#65 - Bring Them Back | James 5:19-20 | Pray Like It Matters

People rarely walk away from God all at once—they drift slowly. In this episode of The Daily Rebel, we close out James with a powerful challenge from James 5:19–20: don’t just follow Jesus—go after people who are drifting from Him. James warns that truth can become blurred, convictions can soften, and compromise can slowly pull people away from God over time. Most people don’t reject truth loudly; they wander quietly. And the danger is bigger than behavior—it’s eternal. 

This episode calls believers out of passive Christianity and into courageous love that pursues people instead of watching them drift away. We unpack three major truths:

1. Truth gets twisted — Culture constantly redefines truth, normalizes sin, and softens conviction. Drift rarely happens overnight; it happens compromise by compromise. 
2. Love takes action — Real love doesn’t stay silent when someone is wandering. Silence may feel safe, but pursuit is what restores people. Sometimes the most loving thing you can do is step into an uncomfortable conversation. 
3. Souls are saved — Bringing someone back to truth is not just behavior correction—it’s life, death, and eternity. God uses ordinary people to rescue wandering people. 

The gospel is the ultimate picture of pursuit. Jesus didn’t wait for you to come back—He came after you when you were wandering. And now we’re called to do the same for others. So don’t stay passive. Speak up. Step in. Go after people with truth and grace. Because redeemed rebels don’t sit back and watch people drift… they go get them.

Book Derek Griffon to Speak at your next event 

https://www.derekgriffon.com/invite

Transcript

Welcome \\ Daily Rebel Mission

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This podcast is for the ones who know they will rescue, but also know they will resent. Saved by grace, sent to live differently. We're not rebelling against God, we're rebelling against everything that keeps us free. Every day, we don't swing our opinions, we sharpen our lives on the word of God, the sword of the Spirit, guiding us, cutting through lives, and leading us one step at a time. We'll talk faith, identity, purpose, leadership, and what it really looks like to follow Jesus in a distracted world. Welcome to the Daily Rebel. Yo, what's good, Rebels? Here is day five, and y'all listen, this is episode 65, and it is

Final Episode of Our Study of James

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the final day in the last two verses of the book of James. Lord have mercy. What a great journey it's been. And guess what? When we get back on Monday, we're gonna start a new study. And I'm here to tell you, you'll have to wait till Monday to find out. Here we go, James chapter 5, 19 through 20.

Final Text: James 5:19-20

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Um, as we close out the letter that the half-brother of Jesus wrote uh to the 12 tribes dispersed. Here we go. It says, It's my brothers and sisters, and again, we're talking, we've been talking about prayer all week, and it comes down to this big crescendo, this big final verse. If my brothers and sisters, if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let that person know that whoever turns a sinner from the error of his way will save his soul from death and cover a multitude of sins. What a what a final two verses, y'all. So let me ask you this have you ever watched

Watching People Drift

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somebody drift? Not all at once, slowly. They they stop showing up, they stop engaging, they stop caring like they used to, and before you know it, they're gone. We live in a culture of confusion. Like truth is constantly being questioned. Is it even true? Your truth is your truth, my truth is my truth. Conviction is getting softened, standards are getting lowered. What was once considered holy is now being considered bigoted. And people don't just usually reject truth loudly. They

Truth Gets Blurry Over Time

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don't reject it loudly, they just drift from it quietly. Not saying it can't happen overnight or happen loudly, but typically they drift. And the quote in the text says this if anyone wonders from the truth, that means anybody who drifts and strays and moves off course, he's saying this isn't rebellion overnight, it's a drift over time. And where are they drifting from? From the truth, the capital T truth, God's truth. Not opinions, they're not drifting from preferences, they're they're drifting from truth. And when truth gets blurry, people get lost. And someone

What It Means to Wander

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brings him back. That's what the text says. And someone brings him back. That's intentional. This is when restoration happens because someone stepped in and the text says, we'll save his soul from death. This is bigger than behavior. This is eternity, we're talking about. Real faith doesn't

Rescued People Reach People

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just pursue God, it also pursues people. And we have a saying at our church that rescued people, reach people, found people, find people, restored people, go are also a part of that team that goes out and rescues. So let me give y'all three points.

