At the top of a slippery slope?

James 5:13-20

         I have to ask, is this the top of the slippery slope?  On two counts I wonder what the original text said in both word and intent. 

         Let me digress. When I announced to the world that I was gay, I soon received a message from a fellow Deacon. I had travelled with this man, he was a good man although perhaps a bit too attached to rules and rubrics. In his secular life he was a police negotiator and somewhat astute in the ways of the mind. He wrote to 'confess' that he too wanted to leave his wife and forsake his ministry and just go off somewhere. My answer was probably shocking to him. Acknowledging his dilemma, I assured him our situations were quite different. I suggested he pray more fervently but most of all I suggested he find a good therapist. Therapists, whom I suggested were another tool God has given to us, would help him find out what his issues really were. I likened it to a trainer at the gym. They guide you and focus on getting you stronger with this exercise or that but in the end you do all the lifting, all the work. A therapist is quite similar. It is not a sign of weakness to go to a therapist but a sign you want to get stronger, to solve your problems. The therapist may prod you, ask questions, ask how you feel, but it is in the honesty of your responses and saying it aloud, that's what does the hard work. I don't think he liked my suggestions. I never heard from him again. Actually, I think he was trying some fake scenario to set himself up as someone who could help me and bring me back to the fold. Silly man. Intentions were good, but silly man.  I bring this up because in this passage you may be lead to believer that prayer will answer any question or illness. Prayer alone will save the sick. We all have heard of religious zealots of one variety or another who refuse to have their child treated because they want to pray the child back to health. It is not unlike the charlatans that feel you can 'pray away the gay'. God gives us many avenues to be helped, prayer is not the only one. I have seen the presence of God in therapists, in the hands of skilled surgeons and in countless other professionals. A fireman rescuing a person from a burning building are the hands of God in action. I certainly wouldn't kneel down and pray a fire doesn't make it to my door or my floor and forsake a fireman's help..

           There is another disturbing statement in this passage as well, whoever brings back a sinner from wandering will save the sinner’s soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins. This sounds like the basis of buying indulgences. Is this the top of the slippery slope we fell down before Luther nailed his theses to the door? If I bring a sinner back to the church, can I then go and commit some other sin having built up 'credits'? Even worse, would we be tempted to make more and more judgements about what constitutes a sin so we can bring the 'sinner' back to the fold? Again, getting credit to commit some other sin or sins? This really does sound like a slippery slope.

        In the end here, I feel I have not offered any suggestions , cures or deep thoughts about what this means. I've written more about my own concerns, wonders and doubts about the veracity of the sentences in this passage. Perhaps one of you will come to my aid with some scholarly words.  I do know, that faith alone and love are all we need. Almost everything else is really fluff and questions that can lead us away from God. Keep loving while we read and go to therapy.

Are any among you suffering? They should pray. Are any cheerful? They should sing songs of praise. Are any among you sick? They should call for the elders of the church and have them pray over them, anointing them with oil in the name of the Lord. The prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise them up; and anyone who has committed sins will be forgiven. Therefore confess your sins to one another, and pray for one another, so that you may be healed. The prayer of the righteous is powerful and effective. Elijah was a human being like us, and he prayed fervently that it might not rain, and for three years and six months it did not rain on the earth. Then he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain and the earth yielded its harvest.

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.