Midweek Bible Study Notes - Session 10 - Do I Really Need Other Christians? Why?
BIBLE STUDY
Wisdom from James
This Bible study is based on the Letter of James and is intended for group discussion after an initial talk by the minister. The questions set out in each session of the study are intended to stimulate discussion and need not be kept to rigidly but all the questions arise from what is written in this Letter.
Session 10
“Do I really need other Christians? Why?”
Chapter 5 verses 13-15.
Passage for Study:
James 5 verses 13-18
Outline of Talk:
* “I don’t really need the Church. I am a Christian but being a member of a Church is complicated, and all the congregations I could go to have things I don’t agree with. So I am better off on my own, and I just worship God at home, or when I go for a walk.”
This is not such an unusual statement today, especially with such ready access to sermons and other material on the internet. But James is quite clear in this passage that Christians are made for being together. We need one another. Being an active participant in a congregation’s life is a vital part of Christian progress. James deals with this by giving a particular emphasis to prayer in verses 13-18. We can divide this into four parts for convenience, as follows:
(a) the praying individual – verse 13
(b) the praying elders – verses 14-15
(c) the praying friends – verse 16a
(d) the praying prophet – verses 16b-18
* The praying individual. This is effectively setting out the principle for us. The two words “suffering” and “cheerful” encompass the complete range of human circumstances, experiences and emotions.
* The praying elders. Note the following:
> it is the sick man who calls for the elders, so that they carry out this ministry of prayer and anointing. This is in contrast to “healing services” announced well in advance and inviting the sick to attend.
> all the elders are to do is “pray over him” and “anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord.” There is no laying on of hands or other “extra”.
> there is no reference to “consecrated” oil as is required in the “last rites” administered by a priest. While Jesus does not command an anointing with oil, this is mentioned in Mark 6:13, and in Luke 10:34. The use of oil was medicinal in the latter case and spiritual in the former. But there is no inherent healing property in the oil, nor is its use superstitious. It is merely symbolic.
* In verse 15 James sets out promises in relation to the prayer and anointing mentioned in verse 14. Discuss each of the following conclusions which might arise from what James states:
> prayer will always result in what we pray for;
> not receiving what we pray for has been due to a lack of faith on our part;
> “the prayer of faith” refers to all instances of believing prayer;
> serious illness (or any illness) is a direct consequence of some unconfessed sin in the life of the sick person;
> when someone is seriously ill the matter of sin(s) should never be mentioned.
Questions for Discussion Session:
1. Verse 13.
(a) First of all, what kinds of wrong attitudes and responses might we have to “suffering” and “cheerfulness”?
(b) After you have listed a few of these, discuss why “let him pray” is appropriate to “suffering” and likewise “let him sing praise” is appropriate to being “cheerful”.
2. Verse 14. How does what James says here contrast with:
(a) a one-man healing “ministry” set up and carried out by a charismatic individual?
(b) the Roman Catholic practice of “extreme unction” (the “last rites”)
(c) the view that none of what James says is appropriate nowadays when we have such advanced forms of medical treatment.
3. We seldom, if ever, use oil in the way specified in verse 14.
(a) Should we?
(b) If we should, what reasons can there be for this omission?
(c) Can you think of any dangers associated with this anointing?
(d) A TV channel shows Peter Popoff, a charismatic leader, carrying out what are claimed to be “miraculous” healings. The programme ends with him offering to send anyone who is ill a packet of “miracle manna” for a small donation! Discuss!
4. Discuss as many of the following statements as you have time for:
(a) I have been praying for my neighbour’s conversion for years now, but there has been no change, so I must conclude that this is because I don’t have “the prayer of faith”;
(b) only the elders of the Church can pray “the prayer of faith”;
(c) we should only rarely expect the recovery of those who are seriously ill when we pray for them;
(d) “Prayer is a commitment to the will of God, and all true prayer exercises its truest faith in patiently waiting to see what he has determined to do.”
(e) If God has “foreordained whatsoever comes to pass” how is prayer going to change anything?
5. In what ways should we see illnesses and sin(s) related?
