James 5.19-20

Test Case #7: Wisdom in Church Discipline (James 5.19-20)

19 My brothers, if one of you should wander from the truth and someone should bring him back, 20 remember this: Whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save him from death and cover over a multitude of sins.

I remember sitting in my General Epistles class, after we had spend the first six to seven weeks or so studying the book of James, and we finished it up with this test case. My professor asked the question, “Why is this a fitting end to the letter?” That is the question we must ask today. But first, we need to see where we have come from. 

When we started this study of the Book of James, we began by looking at trials outside the community of God, as well as inside the community. The outside trials took the form of material persecution and seduction among the poor and the rich (James 1.2-18). The inside trials consisted of a warped view of religion (James 1.19-27), People (2.1-13), Faith (2.14-26) and our Tongue (3.1-12). The answer to all these trials comes in the middle of the letter, with John showing us that living by wisdom from God leads to life, whereas living by our worldly desires leads to death (James 3.13-4.10). This was illustrated by our diagram below:

Wisdom from above (thinking heavenly)--> truth---> good deeds --> Life

___________________________________________________________________

Desires from Below---> leads to temptation----> leads to Sin-----> leads to Death. 

After James stated his main theme, his dominant thought, his Big Idea, he then fleshes it out to show how it works in everyday situations through seven test cases. These consisted of: Wisdom for Judgment (4.11-12); Financial Planning (4.13-17);Treating Workers with Respect (5.1-6); Patience in Adversity (5.7-11); Making an Oath (5.12); Prayer (5.13-18); and Discipline (5.19-20). 

The question remains...are these two verses an appropriate ending for this great book? I think they are. This is exactly what James is doing with this entire letter!!!! There are Christians scattered throughout the empire who are living according to their worldly desires rather than from the wisdom that comes from God. This is causing trials inside and outside the community. These brothers have “wandered from the truth”. James is “one of the brothers” trying to turn his fellow brothers from their sin to the truth. This serves both as a defense for his letter, as well as an encouragement for the readers of his letter to do the same, to copy James and his message. 

And that is his final message to us. We are commanded to share this truth with the brothers and sisters, as well as the world, around us. Living by our human, worldly desires leads to death. But living by the wisdom that God gives us leads to life. That message brings life to a dying world. And it is our responsibility to pass it on.