Confess

“if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord” Romans 10:9

Confess – When did we begin to imagine that confession only meant speaking?  It’s true that the Greek word homologeo literally means, “to say the same thing.”  It implies speaking in agreement with someone or something.  But “confession” in the first century meant a great deal more than verbal assent.

Calling someone “Lord” was the equivalent of naming that person as divine.  The Greek translation of the Old Testament uses the word “Lord” as the name of God more than 6000 times.  In Paul’s world, the Roman Emperor was routinely called “Lord” as a designation of his divinity.  To call someone “Lord” was to confess that all of your life was in his service and under his authority.  Confession was about naming your god.  When the Christians were persecuted in the early church, confession became the determination of their fate.  If they would not confess the Emperor, they were often tortured and put to death.  Those simple words, “Jesus is Lord”, became the words of life or death.

Today we hardly think about the life-altering impact of these words.  We have experienced the great dilution.  We not longer stand between life and death when we announce that our God is Jesus.  We have watered down the meaning, and in the process watered down the commitment.  But the New Testament meaning of the word has not changed.  It still implies total service and total authority.  There is no such thing as “thinned out” Christianity.  That’s why Jesus made such strong statements about serving material possession or serving him.  He knew that confession meant submission.

Sunday after Sunday thousands of people stand in churches all across this land and speak the words of Christian belief.  But how many of them actually confess Jesus is their God, the God that they have given everything to, the God that they follow without reservation?  I know that I stood in those congregations for many years and said the right words, but I served a different god.  It was the god of Me.  My god failed.  I found myself diluted.  I had to start again, confessing that my god was not god at all.  Jesus is Lord.

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