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Norman Rockwell may have painted his “The Gossips” for revenge on a woman who spread an ugly rumor about him. It all began with the neighborhood gossip at the top, sped through the community lickety-split until it finally came back to Mr. Rockwell and the original gossiper, bottom right.
James 4:11-12, Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?
James once again pulls no punches as he condemns the sin of the tongue and heart called evil speaking or slandering. One commentator wrote, and I think he was spot on, “There are few activities in which the average person finds more delight than this: to tell and listen to the slanderous story” (William Barclay).
MAKING RIGHTEOUS JUDGMENTS
Before opening these verses in James on slandering and judging others, we need to understand the importance of discernment and making righteous judgments. There are wolves in sheep’s clothing. Jesus warned about false prophets over and over. Paul exposed false and dangerous teachers, and often by name! Paul says in 2 Timothy 4:14-15, “Beware of Alexander the coppersmith.” This was not slander; Paul’s motive was pure. Alexander was a dangerous man to God’s people. Paul warned Timothy about Hymenaeus and Philemon in 2 Timothy 2:17-18. Their false teaching that the resurrection had already taken place was spreading like gangrene and upsetting the faith of some. This warning is not slander, but righteous judgment.
Discernment is needed greatly today. We must make doctrinal judgments. There are many false teachers and false philosophies. There are many wolves in sheep’s’ clothing who deny the gospel or pervert the Scriptures in order to defend as right and good what God clearly says is sinful and wicked. If the soup has poison in it, we need to know. In today’s culture, agreeing with God in calling certain behavior sinful makes you a hater. But really, the hate is on the other side which affirms sin. Love lets people know when there is poison in the soup. That’s called discernment and righteous judgment.
WHEN JUDGMENT BECOMES SLANDER
But our tongues can easily slip over from righteous judgment into slandering and judging others, even our brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s a sin that has constantly plagued God’s people. Fault-finding, criticizing, gossiping didn’t just start with Twitter. There have always been fault-finders and talebearers among God’s people.
Leviticus 19:16, You shall not go about as a slanderer (KJV “talebearer) among your people, and you are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the LORD.
Proverbs 18:8, The words of a whisperer are like dainty morsels, And they go down into the innermost parts of the body.
Dainty morsels! Rather than putting gossip filters on our ears and slander bridles on our tongues, we lean in and suck up the latest tasty bad news about someone else. We swallow it with relish as we would our favorite dessert. I loved my mom’s tapioca pudding topped with sliced sugared strawberries and clumps of creamy vanilla ice cream! Delicious! I ate every morsel and craved for more like the gossiper, “What else did he say?”
JAMES MAJORS ON THE TONGUE
James goes after our tongues in every chapter. He knows the mouth speaks out of what fills the heart. With just a few well-targeted words you can implode someone’s reputation and sully someone’s character in minutes, even seconds. In chapter one James told us to be quick to hear, slow to speak. God says an unbridled tongue and godliness don’t mix. Chapter two says we are to love our neighbor as ourselves, and that includes what we say. Chapter three describes the tongue as a fire, a world of evil that is fueled from hell itself! Those quarrels and fights in James 4:1-3 are mainly the work of self-serving tongues. James 4:11-12 puts it plainly: quit slandering and judging your brothers and sisters in Christ! James asks, “Who made you the judge?” James 5:9 says, “Don’t grumble against one another so you won’t be judged.” And then on a positive note James 5:13-16 says, “Use your tongue to praise God and pray for one another.” James knows the power of the tongue. Be careful.
THE DESTRUCTIVE POWER OF A CRITICAL, FAULT-FINDING SPIRIT
There are many examples of slandering in the Old Testament. Here are just a few. In Numbers 12, Aaron and Miriam spoke against Moses for marrying a Cushite woman. Then in jealousy they challenged his leadership, “Has the Lord not spoken through us as well?” And the Lord heard it and called the three of them to a personal meeting at the tabernacle. “The Lord came down in a cloud, He firmly rebuked Aaron and Miriam, and when the cloud lifted, Miriam was leprous, as white as snow.” She remained leprous for seven days.
