Confess your trespasses to one another…
James 5:16a
A biblical church is a church whose members regularly confess to one another. If we ask, “What specifically do they confess to one another?” the answer is the first part of verse 16— “Confess your trespasses to one another”—or, as most modern translations read, “Confess your sins to one another.”
A biblical church is a congregation whose members regularly go to one another and say something like, “Brother (or sister), I really need to apologize for what I said to you the other day. It was wrong, and I was wrong to say it. I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?”
Or, “My sister in Christ, the other day I ignored you when you needed me, and it was wrong, and I was wrong to do it. I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?”
Or, “Brother, I have harbored some bitterness against you for something I have failed to talk to you about, and, rather than talk to you about it, I’m afraid I have talked to others about it. It was wrong, and I was wrong to do it. I’m sorry. Will you forgive me?”
This behavior is consistent with Jesus’ teaching in the Sermon on the Mount:
If you bring your gift to the altar and there, remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there before the altar, and go your way. First, be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift (Matthew 5:23-24).
The point is: “Don’t attempt to come together for corporate worship when you are harboring ill feelings towards other members of the congregation.”
Now, think about this with me for just a moment. How many churches are there on Sunday whose members gather together for worship while harboring feelings of ill will towards one another? Would not this unbiblical behavior be at least one reason why power is lacking? On what basis could we ever expect God to honor a church whose members are not regularly confessing their sins to one another?
“Confess…to one another.” The assumption is that the offense is against another individual. That individual, the one with whom we are at odds, is the one to whom we are to go and confess. “Confess your trespasses to one another,” not to a priest, not to a pastor, not to a group of friends, and not to anonymous followers on social media. We don’t discuss it among co-workers, neighbors, or even our small group or Sunday school class. “Confess your trespasses to one another.”
A similar teaching is found in Matthew’s Gospel, where Jesus provides explicit instruction when you believe someone has sinned against you, offending you in some way. What do you do? Do you talk about it to others or go directly to that person? Jesus is clear: “If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault between you and him alone (Matthew 18:15).”
Indeed, Jesus goes on to say what you are to do if the one who has sinned against you “will not hear” you. If your attempts to reconcile with your brother prove unsuccessful, perhaps because he refuses to talk about it or insists he did no wrong, Jesus says, “If he does not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established (Matthew 18:16).'”
Quoting from Deuteronomy 19:15, Jesus instructs believers to bring with them one or two others to talk with the offender—but not before going privately first! This next step occurs only after prior attempts (perhaps several attempts) to address the person individually have failed.
It is important to remember that the hopeful outcome of these attempts to meet with the one who has sinned against you is to “gain” or “win over” your brother, to be reconciled in a demonstration of beautiful, biblical unity.
In the rare occasion of an offending brother refusing to listen to the additional “two or three witnesses,” even after (we may suppose) several attempts are made, only then is the matter to be brought before the entire congregation (Matthew 18:17). And even at this point, hope remains for reconciliation, that the individual may “hear the church” and the matter be resolved.
If the still rarer occasion occurs where the individual refuses even to “hear the church,” only then is he to be regarded as “a heathen and a tax collector,” which is to say, no longer part of the church body.
Unfortunately, churches err in one of two extremes: either ignoring these corrective measures entirely or, in their zeal to be “a pure church,” jumping hastily to excommunicating members without taking the necessary intermediary steps, failing to extend to others the same loving forbearance our Lord has shown to us.
However, the fact that some have abused these biblical principles is no reason to ignore them. A church becomes powerful when its members regularly confess their trespasses to one another and refuse to allow sinful behavior to go unchecked.
Remember: we should not “air our dirty laundry” before others. At the first sign of conflict, we must go to the individual directly and privately. Additionally, should we ever find ourselves “in the middle” of someone else’s problem with another brother, we must “get out of the middle.” Suppose a person talks to us, sharing disdain for another brother. In that case, we will immediately encourage this individual to follow the biblical teaching, instructing him or her to talk directly to the individual. We help our friend understand how doing so honors the other individual, and we promise our prayers for reconciliation.
Do you know what a firewall is? The first time I learned about a firewall was back in my home church, where a construction crew was adding an addition to the main structure of the church building. I noted that every so many feet, there was a place where a wall protruded higher than the rest of the roof. It looked funny, and I couldn’t understand why the roof was not flat across. I was told the protrusions in the structure were firewalls. If a fire broke out in one of those sections, it was unlikely to pass beyond the wall of the next section. More firewalls meant better protection of the integrity of the structure.
James says, “Confess your trespasses to one another” so that the offense in view is treated before it spreads to others. If you have a problem with another person, go to that person directly and talk about it and deal with it right there so that the problem does not spread beyond, damaging the rest of the church. Work together with your brother or sister so that the two of you become like a firewall, preventing the fire from spreading to others and protecting the integrity of the congregation.
Confessing our trespasses to one another is closely connected to prayer. Healthy confession leads to healthy intercession for one another—but we’ll save that discussion for next time!
**Excerpt from You’re Either Walking The Walk Or Just Running Your Mouth (Preaching Truth: 2020), pages 199-203, available in all formats here.
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