APRIL 11, 2005

GO WITH THE FLOW
by Pastor George Van Alstine

The New Testament writer James ends his brief book in a strange and abrupt way. Here is the final paragraph:
“My brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and is brought back by another, you should know that whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins.” (James 5:19-20)

There are several intriguing questions raised by this passage of Scripture, but I would like to focus on the use of the word “wander” in reference to sin. It occurs twice in these verses. The King James Version translates it with the word “err.” Both “err” and “wander” seem to imply an unintentional slipping into sin, rather than open rebellion against God.

(By the way, this Greek verb planao is the root of the word planetes, planets. Ancient astronomers could map and predict most of the visible stars. But a certain few “stars” acted strangely and didn’t seem to follow a star-like pattern, so they named them planets, or “wanderers.”)

There are people who sin brazenly, seeming to shake their fist at God and his law. But most people aren’t that aware of their rebellion against God. They’re just wandering through life, and sin is in the path of their wandering. Morally, they’re drifting, and they drift into a lot of floating moral debris.

“Just go with the flow” is advice commonly given today. But unfortunately, the flow is in the wrong direction, toward death, destruction and judgment. This world’s currents are away from God, not toward him. So a person who is passive and just lets the current take him will be moved steadily into more and more polluted waters. He would have to swim actively upstream to make any progress against sin.

This picture of sin as wandering, rather than conscious rebellion, is amplified by the description of the wanderer’s state as “lost.” The description of a sinner as being lost was introduced by Jesus himself, who used the image often. This is very clear in his three parables in Luke 15, The Lost Sheep, The Lost Coin and The Lost Son. Lostness does not necessarily result from willfully rebelling against God. It can simply be a matter of making a series of careless wrong turns, like dumb sheep.

This picture of sin as wandering and the sinner’s condition as lostness is very helpful to keep in mind when we’re trying to share the gospel with people. We can say, “You’re a wicked sinner, and you’ll be punished with hell fire,” or we can say, “You’re wandering, and you’ve lost your way.” Our friends may not feel particularly wicked or deserving of hell, but they sure identify with wandering and lostness.

James wrote about how wonderful it is to bring a wanderer back, but he doesn’t tell us how to go about doing that. Or does he? Notice that our passage is a continuation of a strong exhortation to intercessory prayer, which begins in verse 13. James talks about the power of prayer in healing the sick and in assuring those who confess sins of God’s forgiveness (verses 15 and 16). He brings up the example of Elijah, whose prayer for rain affected the weather in a whole region (verses 17-18). And then comes our passage, about bringing back a lost wanderer. Clearly, he is telling us that we do this best through prayer!

Intercessory prayer for a wandering sinner is more powerful than we can imagine. We feel helpless; we may say, “There’s nothing I can do but pray,” as if this is a little thing. Actually, it’s the biggest thing we can do. By praying fervently and consistently for the wanderer, we set up a counter-current around the person, drawing them back to God. Ironically, with the help of our prayers, they may begin to “go with the flow” away from sin and toward salvation.