James 5:19-20 “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.”
Rip Van Wrinkle. That’s who John Benton, Director for Pastoral Support at London Seminary, compares us present day Christians to. We haven’t been sleeping for the past twenty years, but many of us are waking up to a world experiencing seismic changes. Although believers have always run counter to the culture, we were at least regarded as somewhat decent folks. Now, says Benton, we’re “increasingly regarded as a harmful influence in our society.” Expressing biblical beliefs about marriage, gender, and life issues can result in ridicule, public harassment, even job loss.
I’m sure you don’t want to be walking around in a Rip Van Wrinkle daze any more than I do. Especially when we see many of our children falling prey to the modern mindset. A mindset that causes them to wander from the truth. How do we follow the admonition of scripture to bring back the wanderers?
I think it begins with understanding the battleground, seeing what we’re up against. Carl Trueman, in his book, The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self, describes the sharp contrast of living in a world where individuals find meaning and morals from a higher power, or deity, and a world where meaning and morals erupt from within yourself. Truth is what I feel it to be. Christians live according to laws set by their Creator God. Moderns according to Creator Me. Once a society rejects God, it inevitably moves toward sensuality, indulgence, and an insatiable lust for more in order to satisfy Creator Me (Ephesians 4:18-19). That’s what we’re facing.
Turning the culture around seems quite formidable. But if it weren’t possible for us to bring back some of those wanderers, scripture wouldn’t tell us to do it. Mother Teresa once remarked, “If you can’t save the hundred, save the one.” So let’s not lose hope. Recognize the gravity of the battle, but no matter how far your loved one strays from the truth, keep praying. The stakes remain high, but we have the opportunity to “save his [or her] soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.”