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The church's mission field is out in the wild. My journey into the wild involves learning how to embody the role of the confessor. It radically changes the way I think and the way I am present in people's lives. People who are not Christians invite me into their lives.
The role of the confessor is a way into the wild in our time and space. "Truth-ing, telling and presenting," has its time and place, but, because professional ministers have not been in the wild in so long, the church overplayed its hand, telling people what to be and do without understanding the struggles they experience. My church culture appoints me to execute a worship service with me in the role of talking, others in the role of listening, and all of us assuming I am supposed to have all the answers. This formula isn't going so well.
This mission field in the wild is full of trauma. Unconfessed events and failures make a soul heavy. It's like living in a house where the basement and attic are crammed full of stuff. The ceiling below the attic is caving in and must be propped up. The basement has no more room for storage, and, because no sunlight gets in, mold grows in the dark.
Almost everyone I meet is looking for someone who can listen, hear, hold, and intercede for them as healing and faith stir. Confession is more than telling your sins. Confession is telling the hopes of the heart. It's processing out loud the viability of God in the excruciating events of life. Confession is a pathway to healing!
