Admitting Our Wrongdoing<\/strong><\/a>\nTuesday, August 29, 2017<\/strong>\n<\/iframe><br \/>\n<em>Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs<\/em>. \u2014Step 5 of the Twelve Steps<\/p>\n<p>When we human beings \u201cadmit\u201d to one another \u201cthe exact nature of our wrongs,\u201d we invariably have a human and humanizing encounter that deeply enriches both sides\u2014and even changes lives! It is no longer an exercise to achieve moral purity or regain God\u2019s love, but in fact, a direct encounter <em>with <\/em>God\u2019s love. It is not about punishing one side, but liberating both sides.<\/p>\n<p>If you are still inside the economy of merit\u2014a quid pro quo universe\u2014you will undoubtedly not understand this at all. In fact, you will find it abhorrent. Forgiveness is not a popular or easy path, but some wise ones have shown us how. Desmond Tutu\u2019s \u201cTruth and Reconciliation Commission\u201d in South Africa exemplified the economy of grace after the fall of apartheid. All had to take proper and public responsibility for their mistakes, not for the sake of any punishment, but for the sake of truth and healing. In fact, <em>the healing was the baring\u2014and the bearing\u2014of the truth publicly. <\/em><\/p>\n<p>This is revolutionary and almost unheard of in human history but it is biblical, starting with the prophet Ezekiel during and after the Exile and dramatically lived out by Jesus.<\/p>\n<p>Ezekiel lays the biblical groundwork for truth-speaking, accountability, and restorative justice. For him, the cement that holds the whole thing together is YHWH being true to YHWH\u2019s Self, and not merely <em>reacting<\/em> to human failure (or God would not be free). For Ezekiel, God always acts with total freedom\u2014from divine integrity and unilateral faithfulness to the covenant with Israel, whether they keep their side or not\u2014without this foundational message, \u201cgrace would not be grace at all\u201d (Romans 11:6).<\/p>\n<p>God resists our evil and conquers it with good, or how could God ask the same of us? Think about that. God shocks and stuns us into love. God does not love us <em>if<\/em> we change; God loves us <em>so that <\/em>we can change. Only love\u2014not duress, guilt, any form of shunning, or social pressure\u2014effects true inner transformation.<\/p>\n<p>The ego expects this pattern: sin \u00e0 punishment \u00e0 repentance \u00e0 transformation.<\/p>\n<p>Ezekiel recalibrates this process after experiencing YHWH\u2019s purifying love for Israel. The pattern becomes: sin \u00e0 unconditional love and forgiveness \u00e0 transformation \u00e0 repentance.<\/p>\n<p>If this is indeed God\u2019s pattern, as I believe it surely is, this is a very different universe that God is creating. Jesus called it \u201cthe Realm [or Kingdom] of God.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>Gateway to Silence:<br \/>\n<\/strong>Create in me a clean heart. \u2014Psalm 51:12<\/p>\n<p>___________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p><strong>Sublime Intimacy<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Oswald Chambers<\/p>\n<p><strong>Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” \u2014<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?version=31&search=John+11%3A40\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">John 11:40<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<div class=\"col-sm-4\">\n<p><!--\n\n\n<div class=\"mobile-sharing-button\"><\/div>\n\n\n--><\/p>\n<div class=\"top-sharing\">\n<div class=\"sharedaddy sd-sharing-enabled\">\n<div class=\"robots-nocontent sd-block sd-social sd-social-icon-text sd-sharing\">\n<div class=\"sd-content\">\n<ul>\n<li class=\"odb-share-facebook\">Every time you venture out in your life of faith, you will find something in your circumstances that, from a commonsense standpoint, will flatly contradict your faith. . But common sense is not faith, and faith is not common sense. In fact, they are as different as the natural life and the spiritual. Can you trust Jesus Christ where your common sense cannot trust Him? Can you venture out with courage on the words of Jesus Christ, while the realities of your commonsense life continue to shout, \u201cIt\u2019s all a lie\u201d? When you are on the mountaintop, it\u2019s easy to say, \u201cOh yes, I believe God can do it,\u201d but you have to come down from the mountain to the demon-possessed valley and face the realities that scoff at your Mount-of-Transfiguration belief (see\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Luke+9:28-42\">Luke 9:28-42<\/a>). Every time my theology becomes clear to my own mind, I encounter something that contradicts it. As soon as I say, \u201cI believe \u2018God shall supply all [my] need,\u2019 \u201d the testing of my faith begins (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Philippians+4:19\">Philippians 4:19<\/a>). When my strength runs dry and my vision is blinded, will I endure this trial of my faith victoriously or will I turn back in defeat?<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<section class=\"entry-content\">\n<div class=\"post-content\">\n<p>Faith must be tested, because it can only become your intimate possession through conflict. What is challenging your faith right now? The test will either prove your faith right, or it will kill it. Jesus said, \u201cBlessed is he who is not offended because of Me\u201d\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Matthew+11:6\">Matthew 11:6<\/a>). The ultimate thing is confidence in Jesus. \u201cWe have become partakers of Christ if we hold the beginning of our confidence steadfast to the end\u2026\u201d (<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Hebrews+3:14\">Hebrews 3:14<\/a>). Believe steadfastly on Him and everything that challenges you will strengthen your faith. There is continual testing in the life of faith up to the point of our physical death, which is the last great test. Faith is absolute trust in God\u2014 trust that could never imagine that He would forsake us (see\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.biblegateway.com\/passage\/?search=Hebrews+13:5-6\">Hebrews 13:5-6<\/a>).<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Richard Rohr Admitting Our Wrongdoing Tuesday, August 29, 2017 Admitted to God, to ourselves and to another human being the exact nature of our wrongs. \u2014Step 5 of the Twelve Steps When we human beings \u201cadmit\u201d to one another \u201cthe exact nature of our wrongs,\u201d we invariably have a human and humanizing encounter that deeply […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15962"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15962"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15962\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15969,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15962\/revisions\/15969"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15962"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15962"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/co2mannatoday.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15962"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}