Praying for the Straying (5:19-20)

Prayer for the Straying (5:19–20)

James didn't use the word "prayer" in these verses, but it's clear that he meant it. We should pray for the sick, the hurting, and the brother who strays from the truth.

These verses talk about how we can help a fellow believer who has strayed from the truth and is sinning. The verb "err" means "to wander," which means to slowly move away from God's will. "Backsliding" is the Old Testament word for this. Unfortunately, we see this tragedy happen in our churches. Sometimes a brother "is overtaken in a fault" (Gal. 6:1), but most of the time, the sin comes from a slow, steady decline in spiritual health.

This kind of situation is very dangerous, of course. It is perilous for the transgressor, as he may face divine discipline (Heb. 12). He also runs the risk of committing the "sin unto death" (1 John 5:16–17). God punished the members of the Corinthian church who were sinning, even taking some of them to heaven (1 Cor. 11:30). But this falling back is also detrimental for the church.

A wandering criminal can affect other people and lead them off course. "One sinner destroys much good" (Eccl. 9:18). This is why the church's spiritual members need to step in and help the man who has lost his way.

The phrase "err from the truth" (James 5:19) is where this problem starts. The truth, of course, is the Word of God. “Thy word is truth” (John 17:17). If the believer doesn't stay close to the truth, he will start to drift away. "Therefore we ought to give the more earnest heed to the things which we have heard, lest at any time we should let them slip [drift away]." (Heb. 2:1). Peter didn't believe what Jesus said when He told him that Satan was nearby to tempt him. He even fought with God! Peter was sleeping when he should have been praying. It's no surprise that he denied the Lord three times.

The result of this wandering is "sin" and maybe even "death" (James 5:20). The sinner in this case is a believer, not an unbeliever. Sin is worse for a Christian than it is for an unbeliever. We expect people who aren't saved to sin, but God wants His children to follow His Word.

What should we do when we see a fellow believer going astray? We should pray for him, of course, but we should also try to help him. He needs to be "converted," which means he needs to be put back on the right path. Do people who believe in Christ need to change? Yes, they do! Jesus told Peter, ". . . and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren." (Luke 22:32).

We need to seek to win the lost, but we also need to try to win the saved. If a brother has wronged us, we ought to converse with him privately and endeavor to resolve the issue. If he listens, we have won our brother (Matt. 18:15). The word "gained" means "won." The same word is used in James 4:13 to mean "get gain." It is important to win both the saved and the lost.

We must have a loving attitude if we want to help a brother who has done something wrong, because "love shall cover the multitude of sins" (1 Peter 4:8). James and Peter both learned this from Proverbs 10:12: "Hatered stirs up strife, but love covers all sins."

This doesn't mean that love "hides the dirt." Paul said in Eph. 4:15 that "speaking the truth in love" is important. This means that where there is love, there must also be truth. And where there is truth, there must be honest confession of sin and cleansing from God. Love not only helps the person who has done wrong face their sins and deal with them, but it also lets them know that those sins will be forgotten once they are forgiven.

The fundamental interpretation of these verses is as I have interpreted, yet the application can be extended to the lost sinner. If a brother who has gone astray needs to be brought back, how much more does a sinner who has lost his way need to be brought to the Savior? The lost sinner is doomed to spend eternity in hell, while the wandering believer will at least go to heaven if he dies.

A common Bible picture of soul-winning is "seeking the lost." Jesus talked about the lost sheep, the lost coin, and the lost son in Luke 15. All of these people needed to be found and brought back to where they belonged. The Lord also said that winning souls is like catching fish (Mark 1:17). Peter caught one fish with his hook (Matt. 17:24–27), but he also worked with His helpers and used nets to catch a lot of fish at once. There is a place for both personal and group evangelism.

Proverbs 11:30 says that evangelism is like hunting. We read, "The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life; and he that winneth souls is wise. Literally, the writer is telling us that he who catches souls is wise. Sin wants to catch and kill (James 1:13–15), but we should want to catch and bring to life.

The soul-winner is also a messenger of peace (2 Cor. 5:20). God has not declared war on this world; He has declared peace! One day He will declare war, and judgment will come.

Zechariah 3:2 and Jude 23 both show the soulwinner as a firefighter who pulls people out of the fire. John Wesley saw Zechariah 3:2 as a sign for himself because he was pulled from a burning house when it looked like it was too late. We must sometimes take risks in love to save people from the fires of judgment.

Jesus likened evangelism to sowing and reaping (John 4:34–38), a metaphor also employed by Paul (1 Cor. 3:6–9). There are times to plant seeds and times to harvest them, and a lot of people are needed to do the work. We are "laborers together with God" (1 Cor. 3:9). The sower and the reaper will both get their rewards because there is no competition in the Lord's fields.
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This chapter is the last part of our study of James, and this is our last lesson. James has been focusing on spiritual growth. Perhaps this is a good time for us to look inside ourselves and see how grown-up we really are.