Pastor Chris’ Corona Quarantine Epistles to the Flock of AIC Ngong Road, in Dispersion and Isolation. 70th. Edition.
Dear Body of Christ,
Today we conclude the letter of James (James 5:19-20).In his final words, James encourages care for the spiritual welfare of others. We are to be our “brother’s keeper. Turning Away ( v. 19a). The possibility of people wandering from the faith is not only real, but we observe it all the time. Sin is very deceptive. It looks juicy and delicious, and we are quick to rationalize when we take the plunge.
We all know someone who has fallen, or we have fallen ourselves. This is not talking about people who abandon the faith. Those who do were not believers, to begin with (1 John 2:19). But believers do stray. There are warnings about this in scripture (1 Peter 5:8) and we fall when we ignore them. Turn Back (vv. 19b-20a). Do not gloat over the misfortune of another’s folly, speak against them, or ignore their predicament.
At times we fear that we will lose the friend or offend him/her. But what kind of friend or brother leaves another in the throes of sin? We are encouraged to bite the bullet (Galatians 6:1), albeit, gently. He is no friend, who sees another in error and leaves him there. Turn Over (v. 20b). When we restore a brother or sister back to the faith, we save them from death! This is obviously not eternal death in the lake of fire, from which we have been rescued for eternity. But people do die physically from sin. It is suicidal for a believer to dabble and wallow in sin because they well could die. I do not want to belabor the point, but blatant disregard of the fact that we are Christ’s body (1 Corinthians 12:27) and the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 3:16; 6:19), invites judgment.
When the Corinthians disparaged the Lord’s table, for instance, many of them got sick and some died (1 Corinthians 11:30). So let us not ignore sin, whether in us or in others.” Covering a multitude of sins” could mean that we save the brother/sister the embarrassment of public exposure, where his/her many sins will be laid bare. It also could simply mean that we save the person from God’s wrath since he/she will be forgiven.
Whatever the case, we are our brother’s keeper.
Your loving Pastor Chris.