In writing to the church in Jerusalem, James in [v. 1-6] of chapter 4 explains why they argued and fought with others so much…he reveals that it comes from the evil desires that are at war within them.
2 You lust and do not have, so you (symbolically) commit murder. You are envious and cannot obtain, so you fight and quarrel.
3 You ask, and do not receive because you ask wrongly so that you may spend it on your own desires.
Evil desires are the result of the selfish desires that cause us to want to always be right or in control…if it’s not done your way you get mad…so we then become easily offended and you feel like you just really have to say something to aggravate the situation even more…so you inject your opinion into the conversation.
Then in [7-11] James explains how to combat this urge by identifying a series of commands that are to be examples of the types of behavior needed to keep us in close fellowship with God.
He gives eleven imperatives…commands that demand immediate obedience if they are to remain in a true fellowship with God. So far we have looked at five.
First imperative 7submit to God
Second imperative to Resist the devil, and he will flee from you
Third imperative 8 Come near to God and He will come near to you.
Fourth imperative 8Cleanse your hands… and purify your hearts.
Fifth imperative 10 Humble your-selves before the Lord.
In verse 11 James says ‘I’m not done’ so he adds another issue that keeps us out of fellowship with God and one another.
Sixth imperative Do not speak against one another (evil is implied)
Another reason why we argue with others…because people are overly critical of others…they feel like they have to correct everything and everyone…they feel it necessary to give you their opinion…If God doesn’t care about your opinion what makes you think someone else does?
Know what’s amazing…only 20% of Americans say the Bible is the literal word of God.
https://news.gallup.com/poll/394262/fewer-bible-literal-word-god.aspx#:~:text=Americans’%20Views%20of%20the%20Bible&text=In%202022%2C%2049%25%20of%20Americans,God%20to%20be%20taken%20literally.
But here’s what’s interesting…the other 80% who are skeptical that the Bible is the literal word of God, have no problem quoting it to you when it’s to their advantage.
Even people who are not familiar with the Bible know the verse about judging: judge not that you be not judged [Matt. 7:1]…There is hardly any verse that is more misunderstood than that one…people quote this verse for two reasons:
One…to justify not getting involved in people’s lives regardless of the destructive decisions they are making.
Secondly…people throw that verse out if they feel someone is being judgmental towards them even though they could care less about anything Biblical.
I mentioned last week in his book ‘The Most Misused Verses in the Bible’ (Eric Bargerhuff) he lists 18 misused verses…this is first on the list.
There’s a reason for these misused and misunderstood verses…it’s called the Americanization of Jesus…Christianity…and the Bible.
For example…there is a famous picture of Jesus…
It is the all-time most-reproduced image of a light-eyed…light-haired… neatly trimmed beard…portrayal of Jesus as a white European…it’s from a commercial artist—Warner Sallman—who created art for advertising campaigns in the 1940’s.
Sallman’s partnership with two Christian publishing companies helped this picture to be printed on everything from prayer cards…to calendars…to hymnals…all depicting a European image of Jesus.
Growing up, this picture was in every classroom in the church I attended.
And just like with that picture which is obviously not even a close representation of what Jesus looked like…the Americanization of the Gospel coupled with changes in American society has had a direct impact on the church as well.
People believe they are following a form of Christianity the way God intended… but some of these beliefs are actually just values of the culture.
For example… Oprah Winfrey preaches a gospel of divine self…a ‘God within’ that risks making selfishness a virtue…
Or Joel Osteen’s church of prosperity that insists that God’s desire for all Christians is financial prosperity.
Hence the importance to carefully look at what James says regarding being judgmental and compare that to what Jesus meant because there are instances in the Bible when we are to judge others.
When the Bible commands us to not judge…there’s a difference between making a judgment and being judgmental…between constructive judgment and condemning judgment…Jesus’ intention was not to stop judgment…but to enforce accurate accountability especially between believers.
Let me give you some examples when being judgmental is acceptable…ever try to share something from the Bible to someone…try to give them some godly advice…and they get mad?
Mat. 7:6 Jesus said…Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy
Jesus is being judgmental regarding people who are argumentative and contentious…said it before…never debate the Bible…in most cases the person you’re talking to has already made their mind up concerning whatever it is you’re debating…they’re just being obnoxious.
In the statement Don’t waste what is holy on people who are unholy… Jesus is saying you need to make a judgmental decision about the person’s character… a judgment call on whether these people are ready to hear what you have to say… or do they just want to be argumentative.
Now…to counter that…in Matthew 7:15 Jesus says to
Beware of false prophets who come disguised as harmless sheep but are really wolves. You can identify them by the way they act (NLT).
