Ever hear of The Apology Line, a fascinating social experiment from the 1980s?
Created by American conceptual artist Allan Bridge (1945-95), The Apology Line was a confessional phone system which used new technology of the time, an answering machine, to record confessions from anonymous callers.
The concept was a stunning success. Over the 15 years the line was in operation, Wikipedia says more than 1,000 hours of apologies were recorded, with callers confessing everything from infidelity, shop lifting and drug dealing to ritualistic murder.
It’s a safe bet that while the Wikipedia article focuses on the sensational confessions, there were plenty of apologies for everyday events — treating your spouse poorly, getting angry at the kids, holding a grudge against a relative or colleague and, maybe, even failing to act in a situation that needed a calm, caring intervention.
This struck me as amazing because it makes a very strong case that humans need to confess the wrong things we’ve done and the right things we’ve failed to do. Despite Bridge’s contention that no apologies are needed to the creator of humanity, it still ties directly into the beliefs of people who follow Jesus of Nazareth (who many believe is the Son of God).
Jesus followers like me note that one of His brothers wrote this to anyone willing to read it: Always tell each other the wrong things you have done. Then pray for each other. Do this so that God can heal you.
Another of Jesus’s earliest followers said: If we confess our sins, God will forgive us. We can trust God to do this. He always does what is right. He will make us clean from all the wrong things we have done.
When we make confessions to God and to our brothers & sisters, the result is relief and, in some ways, new life. In fact, people who sincerely apologize to God often open their hearts and minds to placing their trust in Jesus’s life, sacrificial death and stunning resurrection.
YOU can do this too. When you honestly, humbly make Jesus your Lord, Saviour and best friend, He comes into your heart and mind and starts the lifelong project of making you more like the person you were created to be.
At the same time, God no longer sees the wrong things you’ve done and the right things you’ve failed to do. He only sees His Son’s perfection. And so, when this life ends, you will spend an incredible eternity with your creator and His Son. It’s the best news in the world. 🙂
Interested? Yes or no, post your thoughts below and let’s have a conversation.
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