Let’s pretend you wake up one spring morning, feeling a slight itch on your right forearm. Looking down you see a small spot and think that while working in the garden the day before, you got poked by a raspberry or rose bush, or maybe it is a bug bite. Six months later the spot and itch are still there, and each is just a little more pronounced. Your spouse says that you should show it to the doctor, but of course, that takes another three months. Finally, the during the winter after its first appearance, you learn that you have a Basel Cell Carcinoma. You have a skin cancer which needs to be excised before it spreads any farther. It is potentially fatal. In other words, that little, insignificant spot on your arm, if left untreated, could lead to the death of your entire body.
Now, let’s remember that a church is like a body. That is not my opinion. That is what the Bible says. The church has its arms, toes, eyes and ears, and of course a head, which is the Lord Jesus Christ. Eph. 1:22-23 – God the Father “hath put all thing under (Christ’s) feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, which is his body…” Within a church body, the arm is tied to, and related to, the knee, and the eye assists the ear in assessing the world in which it lives, etc., etc. I Cor. 12:21 – “And the eye cannot say unto the hand, I have no need of thee: nor again the head to the feet, I have no need of you. Nay, much more those members of the body, which seem to be more feeble, are necessary: And those members of the body, which we think to be less honourable, upon these we bestow more abundant honour; and our uncomely parts have more abundant comeliness. For our comely parts have no need: but God hath tempered the body together, having given more abundant honour to that part which lacked: That there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another. And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. Now ye are the body of Christ, and members in particular.”
In that light, let us return to the words of James. He says, among us there may be both afflicted members, and rejoicing members. Not only do THEY need to pray and praise God, but the rest of the body should join them. When one body part suffers, the rest of the body should come together to pray and support him, because remember, as one member suffers so do all the members – whether or not they realize it. When the thyroid, or the pancreas, aren’t working well, the head may know it, but the knee may not. And the head may permit the entire body to grow weaker and weaker because of that hidden thyroid problem.
“Confess your faults one to another, and pray one for another, that ye may be healed. I’d like to take two or perhaps three messages to deal with the first half of verse 16. I am not sure why the Lord has laid this on my heart, but, of course, He has His reasons. And to be honest I just about tossed it aside, because I don’t particularly relish the theme. But I believe the Lord is in this lesson. And once again, I am not teaching this subject because I am aware of some problem. But the body may have a small carcinoma on its right forearm, but this tongue may not know it. Despite my ignorance, I assure you that if there is cancer in the body, the Head knows all about it. And for the sake of the body, the Head tells the arm, “confess your faults one to another.”
Confess your faults. Let’s begin with the word “FAULTS.”
As you can see, the translators of our Authorized Bible didn’t say: “confess your SINS.” They said “faults,” because this is not the usual New Testament word for “sin.” It is not “hamartia” which 99% of the time – nearly 200 times – is translated “sin” or “sinful.” This is a much less common Greek word which is translated “trespass,” “offence” ”fault,” and even “to fall.” I will not tell you that it doesn’t refer to sin, because it does. The word is translated “sin” twice. And certainly it is a sin to trespass the law of God and to offend the Lord. “Fault” still refers to sin. But the way in which our Bible expresses it, this is not one of those in-your-face, rebellious, capital crimes. It is still spiritually disastrous; it can still kill the body; but it is not like the sins of murder or kidnaping.
I could illustrate this fault in many ways. As I say, it is not something openly disgusting like public drunkenness, but it might be hidden and disgusting. It could be on-line gambling or pornography. It could be an addiction to alcohol, tobacco or drugs. It could be a love for glamor magazines, or an enthrallment with some pop singer or Hollywood actor. It could be an addiction to social media. It could be an ever-present fear, or perhaps anger. And it might be that not any other member of the body is aware of it. It is just a little itch on the arm; a little red spot that you keep covered up with long sleeves. Your liver doesn’t know about it; and your ear hasn’t heard about it. But they will eventually if left untreated. And although your eye has seen it, it doesn’t understand how dangerous it might be.
“CONFESS your faults one to another.”
Whose job is it to expose this spot of skin cancer? Don’t leave it to your finger nail. All your nail will do is scratch the surface and perhaps give it an infection. Your heart and lungs are far too busy in the ministry of the body to consider your itchy arm. And as I have said, your eye has seen it, but didn’t recognize it to be dangerous.
Whose job is it to bring this fault before the body? It is the responsibility of the arm which has the problem. Don’t think that just because the pastor hasn’t seen your fault then it isn’t harmful to the church. Don’t fool yourself into thinking that since not even your right elbow knows about it, it is not important. The fact is, a basal cell skin cancer is a danger to your heart, your toe and your brain. Your sin, whatever it is, no matter how large or small, is a poison to the entire body. Our spiritual Head knows about it, but for the time being He is leaving the problem to you to correct.
“Confess your faults one to another.” Several months ago I spent a few minutes comparing the words “confess” and “profess.” If you don’t remember that message, don’t feel bad, I can barely remember it myself. I said at the time that “confess” and “profess” appear to be opposites – one is “pro” and the other “con.” To “profess” is to grasp and hang on to something, while to “confess” is an expression of guilt and should be a part of getting rid of whatever it is. The word James uses begins with the prefix “ex;” it is “exomologeo.” Even though it can be used in positive way, it refers to verbally exposing something – exposing faults.
