An interesting, if not mildly disturbing story I ran across:

Mom Makes Teen Wear Sign Confessing Sins:
A Tennessee mother fed up with her daughter’s misbehavior took an unusual tack in for latest punishment, making her stand on a busy street corner with an attention-getting sign.

Tashara Wilkins, 13, held a sign Sunday reading, “I don’t obey my parents, I’m a liar. I steal from my mom. I have a bad attitude.”

“All other resources haven’t worked, so I’m making her be publicly humiliated today,” mother Cherie Wilkins told WMC-TV in Memphis. “I hope this works for her. I love my child. … I could be beating her to death, but I’m not.”

Tashara said having to wear her offenses was eye-opening. “It might even work,” she said. “I’m gonna start (behaving better) because I don’t want to be standing out here with everybody looking at me like I’m crazy with this sign.”

The mother said her daughter would go to church Tuesday night wearing the sign.
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Every cell in my body wants to take this opportunity to rail against this woman. Every cell. But since the last thing this world needs is another angst-filled blogger, I will relent.

Instead it makes me wonder what church might look like if we all wore our scarlet letters as part of our Sunday best.

You could build an argument that it would make it better:

• all the pomp and self-righteousness of Bible-belt church would be checked at the door
• our sin would actually be dealt with
• openness and transparency wouldn’t be optional

However, once the initial shock wore off, I doubt that it would really make much difference.

The difference between sin exposed and sin confessed is vast.

What about you? If you had to wear a sign listing your worst offenses would there be at least one godly person who wasn’t surprised? Is there at least one godly person who already knows,  to whom you have already confessed?  Don’t wait to get exposed!

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Luke 12:3, 3 Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.