The Fault in our Discipleship
Hate crimes perpetrated by fellow Christians.
The recent attacks in Atlanta committed by a young Evangelical.
Christian insurrectionists storming the capitol.
These incidents and others have stirred me to evaluate my own ministry as a full time Christian worker. How has my theology, my discipleship or my service to Christians allowed these things to exist and to grow?
Out of these reflections I offer this liturgy of confession.
Have mercy on us, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out our transgressions. Wash away all our iniquity and cleanse us from our sin.
Lord God, you have made all people everywhere with an equal share in your image.
But we have been negligent in confronting racial injustice.
Rather than destroying racial bias we have coddled it in our hearts, in our churches and in our country.
Because of this we pray,
Have mercy on us O God
Holy Creator, you have given as a sacred trust, the gift of sexual intimacy.
But we have elevated sexual sin above all other wrongdoings, driving misconduct underground.
All too often men have burdened women with responsibility for their lust.
And we have used sex as a criteria by which to judge, hate and exclude.
Because of this we pray,
Have mercy on us O God
God of the nations, you called your people to be a blessing to every tribe, tongue and nation
But we have exalted a single nation above all others.
Pledging our allegiance to one government rather than to a universal King
We have draped a global Savior in the flag of one country
Because of this we pray,
Have mercy on us O God
Prince of peace, you have charged us to love our enemies and turn the other cheek
Yet we have failed to beat our swords into plowshares
Upholding the manufacture of those things whose sole purpose is to take human life
We have welcomed violence into our thoughts, our homes and our entertainment
Because of this we pray,
Have mercy on us O God
Healer and Deliverer, you welcomed into your presence those broken in spirit, mind and body
But we your followers have treated mental illness as a failure of character
Or as a demonic incursion
Rather than walking with humility, grace and patience alongside our friends who suffer.
Because of this we pray,
Have mercy on us O God
God of every race, Creator of sexual intimacy, Lord of all nations, Prince of Peace, and Lover of the outcast,
we confess to you that we have not followed you as we ought,
we have traded mercy for judgement, kindness for enmity, and devotion for division.
We have not served as the leaven and the light you made for us to be.
Have mercy on us, O God, according to your unfailing love;
according to your great compassion blot out our transgressions.
Wash away all our iniquity and cleanse us from our sin.
Create in us a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within us.
Amen