Protestants and Roman Catholics Together 2

One thing Protestants do that is the same thing Roman Catholics do - and Protestants don't even realize it - is they confess they are sinners to man and not to God. Just as the Roman Catholic confesses to his devil-priest, the Protestant confesses to man in his church or among fellow church members or before another believer. This is considered, unthinkingly, part of the faith. It's encouraged by the leadership because it cultivates man-fearing.

No, when you confess you are a sinner you do it to God. And it's more an acknowedgment of your condition and an acceptance of it. "Yes, Father in heaven, I acknowledge and accept that I, in Adam, have a corrupt nature and heart and am dead in sin. I see this and I fully acknowledge and accept it as my condition. And I realize I can't change it any more than a leopard can change its spots."

It's a big moment when a Christian truly comes into the understanding (and acceptance) of the fact (the truth) that man's nature - man's heart, including his own - is corrupt after the Fall (and hence, then, is able to see where he is in the full sweep of the history of redemption: state of innocence in the Garden; state of corruption after the Fall; state of being re-born; state of glorification). And it's important to 'confess' this, as in truly state it and acknowledge it; but this is done to God, not man.

Seeing these rituals of man-fearing can be difficult because they are so ingrained in how the visible churches operate, and how popular ideas of the faith operate.