8. Confession before the congregation: Saul or David
When King Saul sinned he was noted for blaming
others, including God, pride, fear, weak, making excuses that in his mind
were justification for his behavior, and murmured against the consequences
of his sin and God. After King Saul had refused to obey God's command
(1 Samuel 15:9), built a monument for himself (1 Samuel 15: 12), lied about
his rebellious behaviour (1 Samuel 15:13) and blamed his failures on the
people (1 Samuel 15:21), he demanded that the prophet Samuel forgive him,
“and return with me, that I may worship the Lord” (1 Samuel 15:25). Samuel
refused to be deceived by Saul’s religious posturing and said, “I will
not return with you; for you have rejected the word of the Lord, and the
Lord has rejected you” (1 Samuel 15:26).
"So he (Saul) said, "Bring me the burnt offering and the fellowship offerings. " And Saul offered up the burnt offering. Just as he finished making the offering, Samuel arrived, and Saul went out to greet him. "What have you done?" asked Samuel. Saul replied, "When I saw that the men were scattering, and that you did not come at the set time, and that the Philistines were assembling at Micmash, I thought, `Now the Philistines will come down against me at Gilgal, and I have not sought the Lord's favor.' So I felt compelled to offer the burnt offering." "You acted foolishly," Samuel said. "You have not kept the command the Lord your God gave you; if you had, he would have established your kingdom over Israel for all time." 1Samuel 13:9-13
"Why
did you not obey the Lord? Why did you pounce on the plunder and do evil
in the eyes of the Lord?"
"But I did obey the Lord," Saul said.
"I went on the mission the Lord assigned me. I completely destroyed the
Amalekites and brought back Agag their king. The soldiers took sheep
and cattle from the plunder, the best of what was devoted to God, in order
to sacrifice them to the Lord your God at Gilgal." But Samuel replied:
"Does the Lord delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in
obeying the voice of the Lord? To obey is better than sacrifice, and to
heed is better than the fat of rams. For rebellion is like the sin
of divination, and arrogance like the evil of idolatry. Because you have
rejected the word of the Lord, he has rejected you as king." Then
Saul said to Samuel, "I have sinned. I violated the Lord's command and
your instructions. I was afraid of the people and so I gave in to them.
Now I beg you, forgive my sin and come back with me, so that I may worship
the Lord." But Samuel said to him, "I will not go back with you.
You have rejected the word of the Lord, and the Lord has rejected you as
king over Israel!" 1Samuel 15:19-26
"As they danced, they sang: "Saul has slain his thousands, and David his tens of thousands." Saul was very angry; this refrain galled him. "They have credited David with tens of thousands," he thought, "but me with only thousands. What more can he get but the kingdom?" And from that time on Saul kept a jealous eye on David." 1Samuel 18:7-9
When Kind David sinned he confessed his heart sins, repenting first that he sinned against God, then others beyond-without excuse-fully convicting himself of his sin, asking for cleansing in his heart, and praised God for HIS judgements and praised God for HIS consequences-even when it meant the death of thousands whom he mourned.
"Have mercy on me, O God, according to your
unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.
Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin. For I know my transgressions,
and my sin is always before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and
done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you
speak and justified when you judge. Surely I was sinful at birth,
sinful from the time my mother conceived me. Surely you desire truth in
the inner parts ; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place. Cleanse
me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than
snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed
rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit,
to sustain me. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners
will turn back to you. Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who
saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness. O Lord,
open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. You do not delight
in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart,
O God, you will not despise. In your good pleasure make Zion prosper;
build up the walls of Jerusalem. Then there will be righteous sacrifices,
whole burnt offerings to delight you; then bulls will be offered on your
altar." Psalms 51:1-19
Here's some sample "confessions"...the facts of each case were established by each abuser as true and accurate-minor alterations were made to disguise any specific case-cared for by PeaceMakers-only those directly involved may recognize a case.
1. A woman leader in her church and denomination physically beat her children, kicking them, pulling their hair, hitting them with household item she could get her hands on, pushed them down the stairs, dragged them up the stairs by their hair, screamed at them for any wrongs or shortcommings, waking them up at night and destroying their rooms, all the while being recognized for her outstanding work with youth and women.
Her confession: Dear Children, I'm truly sorry that you feel this
way, but I'll let God do the convicting and all you have to do is, like
the lost people do, and that's to love their parents and forgive them.
I see this all the time and, wonder why the christians can't do the same????
I did the best I could in raising you! You know I had medical problems
but taking food suplements now has really helped. As far as my life
with others is to let them live their own lives the way God wants them
to do and me to love them anyway. The family knows how I feel about these
happenings in their lives but it is the HOLY SPIRITS job not mine. As for
talking to my pastor thats his business to follow what God lays on his
heart. He is a very sensitive pastor and loves all his people as does my
Lord Jesus. So I guess we are at an impass for a relationship and it is
your move as I don't see my
life less than yours in closeness to the Lord , lets let him deal with
me as I'm open to what he says and wants me to do! Thank you for
the soft concern you have for me and I pray that there will be a contact
later. Love Mother
NOTE: The local church and denomination continues to allow this person to "minister" saying she confessed her sins and now everyone should forgive her.
