Concluding the Book of James (James 5:19-20)
One final time, James addresses “my brethren” with pastoral concern. This seems to underlie his pastoral concern motivating the entire purpose of the letter. He is concerned about those among the brethren (professing believers) who err or wander from the truth. They think that they can be saved and not be doers of the Word, deceiving themselves (James 1:22). But their deviation from the truth amounts to apostasy if they continue down this path, even if they are among others at the church gatherings.
Though someone may seem to have embraced the faith at one time, if their living does not evidence a living faith, true believers in the church have an obligation and responsibility to point that out and seek to bring them back (Titus 1:16; 1 John 2:19). In other words, persons who turned from sin to God and now turned from God to sin need to be turned from sin and back to God (Gal 6:1ff.). They have wandered from the truth—both in doctrine and a way of living befitting that doctrine.
The picture of bringing one back to the faith is spoken of in terms of conversion, which provokes a question: was this professing believer truly converted in the first place? We may not know, but that’s beside the point. We need to convert them from a pattern of sinful living to evidencing a genuine living faith (2 Pet 2:20-22; Isa 55:6-7). The significance of bringing one back from a pattern of sinful living is that they will receive eternal salvation from death, covering a multitude of sins. Such repentance leads one to God’s forgiveness (1 Pet 4:8).
We have a duty to address others in our assembly who seem to be living an empty profession out of step with obedient living (Matt. 25:31-46). If we care enough to rescue a soul that is self-deceived from eternal damnation—we have to know each other well enough to speak love into each other’s lives—a confrontational love (Gal 6:1).
Why do you think this is so difficult to do, especially in recent years?
First, charges of legalism and pharisaism seem to fly when making concrete applications to living out the faith. Discipleship is pitted against discipline instead of seeing the enforcement of standards as a part of discipleship by overseers—whether in a local church or Christian school context.
Second, postmodernism reigns in our society. And the church seems to be conformed to the spirit of the age. Postmodernism’s view of man in particular reinforces what is known as expressive individualism.1 Everyone wants to be autonomous, their own authority in governing themselves. They are told there is no transcendent standard of reality, no standard of truth or beauty. They are told to follow their hearts and be whatever they want to be. They are told to be true to themselves and fulfill their dreams. Narcissism reigns. Although Christians should theoretically know better, they often are more conformed to the world around them and what it models than looking at their face in the mirror and making changes based on God’s Word being specifically applied to real-life. Exegeting the Bible is necessary, but it is not sufficient. We need a generation of preachers who are willing to go beyond exegesis and make the painful applications to people’s lives. This demands a philosophy of antithesis, a tone of admonishment (not contradictory with love and patience—see 2 Tim 4:2) that seems to have been lost in recent decades in the turn away from “militant” fundamentalism.
“There is a great disconnect between (on the one hand) what Christians believe and assimilate from sermons and Christian sources and how (on the other hand) they actually live.”2
Third, even mature Christians (not marked by what is described in point 2) are likely afraid of being called out for being unloving or operating in a way that lacks grace. But love should not be misdefined in a sentimental kind of way;3 it needs to be defined in a biblical way—harmonized with all that the Bible says love looks like (described by biblical commands). Grace needs to be biblically defined (Titus 2:11-12) rather than turning it into an excuse for licentiousness (Jude 1:4).
Finally, a church culture in which fellowship is superficial doesn’t lend itself to the closeness of a family that admonishes in the context of already-confirmed familial relationships. The ease of leaving a church for another church, motivated by an escape from any biblical accountability, undermines the biblically purposed threat of church discipline. And many other legal realities in a psycho-therapeutic culture does the same.
Despite the above-understood reasons that make this practice so difficult in our world today, Bible-believing Christians still have a responsibility to carry out the command in James 5:19–20 that underlies the whole thrust of everything else in the Book of James. This demands accepting persecution—accepting the fact that if you seek to enforce biblical standards of behavior in a church or Christian school many will not receive such admonishment. You will need to be ready to refute the misconceptions surveyed above and demonstrate that you are motivated by a love for that person’s eternal soul—prioritized over friendships/them liking you. This is harder said than done.
Let me encourage you to spend time at length meditating and praying over James 5:19-20 in the context of the things that James felt compelled to address in the Book of James. Are we addressing those same things with the same motivation that James had in his pastoral appeals to the church? When I myself fail to do so, I must admit that it’s because I don’t have a close enough relationship that’s loving enough to confront in the context of them knowing it’s because I love them and care for their souls.
Kevin Collins has served as a junior high youth leader in Michigan, a missionary in Singapore, a Christian School teacher in Utah, and a Bible writer for the BJU Press. He currently works for American Church Group of South Carolina. He also blogs at his other two sites, Gospel in the Marketplace and The Fire and Hammer.
Photo by Finding Dan | Dan Grinwis on Unsplash