6 Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is very powerful in its effect. -- James 5:16

Confess Your Sins and Pray for One Another (James 5:16)

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This week, Mike continued our GAME CHANGERS series, where we investigated the importance and role of community in the life of the believer.  

God created us to live in community with others. In community, we have others with whom we can celebrate successes and mourn losses (Romans 12:15). We have help when times are hard (Ecclesiastes 4:9- 10) and someone to spur us on if we get complacent (Hebrews 10:24). We can get wise counsel for hard decisions (Proverbs 15:22) and resist the temptation to isolate and hide our own poor choices (Proverbs 18:1). We also sharpen each other and grow in our walks with Christ (Proverbs 27:17)-Watermark Community Church

I've heard it said that if you want to give something power, keep it hidden. One of the many gifts of the Christian community is the ability to confess our sins and pray for one another. Now, we acknowledge that, at first, this seems like a horrifying proposition. Confess my sins to other people, but why?!

First, as followers of Jesus, we have already made the bold claim that we are a mess. By placing our trust in Christ, we have declared to the world that I am a sinner, I am a fool a part from Christ, that going my own way only leads to destruction and pain. Therefore, we are not trying to be impressive because we've been impressed by Christ. We do not need to put up a false front of holiness because our holiness is from Jesus Christ alone.

Second, when we confess our sins to one another, we empty our shame of its power.

• Guilt says, "I have done wrong".

• Shame says, "I AM wrong".

Shame is a powerful reality that keeps us from walking with Jesus freely and enjoying the delights of the Christian community. When we confess our sin, we empty shame of its power because as we confess, we are not abandoned, but we are embraced by the grace of God through the people of God.

I've heard it said, to be 99% known is to be unknown. The beauty of the Gospel and subsequently Christian community is that we can be fully known and fully loved.

Christian community creates a healthy ecosystem for us to confess our sins to one another and to be healed.