When a celebrity or pseudo-celebrity “falls from grace” (that is, their popularity or marketability drops) there is now a national pattern of public-relational pennance and recovery. The road back often starts with a public mea culpa, sometimes with tears, and ends with understanding and a return to profitability.
     One of the things that is interesting in the sad, sordid Lance Armstrong mess is his public confession.  God knows if Armstrong is genuinely repentant. Let us hope and pray so. Where public figures in the past have sinned openly, they have often gone to Christian religious leaders: think Richard Nixon or Bill Clinton, for example.
     Relatively few years removed from those scandals, Armstrong threw himself onto the mercy of the divine Miss O, Oprah Winfrey. What that says about our society is revealing.
     When your conscience upbraids you, go see your pastor. If your conscience never upbraids you, GO SEE YOUR PASTOR IMMEDIATELY! While any Christian may indeed hear your confession, pastors are specially trained to hear confessions and pronounce God's own absolution upon penitent sinners. While we do this together within our worship service, private confession and absolution can bring special comfort and relief to souls plagued by sin-guilt.
     May your repentance be as genuine as your grasp on God's mercy for Christ's sake!