Richard Foster on the Discipline of Confession

From 'Celebration of Discipline':

"The Bible views salvation as both an event and a process. To converted people Paul says, 'Work out your own salvation with fear and trembling' (Phil. 2:12) … The Discipline of confession helps the believer to grow into 'mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ' (Eph. 4:13)."
p181

"Confession is a difficult Discipline for us because we all too often view the believing community as a fellowship of saints before we see it as a fellowship of sinners. We feel that everyone else has advanced so far into holiness that we are isolated and alone in our sin. We cannot bear to reveal our failures and shortcomings to others. We imagine that we are the only ones who have not stepped on to the high road to heaven. Therefore, we hide ourselves from one another and live in veiled lies and hypocrisy."
p181-2

"Bonhoeffer writes: 'A man who confesses his sins in the presence of a brother knows that he is no longer alone with himself; he experiences the presence of God in the reality of the other person. As long as I am by myself in the confession of my sins everything remains in the dark, but in the presence of a brother the sin has to be brought into the light.'"
p184, Original quote: Bonhoeffer, Life Together

"It is the will to be delivered form sin that we seek from God as we prepare to make confession. We must desire to be conquered and ruled by God, or if we do not desire it, to desire to desire it. Such a desire is a gracious gift from God. The seeking of this gift is one of the preliminaries for confessing to a brother or sister."
p189

"These people are found by asking God to reveal them to us. They are also found by observing people to see who evidences a lively faith in God's power to forgive and exhibits the joy of the Lord in his or her heart. The key qualifications are spiritual maturity, wisdom, compassion, good common sense, the ability to keep a confidence, and a wholesome sense of humour."
p190