Genuine Help
My brothers, if any one of you should wander from the truth and someone bring him back, remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins James 5:19,20
Our Bible translations might vary the exact wording but this is the third time James has begun a sentence with ‘is any one of you …’ ‘Is any one of you in trouble?’ (5:13). ‘Is any none of you sick?’ (5:14). ‘If one of you should wander …’ (5:19: the NIV hasn’t kept to James’ pattern).
To see someone wandering off in a dangerous direction and doing nothing about it is a tragic dereliction of duty. It might be hard to turn them back. They may not want to come back, and show it either passively or even aggressively, but the responsibility to do something still remains. Patience and humility, both emphasised throughout James’ letter, are essential in the whole process.
The core problem is wandering from the truth. Biblical truth is evidenced by a way of life as well as agreeing to a statement or creed. Paul wrote of Hymenaeus and Philetus ‘who have wandered away from the truth’ (2 Timothy 2:17,18) and Jude of those ‘who change the grace of our God into a license for immorality and deny Jesus Christ our only Sovereign and Lord’ (Jude 4). Denying truth is ultimately a denial of who the true Christ is. Truth, Christ and life belong together. A denial of any is the first step to a denial of the other two.
‘Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.’ James picks up on a common Old Testament description of how sin appears to God once that sin has been atoned for through sacrifice. The sin is covered over. In the classic example of Passover in Exodus 12, those who trusted God entered their “lamb’s blood-marked” houses. Those outside faced the full weight of God’s judgement without protection while those inside were saved. Their sin was ‘covered’ by the blood of the lamb.
The ‘blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin’ (1 John 1:7). When someone who has wandered away from Christ is brought back and restored to fellowship with God (and His people), they are experiencing the joy of sin ‘covered over.’
Why do we find it so hard to go after someone who drops out of fellowship? Most times it’s fear of man and our own insecurity. We tend to leave the follow up to a “professional.” It might surprise you to know the research shows the most effective “follow up” worker is not the minister but simply someone from the church, and hopefully they prove to be someone who cares.
Develop a caring heart. Ask God to grow your ability to care for others. You’ll be surprised to find Him opening up situations for that caring heart to come out and genuinely help those who need it most.
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