“Brethren, if anyone among you wanders from the truth, and someone turns him back, let him know that he who turns a sinner from the error of his way will save a soul from death and cover a multitude of sins.”
James 5:19-20 NKJV
One of my favorite types of movies is the buddy cop genre. I love how two people, often from different backgrounds, can lay aside differences and work together to achieve a common goal. A great example is the Chris Tucker (Detective Carter) and Jackie Chan (Inspector Lee) duo in the Rush Hour series. While they’re from two different worlds, Carter and Lee make a formidable duo. There’s often conflict between them, but there’s also a strong bond. They quite literally fight back to back, each one protecting the other.
This is an excellent model for an important aspect of Christianity. God designed our faith to be relational. Countless times we are commanded to be there for one another for encouragement, support, and even correction. Hebrews tells us to not forsake the assembling of ourselves together so that we can exhort one another (10:24-25). Ephesians tells us that God gave us certain gifts for edification of the entire body (4:11-16). And in the above passage from James, we’re told to turn one another back if we wander from the truth.
So be encouraged my brother and my sister. And take a lesson from Lee and Carter. Be there for one another – encouraging, supporting, correcting, fighting back to back, holding each other up until that glorious Day comes.