Yesterday was a monumental day for Major League Baseball fans. If you are a fan, you probably followed the story of Mark McGwire’s steroid confession closely. If, like me, you are a St. Louis Cardinal fan, you may have followed it even more closely. It’s not that we heard something that we were not expecting to hear. Most could see that all the signs of steroid use were there and that it was just a matter before tangible proof would be available. Still, there is a sense of reality that comes for the fans from hearing the words from the mouth of the accused. Yesterday, confession was good for Mark McGwire. Perhaps, the same could be said for Tiger Woods – another iconic sports figure – a little over a month ago.
What about us? We are aware of passages such as 1 John 1:9 and James 5:16. These passages reveal the Divine expectation to confess our sins to God and, when need be, to confess our faults to one another. However, like many other actions in life, it is not all about the act of confession. The benefit of this action is directly tied to the motivation that triggered it. Some have questioned the motivation behind Big Mac’s confession. You see, he is about to get back into baseball as a hitting coach and he is hoping to be elected into the Hall of Fame. It would be in his best interest to come clean now, that he might be respected later. I am sure for days and years to come his motivation will be discussed and ultimately will probably determine how much respect he is shown. Is he truly sorry? Does he truly regret it?
We should realize that confession is not always beneficial. God told the Israelites of old, “So rend your heart, and not your garments” (Joel 2:13). What God was wanting from His people was genuine regret and remorse, not merely a formal confession. Our confession of sin and vow to repent should not be self-serving and ritualistic. It should be motivated from the innermost part of our being with the realization that we have hurt God with our actions. In the confession of sin we should feel the pain of David in Psalm 51. It is commonly believed that David’s response to Nathan’s rebuke is recorded in Psalm 51. In that Psalm of confession and repentance, David is not simply revealing the fact that he had sinned, but is exposing the depth of his regret for committing that sin. Friends, that is what God is looking for. Paul said it this way, “godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death” (2 Cor. 7:10, ESV).
- Wayne
