Confession: His Words, Same Words
by Jared Johnson
Does a dimly-lit, loose latticework “screen” come to mind when someone says “confession?” Do you envision someone on a screen (TV, phone, social media, whatever) with red, teary eyes, maybe smeared makeup, trying not to “ugly-cry” as they say socially uncomfortable things?
Confession is so much more than, and different from, that! Culturally, when we talk and think about “confession,” we default to thinking in some of those ways. But biblically, confession is quite different. There is an incredibly rich spectrum of meanings behind multiple Greek and Hebrew words, even though we now render such a broad range of ideas as “confession.”
At the end of this piece, you’ll find a link to a chart with all New Testament examples of “confession” based on its two Greek words and, at the chart’s end, links to a couple Old Testament words as well (though with only a few select examples, rather than exhaustive lists).
Last week, David and Debbie kicked us off with a strong start. We heard that “homologos” is the Greek word that expresses confession. Its two halves combine to make the idea that we “agree” or “acknowledge;” literally, we come to such a state of mental assent regarding a situation that we have “same words” about it. Our English word homologous is a direct, and very close, descendent of this Greek word.
In the linked document, there are 31 New Testament verses from two Greek words that all get rendered as English’s “confession.” Of those 31 statements, only five describe “confession” as we default-think about it: one person admitting to another a sin of some kind. Most of these 31 references are, instead, about verbally and overtly admitting something in a group setting.
Specifically, 13 of 31 are positive statements about one fact: Jesus is King. (Those lines in the document have been given green font.) I’m sure you have already heard that early Christians under Rome’s thumb had to choose, uncomfortably and overtly, in very public settings, to confess “Jesus is King.” Their saying so came with the obvious omission and counterstatement that “Caesar is not.”
Jesus is King. That’s reality in heaven now and it will be forever. Let’s come to same-words with eternity.
This year, we’re deliberately focusing on 12 spiritual disciplines precisely because it’s way too easy to get sucked into political shout-brawling these days. Spiritual disciplines keep us close to and grounded with God, whatever is swirling around us.
As we approached September and our oversized Post-It Note list showed “confession” was hurtling at us, I simply kept thinking “admitting sin to another.” I was stuck in our culture’s default understanding.
After making my references list, it hit me: this practice, as biblically described, confronts our (all of us) human nature and confirms our (e2) original year-long writing goal. Confession in God’s perfect Word centers on admitting, proclaiming, saying “I’m with Him” far more than it means “I did a thing please keep it just between us in confidence I’m embarrassed.” This discipline, more than perhaps any other, gives us an opportunity to exercise our decisive will when we just don’t feel it. Confession, same-wording, lets us “speak reality into existence” – that is, we speak His reality into our daily existence, bringing just a little bit more of His heaven down to this earth in my life. We come to same-words with God Almighty.
So, say it. Jesus is King. Peter said it, and he did so on more than one occasion; Peter came to same-words with God Almighty. We can too.
Jesus is King. Caesar is not.
Just today, as I had this piece on my screen to write, I saw a social media post of some text with an accompanying picture. At image center was an animal on a pedestal. On closer inspection, you see it’s a gold animal – a gold statue. It has 2 heads rather than a head and tail. One head is an elephant facing a crowd, and in the crowd are people with lands lifted in veneration while some are bowing. The other head is a donkey, facing a different crowd, again with some hands raised and some knees bent.
Overhead of the gold, graven animal is this text: JESUS politics SAVES.
Do we follow a red elephant, a blue donkey, or spotless, brilliant white Lamb with blazing-fire eyes, glowing feet and a sword that He’s breathing out of His mouth?!
Jesus is King. Politicians are not.
I’m a child of the ‘80s and ‘90s (graduated high school ‘97). I remember hearing through my childhood all about how Christians needed to control political and legal high ground. I don’t dispute that Christians should be present in all roles in society like yeast worked through dough, but in my childhood, there was heavy emphasis on “winning” political offices. I watched friends and acquaintances volunteer for political campaigns – and even let myself get pulled into one as well – then get all dejected and world-end-y when “our” candidate didn’t win.
I certainly didn’t fully learn “Jesus is King” in that season but being angry at those outcomes, then living through world-not-ending circumstances in the subsequent 2, 4, or 6 years, the lesson did start to soak in. I still remember walking down a specific hallway with specific people after that campaign and how terribly important I’d thought a win that night was. It got weird the next morning – the sun still rose. “There was evening, and morning – another day.” Often enough, I have to overtly keep on reminding myself of the fact Jesus, not that guy, is in charge.
Believe it or not, Marvel/Disney can dish out snippets of wisdom. In a scene of one of their movies, Samuel Jackson’s character had to bring some level-headedness to a couple of his panicking fellow super-agents. As they walk up a staircase, he suddenly wheels around on his heel and in firm, measured words says, “Until such time as the world ends, we will act as though it intends to spin on!”
So, say it. Jesus is King. They are not. If you find yourself in a political conversation and it goes to “catastrophizing” language, remind the both of you that “Jesus is King.” While it may feel like a cop-out and dismissive, quite frankly, don’t we need to be dismissive of politics and politicians a little more often? (It’s not like everything a politician says in a campaign will suddenly appear into reality the day after an election anyway.) As actual religious conviction and involvement has fallen among our fellow Americans, politics has back-filled our collective psyche, wrongly given religious fervor. No wonder we experience so much vitriol. We see politics (often without realizing it!) as all-consuming social-cultural Truth. That’s false. “Capital-T Truth” only belongs to and comes from God Himself. We are spirit-flesh beings and we will invest ourselves mentally-emotionally in something, whether that investment goes toward Jesus or idols.
Every political cycle, certain candidates and/or commenters want us to think the world will stop spinning unless you and I tick a few pieces of paper in a certain way! Somehow, 6,569,420,000,000,000,000,000, tons of dirt, water, air and stone (six and a half sextillion tons) will just *not* the day after we have our little exercise. Either politicians/commentators are right and “the world will end” ... or it’s just arrogance incarnate.
Agree with Him. Let’s align our thinking to His and come to same-words. Say it. Jesus is King. They are not. Cyrus wasn’t. Nero wasn’t. Henry wasn’t. Napoleon wasn’t. Bush wasn’t. Obama wasn’t. Trump wasn’t. Biden isn’t. (Spare the “Biden on a beach” memes.)
Trump said, “I alone can fix it” (‘16 Republican Convention). Dismiss that lie of his. If Harris says the same, toss that falsehood aside too!
They can’t “fix it,” (whatever “it” innuendo might be inferred). No person can.
There is NO other name under heaven given to men by which we may be saved (Acts 4.12).
Jesus is King. They are not. We are not.
Jesus is King. There is no other. His glory will not be given to anyone else. Those are His words.
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