Here He’s saying you need to make a condemning judgment…there’s no shortage of people who claim to be ‘Christian ministers’ but are nothing more than charlatans.
They have huge followings who contribute money to their every need… including lavish homes…cars…and jet aircraft…and they want you to be a part of it…as a Christian you need to make a decision and a judgment on whether or not they are speaking from God.
It takes a discerning sheep to recognize, ‘That’s not a true sheep…that’s a wolf dressed like a sheep’…it requires judging if the person’s teaching is false.
The Bible does not say to NEVER judge others because there are times when you do need to judge and evaluate others.
Another instance when you need to be judgmental at times when assessing someone’s sins.
I hear people say “I could never confront anyone about their sin, because we’re not supposed to judge others. Let him who is without sin cast the first stone!”
This attitude is dodging a difficult but loving responsibility you have as a Christian…James addresses this very issue in the last paragraph in his epistle…
19 if anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, 20 let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death.
To do that you need to make a judgment about the sin and the person in order to help them…this is in agreement with what Paul says in Gal 6:1:
if another believer is overcome by sin, you who are godly should gently and humbly help that person back onto the right path.
These verses are not suggesting we have a right to be judgmental… condemning or to make moral judgments about their behavior…but in a loving Christian manner help them realize the error of their way.
There’s one last area that as Christians we need to be especially critical of…that’s when it comes to evaluating or judging someone’s spiritual maturity regarding spiritual matters and doctrinal views.
That also includes their personal lives as well…this usually is associated with those in leadership positions in the Church…especially those who are pastors.
If anyone aspires to be a church leader, he (implied) desires an honorable position.’ It is necessary therefore an overseer must be above reproach, the husband of one wife, [1 Timothy 3:1-4]
Couple things…when selecting a pastor the church needs to be to a certain extent critical of the man they are considering to be their shepherd.
Secondly…let me say something about the statement…the husband of one wife… ‘well that was written back when women were thought of as second class citizens’…times have changed and the church needs to change with them.’
One statement is true…women were thought of as second class citizens until Christianity elevated women to a position of equality with men.
However…the Church needs to be careful of adapting to the times…of adopting policies that are clearly against Biblical guidelines…the Baptist Faith and Message says…the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.
This goes back to the Americanization of the Church…this is not an issue of chauvinism or discrimination…it doesn’t imply men are better teachers or that women are inferior or less intelligent…it’s an issue of Biblical interpretation.
The Greek clearly defines a pastor as a man…(ἄνδρα anthropology) that’s the way God designed the church to function.
Last week at the annual meeting of the Southern Baptist Convention in New Orleans there was a vote to remove Rick Warren’s 30,000 member Saddleback Church from the Southern Baptist Convention…because they ordained a woman as pastor.
It’s not a matter of hating anyone or denying what some believe is their constitutional right…it’s abiding by what the Bible dictates.
When you compromise in one area of the Bible it becomes easier to compromise in another area until you have a situation like the Methodist and Presbyterians have.
You cannot violate the commandments of God and expect to stay in fellowship with Him…no matter how trivial you think they are.
There is no… ‘well I don’t think God would mind’ …or… ‘Well just this once it’ll be OK’ ….because it won’t be…you can’t take God’s place.
Saddleback Church was removed from the Southern Baptist Convention because they took it upon themselves to do what God had not permitted, thinking… believing God wouldn’t mind.
OK…so what’s this have to do with…Do not speak against one another
When we are being judgmental and critical of others we think we can take God’s place…we think we have the ‘right’ to judge those around us.
James gives the reason we don’t and should not…speak against each other …some translations say ‘evil against one another’ that’s implied…when you’re speaking against someone aren’t you just naturally speaking evil against them?
To “speak against” (καταλαλέω) is two separate words…κατα means down and λαλέω means ‘I speak’ the word literally means to speak down in a hostile degrading way.
So to speak against someone refers to making a statement in a mindless… careless thoughtless…critical…derogatory…way directed against someone with the malicious intent to be hateful…spiteful…mean…cruel…or in some way hurtful.
Throughout our study of James, we’ve been reminded of the powerfully destructive potential of our tongue…from the opening chapter James has pointed out the way our speech can bring harm to others reminding us to be
Quick to hear slow to speak and slow to anger [1:19]
In addition in chapter 3 he gives examples of the evil use of our tongue and its ability to pollute the whole body [3:6] and why it matters:
If anyone considers himself religious and yet does not keep a tight rein on his tongue, he deceives himself and his religion is worthless.[26]
The command to you and me is really nothing more than a reflection of how Jesus relates to us…throughout the Bible we are reminded of Satan and his way…that he is the accuser of our brothers, who accuses them (us) before our God day and night…” Don’t be like Satan.