Restoring One Who Falls

“My brothers, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” (James 5:19-20. ESV).

Unlike Paul who has a benediction to end his epistles, James puts in a final strong word about the responsibility of the church (and Christians) to bring back from error any who wander from the truth. James, wise pastor that he was, knew there would be those who would go after doctrines contrary to what Christ taught. We have developed a term for this: backsliding. In this present time of New Age teachings, it is very important that we weigh heavily the things we hear and evaluate them in the light of biblical truth. We have a responsibility, first of all, to witness to and win the sinner to the Lord. When the sinner accepts Christ as Savior that soul is ‘saved from death.’ Also, a ‘multitude of sins’ is covered. But to bring back the once-saved person who has wandered is a grave responsibility as well. Christians defecting from the church is a common occurrence. A comparison of almost any “church roll” with those who are active, in regular attendance and showing evidences of growing in grace and in knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ will indicate how much we need to heed James’ admonition to restore the wanderers.

It is easy to think of the apostate (straying ones) as agents of the devil and therefore dismiss them with little effort to restore them to fellowship. “They should know better,” we often say. But maybe they don’t, or maybe the pull of the world has enticed them so strongly that they need positive, active Christian concern to awaken them. We read in Proverbs 10:12: “Hatred stirs up strife, But love cancels innumerable sins.” Peter must have had this proverb in mind when he wrote: “Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins.” (Peter 4:8).

We have a saying about such spiritual wanderers: “They come in the front door of the church and leave by the back door.” That is, they lose their enthusiasm and desire to live a Christian life, and neglect soon becomes habit, and habit grows into a way of life absent from a nurturing, vital fellowship in the church. “He who waters others shall be watered also himself” was a well-known adage in the Jewish community of James’ day.

Think about the situation. What joy comes when a family member has been estranged and is restored. We should go after and seek to win back into active fellowship those who have become cold and indifferent. Eugene Peterson in The Message Bible gives these verses and their impact in a very strong appeal: “My dear friends, if you know people who have wandered off from God’s truth, don’t write them off. Go after them. Get them back and you will have rescued precious lives from destruction and prevented an epidemic of wandering away from God.” Think of ones you know who need to be restored to fellowship. Begin earnestly praying for them. Then cultivate their friendship and trust and gently “love” them back into fellowship. What a mission!

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Friday, October 29, 2010

Parable of the Two Houses

“ ‘Therefore, everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash.’ When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching, because he taught as one who had authority, and not as their teachers of the law.” (Matthew 7:24-28, NIV) [See Luke 6:46-49]

This is a very familiar parable, two houses, one built on a solid foundation and one on the sand. As children in Vacation Bible School we no doubt heard the story and even sang the action song, “The wise man built his house upon the rock.” Even though we have known and read this parable most of our lives if we are Christians and students of the Bible, we sometimes overlook the strong truths Jesus wanted to convey, then and now, by this story. This parable is prefaced by the important words, “everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man…” Discipleship first involves hearing the words of the Lord. Then hearing is followed by heeding and by doing. The parable is one of practicality. Any person building a house knows that the foundation is vital to a sound, lasting structure. Unless care is given to the foundation, the building will be insecure when winds blow and storms pound. Likewise, in building our faith and conducting our life based upon our faith, we must have the sure foundation of Jesus Christ who declared, “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man comes to the Father but by me” (John 14:6). This is so important in our day when New Age and other cultic philosophies vy (sic) for the Truth in Jesus Christ. Beware! Discern! Think! Pray!

In giving this parable, Jesus was referring to a scripture his hearers would have known. He was also basing the truth upon practical knowledge of carpentry and building. The scripture is found in Proverbs 10:25: “When the storm has swept by, the wicked are gone, but the righteous stand firm forever” (NIV). Likewise, from a practical viewpoint, if we build a house or if we purchase one already built, it would be foolish not to give attention to the sure foundation and how the building is erected, “from the ground up” as we often say. In our faith, we first listen and learn and then we put into practice, we do, we act. The only sure foundation for faith and practice is Jesus Christ. Our part is to first get that foundation and then to build upon it. And regardless of what storms may come in life, we are safely anchored. Praise be to God!

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Thursday, September 2, 2010

Wisdom and Righteousness vs.Sin and Folly

“The proverbs of Solomon. A wise son maketh a glad father: but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother. Treasures of wickedness profit nothing: but righteousness delivereth from death. The Lord will not suffer the soul of the righteous to famish: but he casteth away the substance of the wicked. He becometh poor that dealeth with a slack hand: but the hand of the diligent maketh rich. He that gathereth in summer is a wise son: but he that sleepeth in harvest is a son that causeth shame.” (Proverbs 10:1-5, KJV) [Read Proverbs 10].

Beginning with Proverbs 10 and continuing through chapter 22, the wisdom sayings cover well the subject of one’s right response to wisdom and the earthly consequences resulting. Likewise wisdom or righteous living is starkly contrasted to the consequences that come from following after sin and folly. Ancient thinkers evidently observed the orderliness of the world and recognized that living in harmony with certain laws of God and of nature brings good to those who follow this way. Given in the familiar poetic form of Hebrew parallelism, the positive statement and result of following wisdom are compared to the foolishness and suffering of following folly. For example, this is a known fact and should, therefore, form a way of life: “A wise son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the grief of his mother” (Proverbs 10:1). And so the wise advice continues, covering almost every subject the sage can think of and giving sound advice to those who need to choose the righteous way over the foolish way.

The major subject of chapter 10 of Proverbs is that the righteous enjoys blessings but the wicked suffer greatly. Involved in this sage advice is a lot of practical living. We know that harmony in the home comes from love, nourishing and proper instruction from loving parents. A result is that the son then makes his father glad (we could say makes parents glad, but in the days of Solomon, the emphasis was upon a male-dominated society). On the other hand, a non-obedient and foolish son brings great grief upon a mother. This instruction undergirds the command of God: “Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long upon the land which the Lord your God is giving you” (Exodus 20:12).

“But what about when bad things happen to good people?” we want to ask. The emphasis of Proverbs 10 is always positive on the side of righteousness. What if a person follows wisdom’s ways and lives a righteous life, but things do not always turn out in a prosperous manner? Think of Job and all he lost, and the condemnations his ‘friends’ leveled at him because of what they considered his sin and folly. We must remember in our consideration of Job that he never lost the “fear of the Lord,” and as Proverbs emphasizes, that is “the beginning of wisdom.”

These parallelisms and contrasts in Proverbs offer centuries of observation in living the God-fearing life. They prove true in the majority of cases but may not be true in every case. They should not be used to condemn ourselves and others if we do not reach a certain standard of blessings and prosperity. In each of these proverbs, on a variety of subjects and situations faced in the course of normal living, we have the ideal in perseverance, courage, integrity, and right living. The rewards are the care and presence of God and respect from those among whom we live. Without fail, these proverbs teach that we are to reach toward our maximum potential in living the righteous life. When we seek God and follow His way, joy, fellowship and satisfaction result. And after all, these are our ultimate goals, not worldly prosperity.

c Ethelene Dyer Jones; Thursday, July 8, 2010