Gloria writes in to ask this, Pastor John, James 516 confuses me.

It says, Confess your sins to one another.

Is it saying that we have to confess our sins like Catholics do to a priest?

Can you please explain what this means?

Right.

I know I don't think the tradition of the Roman Catholic Church to number one, elevate

a priest to the position of a uniquely suitable confessor has any roots in this text.

I don't think this text is a place you go to get that.

In fact, I don't think there is a place in the New Testament where you can go to get that.

So what this text does is to call us to something far more reciprocal than that, even when

the elders are involved.

It might be helpful just to read it, just so people have the context.

Yes, anyone among you sick, this James 514, let him call for the elders of the church, let

them pray over him and know him with oil and the name of the Lord and the prayer faith

will save the one who is sick and the Lord will raise him up.

And if he's committed sins, he'll be forgiven.

Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another that you may be healed.

And the prayer of a righteous person has great power in it's working.

So the first thing we see there is a plurality of elders, not a priest, call for the elders.

If you think it's time to have the leaders of the church involved, the New Testament always

thinks in terms of a plurality of elders.

There isn't any church in the New Testament we know of that only had one, and they never

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