Real Faith Will Not Play God Series

Real Faith Will Not Play God

Series: Real Faith (Book of James)

Brad Bailey – November 8, 2020

Intro...

My added welcome to each of you gathering today...to all the Vineyard family and friends. As Joel and Marlo shared...this past week began with the earthly loss of Cindy Pang...a dear part of our spiritual family. It’s a loss that is still hard to grasp. Such an unexpected loss has brought a sadness to all who knew Cindy. And such an unexpected loss also brings a sense of sharpening... of sharpening our sense about life... and about what matters. When we are reminded that our earthly life is short... it sharpens our sense about what we are making of the life we have.

We all want our lives to make a difference. We all want our lives to be fruitful... to bear something good....to sow well into the life of others. The truth is that we can spend our lives tearing down others...or building up others.

And that is what God speaks to us about today... as we continue in our series through the Biblical Book of James. James... was the half-brother of Jesus... and he wrote what we now call the Book of James...it was written to be shared and circulated... as many had been scattered from Jerusalem. And what he shares is a call to real faith... active faith... more than something that lives in our heads. Real faith is something that we step into... it’s the larger reality that we enter into ...it’s the operating system for all that we do. Real faith has the power to change us...and particularly how we relate to one another.

We come to James 4:11-12, verses 11 and 12. Let me read it for us.

James 4:11-12

11 Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?

Here James continue continues to say that real faith will change the way we relate to others. Real faith... the life that actually flows from God... will keep me from playing God in the lives of others. He challenges the way we can tend to criticize and judge others.

Real faith won’t judge others. The translation I read from begins saying we should not “slander” one another. Other translations say we “should not speak evil” of one another. The most literal meaning is that we should not speak against another... we should not relate to one another in a way that attacks them. [1] In other words ... we should be those who build up rather than bring down.

To judge others is to violate our purpose....and he says... it also violates our place. We are not the judge...only God is. He says that when I judge others...I am playing God.

What I want to do today is help us answer three important questions that I am indebted to Rick Warren in shaping. Number one, why are we so quick to judge other people? Why do we do that? Number two, why should I NOT be judgmental of others? Why should I not judge others? And number three, and most important, how can I learn to be less judgmental?

First, why are we so quick to judge others? The primary reason the Bible says we judge others...is guilt, our own guilt. We want to hide from our own guilt...to avoid our own shame.

WHY ARE WE SO QUICK TO JUDGE OTHERS?

1. GUILT: WE WANT TO AVOID OUR OWN SHAME

When the first Book of the Bible begins with the story of Adam and Eve.... you may recall how it portrays not just how they disobeyed God... but how Adam responded when he was confronted with his guilt. He did two things. He excused his own sin and he accused Eve of being the cause of his sin, and that captures our human nature in relationship to our guilt...we accuse and excuse. We make excuses for our own behavior and we accuse others of something worse.

I believe that at the core of our being...we know that we are not all that we should be ...there is a shame we want to hide.... and one way we deal with it...is to judge others.

The scene that I refer to so often...is when a woman is caught in adultery [2]...and is brought before Jesus ... and the religious leaders hope to trap him by stating before the crowd how the law says she should be stoned to death....and then demand that he state what he thinks should be done. And there...with a crowd of people.... with stones in their hands... you may recall...Jesus says that whoever is without sin should cast the first stone.