This corporate confession based on the 10 Commandments is built upon the work of Pastor Eric Tonjes’ “Responsive Confession – The Ten Commandments.” The Leader portions all the same, as Eric leveraged the 10 Commandments. My additions primarily add specific corporate sins, past and present, to the confession, along with a few edits for simplification, and an assurance of forgiveness at the end. My additions are specific to the United States in 2025 and The Wesleyan Church.
LEADER: You are the Lord our God, who has led us out of slavery and made us a people for Your name. Father, you command us to have no other gods before you.
ALL: We worship created things. We worship pleasures. We worship money and reputation and power. We worship ourselves. Like some of the founding fathers, we hold our constitutional liberties higher than freedom from sin in Christ.
LEADER: You command us not to make or worship graven images.
ALL: We make gods of things that are not gods. We remake You, the one true God, in our image, as we idolize people. We do not worship You in the ways you require, and we worship in ways You do not require, so we can cover our sinful acts as enlightened tolerance.
LEADER: You command us not to use your name for vanity.
ALL: We abuse your name in anger, selfishness, and pride. We attach your name to things that are not worthy of it. We use it for profit, for hypocrisy, and to justify self-righteousness rather than resting in Christ’s righteousness. We have called ourselves a Christian nation and the new Isreal, We now call ourselves Christian Nationalists or Christian Progressives instead of just being Christ’s.
LEADER: You command us to remember the Sabbath and keep it holy.
ALL: Instead of trusting, we worry. Instead of seeking You, we strive. Instead of worshipping, our hearts are distracted. Instead of healing, we make pious excuses. We prefer idleness and doom scrolling to rest.
LEADER: You command us to honor our parents and those in authority over us.
ALL: We do not honor them but criticize them. We would rather be honored than to give honor. When we are given honor, we are puffed up in pride instead of giving honor to You, the name above all names. We are a country founded on rebellion to a king. What authority you give us; we use selfishly instead of honoring You as our true King in heaven.
LEADER: You command us not to murder.
ALL: We do not act as image bearers nor do we respect Your image in us. We destroy those You love with our words. Through our actions and inaction, we participate in and support systems that bring death to souls and to bodies.
Slavery was part of the foundations of our country. Now we imprison more people than any other country, and imprison and execute ethnic minorities at a disproportionately higher rate.
The African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded because black Christians experienced racism and segregation in the Methodist Church. The Wesleyan Church worked to end slavery, and give women the right to vote, but did nothing in the Civil Rights Movement.
LEADER: You command us not to commit adultery.
ALL: We call love that which is not love and fail to love in truth. We lust in our hearts and sin with our bodies. We objectify, use, and demean ones precious in Your sight. We created the internet as a tool for education and communication, and we use it to distribute pornography.
LEADER: You command us not to steal.
ALL: We rob our neighbors, locally and globally, of resources and reputation. We seek gain even when it is unjust. We live lives of hording and consumption. We support systems that benefit us even when they harm others.
LEADER: You command us not to bear false witness against our neighbors.
ALL: We lie for our egos, for our advantage, and because we hate the truth. We gossip, slander, and defame. Our words join with the devil in accusing and condemning rather than with Your Spirit of grace. We present only our best or filtered selves and our unchecked opinions on social media.
LEADER: You command us not to covet.
ALL: We are constantly discontent with what we have. We measure ourselves against our neighbors, begrudging their successes and rejoicing in their failures. We are ungrateful. At the same time we criminalize and shame homelessness.
LEADER: Lord, in Your mercy, forgive us our sins and restore our fellowship, for we know Your love, poured out in the blood of Jesus, covers a multitude of sins. Let us never be so proud that we think we cannot fall. Give us the strength of the Holy Spirit to walk in true repentance.