What's your vote: Saul or David? If you think Saul, what do you
think a Biblical / Godly confession would look like.
2. A "great soul winner" is caught commiting adultery for over 10 years and maybe more. He has sexually touched his daughters as children and as adults. His Pastor speaks of such wonderful work and the spirit of this man as he leads in visitation and "soul winning" for his congregation for years.
His confession in a family meeting of step two of Matthew 18 (bring witnesses) after 20 minutes by his pastor to convince him to "repent": "Alright (as he stands and points finger) yes I sexually abused you like you said, (moves on to another daughter) yes I sexually touched you too. Next he points fingers at his sons in laws and says yes I tried to break up your marriages! He then turns to his wife of 20+ years and says yes I committed adultery for 12 years. Now I want to talk about you guys about your sins and why you keep bringing up my sins--Why can't you forgive me? Why do you keep persecuting me? Leave me alone, I have Godly work to do...to visit the lost and win them to the Lord.
NOTE: The local church and denomination continues to allow this person to "minister" saying he confessed his sins and now everyone should forgive him.
What's your vote: Saul or David? If you think Saul, what do you think a Biblical / Godly confession would look like.
3. A married Pastor, sexually molests young girls in his congregation for years. He sexually abuses them in his church study, while taking them home from church functions, on missions trips, at church camp, in his own home on his own bed, etc. He begins by having them sit on his lap and French kissing them. He tells them of God giving him and them a special love. He progresses to fondling their breasts. Then he begins fondling their genitals and on occasion with both dis-robed, he places his erect penis against their bare flesh. The girls struggle against sexual intercourse and he relinquishes. Years later, the young girls now adults come forward and Biblically address this man.
His confession to his congregation: I'm glad I was caught, it was hard to bare this secret for so long. I was weak. I was vulnerable. I did kiss them and a little inappropriate touching but nothing sexual. I did not have sexual intercourse with them. They need all of our prayers to help overcome their anguish and anger. I need your forgiveness-can you forgive me? The congregations yells yes we forgive you and begins singing-Amazing Grace.
NOTE: The local church and denomination continues to allow this person to "minister" saying he confessed his sins and now everyone should forgive him.
What's your vote: Saul or David? If you think Saul, what do you think a Biblical / Godly confession would look like.
4. A mother and father wanted their unmarried pregnant teenage daughter to have an abortion. They believed this pregnancy would destroy her future. As Christians leaders in their home church and denomination they have her see their Pastor who proceeds to talk her out of having the baby. The parents offer her money and things if she had the abortion-the girls surrenders and has the abortion. In a church discipline trial, brought by the parents, step three of Matthew 18-"telling it to the church" the parents admit the facts are accurate and true.
Their confession: We're very sorry for having forced you to have an abortion-we knew it was wrong, but you were so young and had so much life ahead of you and it would have ruined your college plans. What else could we do? Besides, you were the one who got pregnant.
NOTE: The local church and denomination continues to allow these persons to "minister" saying they confessed their sins and now everyone should forgive them.
What's your vote: Saul or David? If you think Saul, what do you
think a Biblical / Godly confession would look like.
5. A male church leader sexually molested his children that included male and female. He had sexual intercourse and just about every imaginable sex act with both daughters for many years-beginning at age 6 and well past their teen years. He often read to them Leviticus 18: 7ff saying God did not list the man's daughter-so it's ok for a father to have sex with his daughters-besides, since mom is very cold to me, you can help me keep pure and able to continue in the ministry so I won't sin with another woman. The son having been lied to believed the sexual abuse had stopped until one of his sister was threatening suicide and he came to help save her life-then it came out that dad was still having sex with both adult daughters and now their mom (leader in the denomination) was having sex with one of the daughter's husband.
The man's confession when confronted by his son: I'm so sorry-I couldn't help myself. I tried many times to stop but I just couldn't. I was sexually abused by my Uncle when I was young-the sins of the father were passed on to me. Please forgive me? I'll stop this time-really I will.
The son turned his dad into the local authorities and his mom and dad forever were angry and hateful towards him.
NOTE: The local church and denomination continued to allow this person to "minister" saying he confessed his sins and now everyone should forgive him.
These people continue in ministry...Do you think these confessions were
honest, just and righteous? Do you think the local church leaders and/or
denominational leaders want the facts told to the congregations? Those
leaders say they want to protect the less mature believers from distress
and maybe leaving their church, and they want to protect the on going ministry
of these people...do you agree with their decision?
Index of articles about clergy sexual abuse
recommended reading about clergy sexual abuse