Penance

When most Protestant Christians hear the word "penance" they think of Catholics. While the Catholics do have a long tradition of doing penance, the rest of us probably do penance but we don't call it by that name. In fact, after a Christian sins, it's not enough to simply ask to be forgiven and walk away. We should all do some form of penance. Not sure what the word means? The Merriam-Webster online dictionary defines it this way: 1) an act of self-abasement, mortification, or devotion performed to show sorrow or repentance of sins; 2) a sacramental rite that's practiced in Roman, Eastern, and some Anglican churches and that consists of private confession, absolution, and a penance directed by the confessor; and, 3) a hardship or penalty as compensation for an offense.

Only the third definition comes close to true penance. Below are why I believe the first two fall short.
- The first definition shows only a punishment and act of devotion done by and for the person who has sinned. They would punish themselves in a way they see fit and do some religious ritual such as prayer in order to confess to God and show him they're trying to make up for the sin. This would be a good form of penance if the sin was only against God and only hurt the individual who sinned.
- The second definition is okay for sins which hurt no one other than the person committing the sin. Confession can be private unless someone else was harmed. If another person was harmed, confession needs to be more public. Only God can absolve - make guiltless - anyone of a sin and that is done through the blood of Christ, not by some member of the clergy. Penance through the church may be anything from repeating ritual prayers so many times to doing something like cleaning the church or helping with one of the church ministries. Again, this form of punishment (penance) may be acceptable if no one else was harmed.
- As mentioned, the third definition comes the closest to true penance. It all depends on how a person defines "hardship" and what form the penalty takes.

The easiest way to define penance, at least for me, is to give an example.

The sins: Jill has stolen over $1000 from her employers petty cash fund. When her boss asks her if she knows anything about it, she tells him she saw Jack take it. The boss then asks Jack if he took the money and Jack tells him he didn't. The boss believes Jill because she has always been a model employee and doesn't believe Jack because he spent time in jail for having stolen money from a previous employer even though that theft was more than twenty years ago and Jack hasn't stolen anything since. Jack ends up getting fired and Jill enjoys spreading the rumor that Jack is a thief and not to be trusted. Jill has stolen from her employer, lied about it, blamed an innocent person, and defamed his character.

The wrong form of penance: Jill confesses her sins to her priest. He tells her to say a certain prayer five times. She then should serve in the church's soup kitchen every Saturday for the next two months.

True penance: Two weeks after Jill stole the money, she goes to her boss, confesses to stealing the money, and gives him $1000. She then asks her boss to rehire Jack because, after all, he didn't do anything wrong and the boss says he will as long Jack wants to return. After gathering all of her co-workers together, she confesses to them that she stole the money and made up lies about Jack. She then finds Jack, confesses what she did, and asks him for his forgiveness. Since Jack hasn't been able to work for two weeks and will be going back to his job, Jill offers to pay him for the two weeks pay he lost because of what she did.

Do you see what true penance is and how it works? Not only do people have to admit what they did was a sin and ask God for forgiveness, they have to confess and ask for forgiveness from everyone the sin effected. The person or people who were harmed need to, as judges say, be made whole. In the example, Jack may grant his forgiveness, but he's still doesn't have his two weeks pay unless Jill gives it to him. If your sin has caused someone to lose their income, it's only right for you to pay them that money. If they have hospital bills, you should pay the bills for them. If their property was damaged, you should fix it or pay for a replacement. Of course, the person who was harmed may decline accepting any money or help; however, true penance would be shown by at least making the offer. If the person accepts your offer, then you need to stick to your promise and not, at a later time, try to get out of doing what you said you would do. You can't make it right for the person who was harmed by helping other people; you do so by helping the person you harmed. That is true penance.