Numbers 16 tells about the sons of Korah rising up and speaking against Moses and his leadership. That’s when God opened the earth and it swallowed Korah and his family and fire went out and burned 250 other rebels.
David would not tolerate a slanderer.
Psalms 101:5, Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure.
Proverbs has many warnings about slander; it’s not a trivial sin.
Proverbs 10:18, He who conceals hatred has lying lips, And he who spreads slander is a fool.
Proverbs 11:9, With his mouth the godless man destroys his neighbor, But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.
Proverbs 16:28, A perverse man spreads strife, And a slanderer separates intimate friends.
Even Jeremiah called out the slanderers in his day.
Jeremiah 9:4, Let everyone be on guard against his neighbor, And do not trust any brother; Because every brother deals craftily, And every neighbor goes about as a slanderer.
Christ tells us exactly where slander comes from.
Matthew 15:19, For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, slanders.
Paul counsels us to put off slander and replace it with kindness and forgiveness.
Ephesians 4:31-32, Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. 32 Be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.
And James commands us.
James 4:11a, Do not speak against one another, brethren…
“Stop slandering one another, brethren.” The verb “speak against” is katalaleo. A grammarian says the essence of the evil in this command is in the prefix kata. When you speak against or slander someone, you are speaking out of hatred with the goal to erode the reputation or character of the one spoken against. It’s the work of the devil, who is the greatest slanderer of God and God’s people. He loves to stir up slander. You’re doing the devil’s work when you slander another believer. The world loves to hear and tell slanderous reports about believers and especially well-known leaders. John MacArthur has endured his share of slander from all sides. One religious journalist, Julie Roys, seems to have made it her life’s calling to slander John every chance she gets. Paul had enemies who slandered him, “His personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible” (2 Cor. 10:10). That thorn in his flesh may well have been one of his slanderers. Charles Spurgeon’s preaching was slandered as blasphemous, profane, and diabolical!
Lincoln endured his share of slander all the way to the presidency. From an Atlantic Journal article in 2010:
George Templeton Strong, a prominent New York lawyer and diarist, wrote that Lincoln was “a barbarian, Scythian, yahoo, or gorilla.” He was called a coward, “an idiot,” and “the original gorilla” by none other than the commanding general of his armies, George McClellan.
YOU’RE NOT THE LAW
James 4:11b, He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against
the law and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.
James goes on to condemn this judgmental attitude as assuming an authority God never gave us. We aren’t the law; we’re to obey the law. And here James is probably thinking of the royal law of loving your neighbor. Our business isn’t to find fault with others, but to obey the law yourself.
Paul talked about the same sin of fault-finding in Romans 14 where believers were criticizing other believers over non-biblical issues like days and food and drink. The judgmental attitude is a condemning, nit-picking, holier-than-thou, fault-finding, slandering of others. “I can’t believe Joe is still shopping at Buster’s Food Mart. You’d think he knew how pagan the owners are!” “I heard that elder Robert only reads one chapter a day in his Bible. You’d think he’d read at least three! Is he even qualified to be an elder?” “Did you hear what their kids did this past weekend?” “Do you know how much she paid for those shoes?” “Did you know our pastor… (fill in the blank). You can count on it, slandering or fault-finding is not a spiritual gift.
WHAT HEART ISSUES DRIVE A CRITICAL, JUDGMENTAL MOUTH?
Jesus said we speak out of what fills our hearts. So what’s behind this judgmental spirit? Here are five possibilities, although there are many more.
A proud, self-righteous heart says, “I’m better than others because of my righteousness.” Paul said the Galatians were biting and devouring one another in their legalistic self-righteousness. This heart needs a good dose of grace, faith, love, and serving one another in love.
A disgruntled, back-slidden heart loves to hear and tell negative things about others in the church. Sometimes people come into a church and it’s like a honeymoon, all is wonderful and we’re so happy. Then they discover that all the people are flawed sinners and they get disappointed and disgruntled.
An ignorant but zealous heart is ready to call fire down from heaven on others who don’t do what we do. Many years ago we had a couple who got zealous for Christ and wanted to serve and grow and be totally involved in the church. They went away to Bible college and the sad thing was that when they came back, their church didn’t seem to do anything right. Spiritually they lost their love for the church and zeal for the Lord and eventually quit church altogether.
