The Emperor’s New Clothes is the Hans Christian Andersen that captures the essence of groupthink. The plot goes something like this. The kings gets conned by two weavers who tell him they can make him an outfit that only truly deserving people can see, people who are suited to their station in life and their position in society. Stupid people need not apply. So when the king shows off his outfit no one dares state the obvious, that he is naked, for fear of losing their position in society or being thought stupid. But one young boy, unaware of these types of subtle nuances blurts out the obvious. The crowd slowly joins in stating the obvious. The king is then able to finally admit the truth himself. He is the stupid one unfit for his position.
At some point the truth has to be admitted. We can’t live in a fairy tale our whole lives. We must grow up and take responsibility for our conduct. Childish excuses get old over time. “My dog ate it” doesn’t work in the adult world any more than it does in a child’s classroom. The truth has a way of showing up and impacting our lives, even when we don’t want it to impact us.
The solution to sin is not denying it, but confessing it. We need to say the same thing about our sin that the LORD does. We need to acknowledge its existence in our lives. We need to name it for what it is. We need to spell out its impact on us and those around us. Denying it doesn’t make its reality any less real. Just as the king’s nakedness needed to be admitted before he would put on some clothes, so sin must be admitted before it can be forgiven.
Confession is a simple concept, but often very difficult to do because of our pride. We need to say the same thing about our sin that the LORD says about our sin. We line up our definition with His. We stop the excuses and raise our hand in solidarity with the truth. We name it and claim it. It is our choice, our sin, our decision and our fault. We are the name on the signature line.
But when we are able to do this then His character comes into play. He has promised to forgive our sin. He has provided a payment already in Jesus. If we confess our sin, the payment Jesus made gets moved into our account and we no longer owe for that sin. The penalty no longer is charged against our account.
But we get more than forgiveness when we line up with the truth about our sin. Because He is faithful and just His character is what rules the transaction, not ours. He keeps His word. He promised it; He will do it. But He doesn’t just wave a magic wand. He paid the just penalty Himself. Someone had to pay the speeding ticket, so He did. Someone had to pay for those stolen goods, so He did. Someone had to repay the investors. Justice had to be served, and He made that happen.
And once forgiveness has been received then cleansing can take place. This is a process. It can take time to get the threads of sin unwoven from the fabric of our lives. The longer the sin has been present, the more intertwined it has become in us. With every twist and turn of our lives the sin has found a place in more and more areas. More connections have been made. Sin has become embedded in us. It takes time to unhook those connections without destroying us in the process.
Forgiveness has an effect not only on the specific item confessed, but on our whole life. Forgiveness brings God’s presence and healing. Nothing is outside of His forgiveness and purification. The process might be incomplete at death; not all consequences can be removed in this life. The forgiven death row inmate still dies for his deeds. The person who used IV drugs might have to live with HIV or another disease for the rest of their earthly lives. The adulterer might have to be in repair mode with their spouse, rebuilding the trust, for the remainder of their relationship.
But the process itself gives us hope. No one continues to pour resources into a defunct project. But the LORD pours into us, into rebuilding and redirecting our lives. He never gives up on us.
The Arnold Journey 