Necessary Roughness

The New York Times has a story about mysecret.tv, a web site set up by an Oklahoma church network.

On this web site, people anonymously post items and categorize them. If approved the posts are made public for everyone else to see.

If you actually type something and hit submit (I put “test message” ), you see the following:

Thank you for your submission. It took courage, strength and faith to follow through. Now that you’re free from your secret, begin to seek out the resources that can help you keep moving forward. To help you get started, we’ve made our entire library of past messages available by clicking here. Search the categories to find topics that are particularly relevant to you.

My first thought is that this may be a confession but there’s no absolution. There is Law, but no Gospel. People are convicted and feel guilty but don’t hear the forgiveness that results from Christ’s death on the cross.

Secondly, is it confession users really seek here, or exhibition? When a person confesses their sins, they want them gone, not lurking around for everyone else to see. If you really wanted God to forget your sins, why show them to everyone else?

If you’ve really got something that is bugging you, there is no substitute for the real thing. Perferably a Lutheran pastor who says, “Go in peace. You are free.” after Holy Absolution. He may also provide you with feedback and direction to handle the temporal consequences of your actions, if any.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” (I John 1:9, ESV)