I was raised in a 'Camp meeting denomination.' That is, during my childhood, the defining gathering of our church's spiritual life was the annual pilgrimage to a 'campground' where we attended three or more services a day in a jam-packed 'tabernacle' (including a sawdust/straw floor) and we listened to powerful preachers who got most of us 'under conviction,' until there was a 'break' when many went forward during an 'altar call' to confess and get right with God.

At Camp meeting, confession came easily. In the emotion-charged atmosphere, under the influence of great preaching, when everyone else was also under conviction, it was easy to confess. The trouble for me was, confession was easier than reformation. It was much easier to admit my sin than to stop it. At camp meeting I'd tearfully confess that I'd cheated on a math test last May. But when September rolled around, I sometimes cheated again. As a teen I'd confess to some wandering profligate thoughts about one of the pretty girls in my grade, but actually stopping such imaginations was much more difficult than confessing it. That's the trouble with Camp meeting confessions. They make you feel better at camp, but don't always make a difference back home.

Camp meetings are back in style again, of course. Not the ten-day old fashioned kind with tents or little white shanties, but gigantic three-day conferences where you stay in hotels and eat in restaurants. But the atmosphere is the same. And, so are the dangers of 'Camp meeting confessions.'

Take one issue for instance. It was far easier to confess the sin of racism at last week's camp meetings than to actually do anything about it this week. The emotion is gone now. So is the support of that gigantic crowd. So, what do I do this week... on the Monday after camp meeting?' Will the white suburban church plant I'm involved with, search out a black church somewhere in town to partner with? Will we be willing to invest significant dollars and energy into reconciliation right as we are trying to buy land and build our first unit. Or, will we let ourselves off the hook w