity.  Indeed it is in such spaces outside of institutional Christianity that she finds faith being formed and hope for the future.  

Today across Waterford city there are a number of Christian churches who may remain unsung and unregarded.  Whilst some may be found in old church buildings, for others their meeting places may lack the spires and steeples and so go unnoticed. They are found in old pubs, in community centres or even in homes.  Such communities of faith are diverse culturally and in terms of religious backgrounds, yet they have all found common ground in Jesus and are aligned with the core beliefs of historic Christianity.  Such churches are far from perfect, but they offer communities of grace in which we can name our imperfections.  They provide places where we might find common ground in our broken humanity and messy lives, looking towards Jesus for mercy.  They extend an invite to find help in our guilt and shame.  

As you encounter the big questions in life it’s good to know that we don’t need to do this alone. The doors of such Christian churches remain open to those who might wander in looking for help along the way of life.  They invite you to take a fresh look at the founder of Christian faith and to consider whether he might be trusted with our guilt and shame.  

To explore more on being free from guilt and shame and life’s other big questions check out What’s the Story? 

 

This blog is written by Colin Holmes, pastor of Ferrybank Christian Community Church.  Originally from Co. Antrim, he has made Waterford his home since 2010 and enjoys walking honestly in community with fellow travellers towards Jesus, as we find him in the Bible, in the twists and turns that life brings our way.