Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor? — James 4:11–12 (ESV)
I like, “Who are you to judge your neighbor?” That’s one part of Christian teaching that’s popular.
That teaching traces back to what Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount.
“Judge not, that you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.” — Matthew 7:1–2 (ESV)
Right. Everyone knows that one.
Here James revisits a couple of previous topics to bring everything together. The Greek word translated as “speak evil against” (καταλαλέω, ka-ta-la-leh-oh) means slander. It’s not about sincere criticism.
James is getting back to what he said in chapter three about the potential to do evil with our tongues.
The Greek word translated as “judges” (κρίνω, krin-oh) is about partiality. The first example in the BAGD lexicon is, “prefer someone to someone.” James lit into partiality back in chapter two.
So, is this passage tying James’s earlier teaching about partiality and the tongue to his recent point about relaxing and letting God run His universe?
Bingo. They all merge when he says, “The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law.”
Judging the law is way above our pay grade. It’s inappropriate and unproductive, but notice that it takes speech to activate the problem.
So, this isn’t about feelings; it’s about actions?
Exactly. James isn’t just talking about thoughts when he says, “But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.”
And, of course, this is also about not letting God be God.
There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor.
This sounds like James is saying, “Give it a rest.”
That’s not a bad summary. The judging behavior that James is criticizing is essentially about people being busy-bodies.
But note that there is plenty of evil right now in our world, and James is not saying that we should ignore that.
So, where should folks draw the line?
Exercising judgement over issues of right and wrong is essential. One of the church’s main roles is to set an ethical standard. That’s what Jesus was talking about in Matthew 5:13–16
“You are the salt of the earth; but if the salt loses its flavor, how shall it be seasoned? It is then good for nothing but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot by men.
“You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works and glorify your Father in heaven.” (ESV)
But many churches in Germany failed miserably in the 1930s and 40s. They were silent, choosing to “not judge.”
Exactly. If they did that based on their reading of James, they totally missed the point. The 1933 Reich Concordat violated every imaginable Christian principle. Rome hoped to secure the freedom of the church and its schools.
But all it succeeded in doing was neutralizing the Catholic church as an organized political opponent of Hitler. In fact, their failure is so mind-bogglingly stupid, I’m hard pressed to see any way to fit a logic to what they did. It certainly was light years away from James’s teaching, The holocaust was partiality on steroids.
And everything in chapter four up to this point has been fiercely against letting evil thrive unchallenged. Rome chose to be “a friend of the world,” which James clearly said is at enmity to God. James’s instruction to resist the devil was ignored in every way imaginable.
Yeah. They were anything but “the light of the world.”
But some Christians did stand up—Deitrich Bonhoffer being one classic example. So, while some failed spectacularly, some succeeded.
That’s kind of been the story all along.
Yes. There’s a lesson in that too. We’ll talk more tomorrow.