James is telling the forearm of this body, to lay open its problem – to admit to the fact it has a carcinoma. We need to make this confession to the appropriate person – I will come back to this in a moment … We need to go to the skin doctor – the dermatologist – and say, “Please look at this. I have a problem.” Maybe your experience is different, but during my lifetime, I have never had a doctor come to my house and tell me to roll up my sleeves, saying, “I want to check your arm for cancer.” I’ve never had dentist come into my kitchen, telling me to sit at table and open wide while he looks for cavities. I have always had to go to him; sometimes with problems and sometime without problems. Whose responsibility is it to confess our faults? It is the responsibility of the faulty person.
I thought about giving this message the title “accountability,” taking my thoughts it in a slightly different way. One of the blessings of church membership – even though some might look at it as a curse … One of the blessings of being a member of the body is that we become accountable to, and for, one another. We are to pray for one another; we are to grieve and rejoice with each other; and we are to confess our faults. The church will be spiritual only to the degree that the individual members are spiritual. The church will be powerful and useful to God only as we all, as members of the body, are what we God means for us to be. And if one member is suffering spiritually, the whole body will quickly be suffering as well, even though it may not understand the cause.
Whose responsibility is it to confess our faults? It is the responsibility of the one who is falling and faulting. If you have a anger problem, tell someone before the rest of body sees the bruises on your spouse or kids. If you have pornography problem, confess your fault to someone, before it destroys your marriage, or leads you into actual fornication, adultery or homosexuality. If you are addicted to gambling, seek the prayers of a godly friend, before you ruin your family’s finances.
“Confess your faults ONE to ANOTHER.”
To whom are we to confess our faults? In some ways this is the difficult part of the exhortation. But it is easy to see this has nothing to do with Roman Catholic auricular confession – confession to priest.
To whom should we make this confession? Perhaps I am in error, but “to one another” suggests to me something personal rather than public. Yes, there are open and blatant sins which need to be confessed openly to the entire church. But this is talking about “faults” rather than capital crimes; yes, they are sins without a doubt, but sins which at this point are hurting only the arm in which they are found. They need to be excised and treated, because they will certainly grow and spread. They need to be confessed and treated by someone who loves and cares for the injured member.
To whom should we make this confession? As I just said, to someone whom we know truly loves us. To someone who cares about us. Not only should we consider confessing to people who love us, but to those whom we trust. If that fellow-church-member has a history of gossip, perhaps she’s not the best person to approach. If that brother has had a grudge against you, or there are other unresolved problems, go to someone else. Children, even teenagers, should be able to confess their faults to their mothers, if they are godly women. And of course, most of the time, our spouse should be the very first person to whom we turn.
But in my estimation, the verse seems to point to confessions within the body. And again, as I say, this can be difficult, because most of us are not the best kind of body members. We know each other but perhaps only as the people sitting in front of us during the church services. We know everyone’s name, and their favorite hobbies and sports, but very often little more than that. Do we really know how they feel, what they think, and how close they are to the Lord? Do we really know? I think that a part of being a good church member in a good church is the creation and maintenance of good, solid Christian friendships – filled with mutual love and respect. And that means really getting to know each other. It should be only to a good – and trusted – friend and church member that we make our confessions.
And then there is the pastor. I hope you know that what you might say to me in confidence I will not share with anyone, not even to Judy. I say it not to boast, but some have told me things twenty years ago, which will eventually die with me alone. And there have been members with addictions who chose to make me their accountability partner. In some cases no one else has been informed about that relationship. I can’t say that accountability is a job I relish, but at the same time, I consider it a privilege which I take very seriously. If you have a sin problem, make and appointment with me, and tell me about it. Let me pray with you. Let me pray for you.
But again, I stress that James didn’t refer to elders or bishops here. “Confess your faults one to another.” We all need to be better friends – the very best possible brothers and better sisters to one another. And that means nurturing and maintaining that special relationship at all times. We need to learn to control our tongues and our hearts even when we are enjoying one another, so that when the need arises our friend may have confidence that we handle whatever is confessed in private.
In many situations, the only other person who needs to know about that confessed fault is the Lord. “Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that ye may be healed.” Remember, that sin always hinders worship, the power of the Holy Spirit, revival and even evangelism.
“Confess your faults one to another, and pray for one another, that YE may be healed.” Do you remember that lesson we had on “thee,” “thou” and “ye?” “Thee” and “thou” are singular pronouns, but “ye” is plural. We are a body of Christ – the body of Christ on the corner of 12th and Spokane. Our body is not large, but it still has hands, feet, eyes and ears, fingers and toes. When there is a skin cancer on the arm of the body, the whole body is in danger – all of us. “Confess your private faults one to another, and pray for one another, that you ALL, as a body, may be healed.”
This is an exhortation which we need to take seriously. We need to be good at both confessing our faults and at wisely handling the confessed of faults of our brethren. And remember, today it my be that brother’s fault under consideration, but tomorrow it may be your turn to confess to him. And, again, why must we make these confessions? For the health of the body of Christ.