A selfish, critical, demanding heart, sometimes in marriage and family. “You’re just like your mother.” Sometimes blaming, faultfinding words come from a parent whose children just can’t do anything well enough to please them. That’s a sad situation. Jerry Bridges in his book Respectable Sins talks in a chapter titled “Judgmentalism” about a father who was constantly criticizing and berating his daughter to the point that he drove her away. He realized how wrong he was on his death bed and repented, but damage had been done. Parents, be careful not to exasperate your children.
An arrogant, proud spirit is critical of others in order to look better or appear to know more than others. They believe putting others down will make themselves look better in the eyes of others. Ask yourself, “Why am I sharing this? Do I really need to say this?”
Now in verse 12, James challenges the slanderer.
WHO MADE YOU THE JUDGE?
James 4:12, There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?
“You” is emphatic in that last statement. “YOU, who are you…?” James gives us three reasons why we are totally out of bounds by going around looking for faults in others, slandering, judging, and criticizing others.
You defy God’s royal law of loving your neighbor as yourself. You make what you think is right the law instead of submitting to God’s law.
You defy God’s authority to judge others. There’s only one God, and you aren’t He! You don’t sit on the judgment seat, you don’t have the power to judge, and you don’t have divine knowledge to judge. You are far from perfect.
You defy the sovereignty of God in the gospel. He is the One who saves and destroys. Christ came into the world to save sinners, not to condemn them. Your calling is not to condemn, but to love and build up others in the truth.
God hasn’t given you the gift of criticism or fault-finding. But God has called you to encourage and help one another grow. Galatians 6:1 says if you see a brother caught in a trespass, you who are spiritual restore him in a spirit of gentleness, looking to yourself, lest you too be tempted. You need some help from Log Man.
LOG MAN AND THE SPECK
There are times when God calls you to help a brother or sister dealing with a problem. Instead of slandering him to others, you need to go to that person. How do you do that? Let’s turn to Matthew 7:1-5.
Matthew 7:1-5, “Do not judge so that you will not be judged. 2 “For in the way you judge, you will be judged; and by your standard of measure, it will be measured to you. 3 “Why do you look at the speck that is in your brother’s eye, but do not notice the log that is in your own eye? 4 “Or how can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ and behold, the log is in your own eye? 5 “You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.
Everyone seems to know verse 1, “Judge not!” But it is usually ripped out of context. It doesn’t mean we don’t make judgments. In verse 6 Jesus tells us not to give what is holy to dogs or cast our pearls before swine. That requires righteous judgment. But the more we criticize and judge people sinfully, slandering them, judging their motives, the more severely Christ will deal with us. Christ tells us how to help others.
First, be sure to deal with your own sins before you can go trying to help another person with a sin problem. If you go in pride or self-righteously, your sin will look like a log to the person you’re trying to help. The problem is we often aren’t aware of the logs sticking out of our own eyes. We’ve got to be honest about our own motives and attitude. Are you filled with the Spirit? Are you coming with a gentle loving heart? Are you speaking with grace, seasoned with salt, the truth? Does this person know you really care or do they perceive you as a know it all or fault-finder?
Then, humbled because of your own struggles and having dealt with your own sin, you come with that gentleness, full of compassion, and really wanting to help the other person honor God.
BECOME AN ENCOURAGER RATHER THAN A CRITIC
Let’s take James’ words to heart. As strongly as we stand for God’s truth, we must always speak the truth in love. Ephesians 4:29 says, “Let no unwholesome word come out of your mouth but only such a word that is good for building up, to minister grace for the need of the moment.” Grace means words driven by Christ-like love, kindness, forgiveness, and humility.
Jesus Christ came into this world to save sinners. Never forget you are a sinner in need of God saving you. You’ve been saved by grace alone, and you need God to fill your heart with His grace. Let that grace come from your heart through your mouth in expressions of thanks, appreciation, praise, blessing, and encouragement to others. Then when needed, in a humble, loving, compassionate way, reprove and restore that brother or sister God has brought into in your life.