Knowing this, I would tend to make public confession in prayer meetings, of various sins. (Some mild Asperger Syndrome also makes me like to be open about things.) I would confess perhaps my feelings of jealousy or hurt towards another sibling in Christ, hoping that others might follow suit and that a spirit of openness might be encouaged. This is what led me, for example, to write a page on Jealousy.
I intended (and intend) that my open confessions should both inform, encourage and stimulate: Inform people of the nature of some such sins or hidden agendas, encourage others to be more open themselves, and perhaps stimulate conditions in which revival might be more possible. (Assuming that revival is always the prerogative of the Holy Spirit.)
Today (18 May 2016) I realised this itself contained two more deeply hidden agendas on my part:
Two hidden agendas: 'in-order-to', and hoping for leadership. Until I confess honestly, that is, realising my sin or idolatry before a holy God, my confession is impure.
God wants us to be holy like Himself [I Pet 1:16 quoting Lev 11:44], so that we might share his work and represent Him in and to the world and the rest of creation. He desires and uses people like Christ for this, people with complete honesty and "in whom there is no guile" [John 1:47], not those who do things 'in-order-to' achieve some end.
This page, "http://abxn.org/revival.conf.html" is part of Andrew Basden's abxn.org pages - pages that open up discussion and exploration from a Christian ('xn') perspective. Written on the Amiga with Protext, in the style of classic HTML.
Comments, queries welcome. or send message to:
In case you cannot read that, it is the letters "xn" (for "Christian") at "kgsvr" followed by ".net" (standing for knowledge server on the net"). Thank you.
Copyright (c) Andrew Basden at all dates below. But you may use this material for almost any non-antagonistic purpose (including commercial) subject to certain easy conditions.
Created: 18 May 2016. Last updated: 7 November 2024 canon, .end, .nav; SeeAlso links.