Point 1: Truth Gets Twisted

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Listen, number one is true, truth gets twisted. Truth gets twisted. And the reason is culture blurs it, people drift from it from it. And we're living in a time, again, truth is being redefined, sin is being normalized. It's like Christians don't even sin

Sin Is Being Normalized

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anymore. They just struggle, don't they? Conviction is avoided because you don't want to step on your own or somebody else's toe uh toes. And so when truth gets twisted, people get turned around. No one wakes up far from the Lord. We've been talking, we talked about that a couple weeks ago. They drift there. One compromise, one step, one shift at a time. Let me ask you this: the people in your circle, who do you see drifting? I'm not talking about that random cat that sits on the front row of the church you ain't seen in four months. You're like, where'd Carl go? I'm talking about the people that you know have been devoted. Where are they drifting? So listen, truth can get twisted and people can start drifting. So, number

Point 2: Love Takes Action

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two, if you notice somebody drifting, listen, number two is this love takes action. Silence is not love, pursuit is. So listen, in the text says, and someone brings him back. So you step in, you speak up, you move toward them. You don't ignore the drift, you confront it. Real love doesn't stay quiet, it actually moves towards the person, even when it's uncomfortable, even when it's it risks the relationship, even when it costs you something. Silence,

Why Silence Is Not Love

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you see, it feels safe and it feels like we're peacemaking, but you're just peacekeeping to peacekeeping, and those are not the same things. Peacekeeping is passive, it's silence. It's like, well, they'll come back eventually, but it lives it leaves people stuck. So where have you stayed quiet when you should have stepped in before somebody drifted? Which then leads to number three, is that yeah, truth gets twisted, but when love takes action, number three,

Point 3: Souls Are Saved

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souls are saved. This is life or death. The text says, will save his soul from death. This is not correcting behavior, man, it's fixing habits. This is rescuing

The Eternal Weight of Restoration

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a life, this is redirecting somebody's eternity, bringing someone back is one of the most powerful things you can do as a Christian. And God uses people to reach people. You are God's plan A to this world. You might be the interruption God uses to bring them back. So

What If Their Breakthrough Is On the Other Side Of Your Obedience

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listen, what if their breakthrough is on the other side of your obedience? I asked that uh that question in a sermon recently, in the last year at least. What if their breakthrough is on the other side of your obedience? So listen, again, to recap, when truth gets blurry, people get lost. They start drifting. And you don't ignore the drift, you got to confront it. And silence is not love, you got pursuit is bringing someone back, is one of the most powerful things we can do as Christians. We reach our hands down into hell itself and bring people back out of that furnace. You see,

Gospel Shift: Jesus Came After Us

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Jesus didn't wait for you to come back, He came after you. When you were wondering, he pursued you. Now you do the same. Now, again, I've and I was just coaching somebody on this recently. You go after them, you give them the truth, you eventually see that there's they've continuously chosen a new direction. Amen. Sometimes you do gotta let them go. But at first, don't just let them go. Because you could literally be the change of trajectory in their life. So let me ask you this who's

Who Is Drifting?

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drifting? What truth are they walking away from? What conversation have you been avoiding? Because real faith doesn't stay passive. Listen, it steps in. So listen, those who are listening to this podcast, don't just follow Jesus, bring people back to him. Step in, speak up, go after them. Because we don't just watch people drift redeem rebels, we go get

Go Get Them!

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them. So they can also be rebels that are redeemed by Jesus. So again, to sum up the week, prayer isn't just something you do, it's a way that you live. And even if they turn from you and go the opposite direction, continue to pray perseverantly and intensely and on dependence on the spirit to draw them back. Even if you can't do anything else, you can at least pray for a lost soul. Redeemed Rebels, listen, man, what a study it has been. 65 episodes of the book of James, all ready for you to continue to consume. Share it with people. And this Monday, on episode 66, we're gonna kick off a brand new letter or book or chapter. Again, you'll find out on Monday. And I can't wait to dive into some new content this Monday on the Daily Rebel. Love y'all, and we'll see y'all then. Thank you

Outro

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for listening to today's episode. Before you go, if you want to help other people be equipped to be redeemed rebels, give us a follow and share it around with your friends. We'll see you next time.