Scripture
Confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:16
Observation
Can you imagine walking up to someone at church this Sunday and telling them how you’ve been looking at porn lately and you really need prayer to be free from lust and perversion? Most Christians could never imagine such a scenario and yet that is exactly why most Christians are walking around as wounded warriors never finding the freedom Christ provided. James makes it very clear in this passage that the path to healing is in the context of Christian community and in a culture of confession. The verses before this paint a picture of complete transparency with the people of God. Are you suffering hardships? Don’t keep it to yourself. Let’s pray through this together. Have you experienced a major breakthrough or blessing? Don’t keep it to yourself. Let’s celebrate God’s goodness together. A culture of confession is fertile soil for the miracles we read about, but rarely see. Why? It takes a long time. We don’t trust easily. James uses the example of a patient farmer in this chapter. “Such a prayer offered in faith will heal the sick, and the Lord will make you well. And if you have committed any sins, you will be forgiven.” (James 5:15)
Application
Dietrich Bonhoeffer saw the dangers of isolationism as the Christian church in Germany grew silent in the face of the rise of the Nazi regime. He was one of the few Christian voices who stood against it and as a result was imprisoned and eventually killed for his public confession that everything Hitler stood before contradicted the teachings of Scripture. Where was the Church? Silent in the face of evil. How is this possible. When we are silent with each other you can bet we will be silent with the world. In his book “Life Together”, Bonhoeffer penned these powerful words, “Sin demands to have a man by himself. It withdraws him from the community. The more isolated a person is, the more destructive will be the power over him… Sin wants to remain unknown. It shuns the light. In the darkness often unexpressed it poisons the whole being of a person.” The Catholic Church soured many Christians on the culture of confession, but I propose that in these last days we must redeem this spiritual discipline. We must cultivate trusted relationships like the ones in this Life Group that allow for a shared life. Sharing the good and bad happy and sad victorious and treacherous with each other so that we see healing and freedom. God has designed it so that we simply need each other. In a day and age where 50% of Christians have completely disengaged with their local church at any level it seems like a spiritual set up for a great falling away. Let’s go against this flow. Instead of pretending, let’s choose transparency. Instead of pride, let’s choose humility.
Prayer
My Mom experienced a miracle healing, I have experienced healing, many around me have as well. None of which would have happened if we would have kept it to ourselves. Lord, I look around this table and I’m so grateful for these guys that meet here every Thursday to dig into Your Word and get real with each other. The longer I’m alive the more I realize how rare this and how this really isn’t optional for my spiritual growth. I can’t grow in You alone. I have blind spots that these guys will see. Instead of exposing me or judging me they will seek to see me healed and free. What a beautiful way to live! “People who conceal their sins will not prosper, but if they confess and turn from them, they will receive mercy.” (Ps. 28:13)
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