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.
Jesus didn’t contend with her being guilty. It’s really important to see that Jesus wasn’t following the way of dealing with guilt by downplaying the significance of what she was accused of. That can be the way so much of our culture tries to deal with guilt today. Jesus doesn’t downplay it. In fact, when everyone left, he told her to go and sin no more. He doesn’t just excuse it. But what he confronts is a common way that human nature deals with our guilt...and our shame. The people were trying to project their own shame onto this woman.
What Jesus brings out...is that this was a diversion...a coverup. They're trying to take all the attention off their own guilt. We judge other people because we want to get the guilt off of us.
We want to keep all the focus on the bad behavior we can highlight in others. As I often describe...it is like an interrogator standing behind the giant bright light that they point into the face of the one being interrogated. We hope to keep the light focused on others...and not ourselves.
It doesn't work for two reasons. First, it doesn’t work because God isn’t fooled by us trying to direct attention to others. He isn’t too distracted.... or too busy... to see us. A Biblical passage in Romans chapter 2, verse 3 is paraphrased saying:
You didn't think, did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract God from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard? - Romans 2:3 (MSG) ?
Actually... I think many of us seem to think so. We seem to think that we can avoid facing our own responsibility by focusing on others. We assume that God must want to focus on those people who are REALLY guilty....and he just needs our help identifying them. But God who is infinite is never divided and never distracted like other finite creatures. It doesn’t matter where we shine the light of our attention...because God is light...and nothing is hidden from His light.
And secondly... it doesn’t work because God doesn't grade on a curve. He doesn't compare us to each other. Jesus is the standard of perfection, so God doesn't grade on a curve. He doesn't say, "Well, you did better than that person."
The truth is that we can spend a lot of our lives judging others... trying to avoid facing ourselves...and it will do nothing to resolve our own guilt.
The second reason we are quick to judge is pride.
PRIDE: WE WANT TO FEEL SUPERIOR TO OTHERS
Now there is a health type of pride we can have for what we might do or accomplish. But there is a pride that is really a false and vain way of dealing with our own insecurity. There is a pride that is really rooted in insecurity. The truth is that it’s often our insecurity that sees the weaknesses of others as a chance to feel better about ourselves.
“Whenever we think or say: “I’m glad I am not like them...” ...it’s a form of pride. When we put others down, it’s not a reflection of our actual superiority ...but our insecurity trying to establish some perception of superiority.
The truth is that whenever we see a person who is always criticizing....always judging... always trash-talking.... we can be sure they feel very insecure. They don’t just choose to put people down...they feel a need to put people down.
I find that the people I know who are the most secure in who they are... where they have most deeply accepted God’s love and grace in all their unfinished flaws... they are those who tend to say very little that’s critical or judging of others.
And what may seem strange... is that there are many people who embrace being religious ...who can be the most critical and judgmental. Let’s be honest... many people who identify with being a Christian... can be very critical and judgmental. As a little English girl prayed, "O God, make the bad people good, and the good people nice."
This may strike some of us as strange. If the two main reasons that we are quick to judge are rooted in guilt and pride....we might assume that those who turn to God would be find freedom from their guilt and pride....and become less critical of others. So why do people who turn towards God seem to often become struggle with being more judgmental?
Perhaps it’s because those who choose to acknowledge God are choosing to stand in the light of God... where we face our deepest insecurity. To dare to acknowledge God brings all our godless and guilty lives into the light of God. While others may just try to avoid guilt... and excuse guilt altogether...those who turn to God can no longer just ignore their guilt. This is why religious people can become the most judgmental ... because they dare to acknowledge God....and can face a greater difficulty reconciling what is not right within themselves. And it can actually lead to the worst form of pride...a religious pride... what the Bible calls self-righteousness. We can try to deflect even more. And it will be expressed through becoming critical of others... through becoming focused on some type of people that are so bad that we can judge them and feel better... usually some group we think we are nothing like.
The point is that this is a very real challenge that we need to face. So let’s continue by considering the question: Why should I not judge others?
Well, the first reason is that "Judging others is unloving."
WHY SHOULD I NOT JUDGE OTHERS?
1. JUDGING OTHERS IS UNLOVING
It's unloving. Judging is the opposite of Jesus great commandment. Some may recall that in James chapter 2, verse 8 he writes,
If you really keep the royal law found in Scripture, "Love your neighbor as yourself," you are doing right. - James 2:8
You're doing the right thing. It's always the right thing to love your neighbor as yourself. But now a couple chapters later in chapter four he adds these words, James 4:11,
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. – James 4:11
What law? The royal law, love your neighbor as yourself. He says you're breaking the great commandment every time you judge. [3] You are not loving others... not treating them the way you know you yourself would want to be treated.
Some may wonder...isn’t there a healthy and loving type of criticism or judgment? Aren’t we supposed to judge some things as wrong or evil? Certainly there is a way in which the same type of words can be used to refer to something that may be loving and needed...ways of being critical in our discernment and judging what we see. James is not dismissing the essential need to judge what is good and what is evil. In fact... he is doing so even in what he is saying. But it is quite different than the way we wrongfully judge others ...which James is now speaking of.
James is not negating judging behaviors in themselves... or appropriate boundaries that might be needed in order not to be aligned with what is destructive. What James is speaking of is the far more common way in which we judge people as people. It’s very different to speak of a behavior than it is to speak of someone’s being. The truth is that we rarely speak only of a particular behavior. We tend to judge people.
And a righteous type of criticism or judgment...is also not rooted in any sense of superiority...but of sincere burden for another. It has no desire to hurt...but rather only to help. It is not self-serving...and often comes with sacrifice and risk.
Here’s the truth that I have seen. The difference between a loving concern for the behavior of another...and a critical judging of another person.... can generally be felt by the person being addressed. I have had a few occasions to have to raise some critical concerns I have had for others...and I have had occasions when someone has shared critical concerns they had for me. The degree to which it is rooted in love... will ultimately be experienced by the one being addressed. If we have to share something that has a critical element ... but is rooted in love... the other will be the best judge of that. They may initially feel defensive...but they will ultimately feel safe... and even loved. They may initially feel defensive...but they won’t ultimately feel threatened...or attacked... or condemned. Ultimately, given time, they feel loved...because if there really was no threat of harm. A loving confrontation will be caring and fair and honoring. It will care in the same way we would want to be cared for.
But James is speaking about the far far more common ways in which we criticize and judge others that is not rooted in love...but rather in contempt. If we’re honest... many of us know that the way we become critical and judgmental of others... carries a sense of contempt...an anger that does not wish the other well. So we need to face the truth that the way we tend to judge others is unloving... it does not align with the most central standard of Christ.
The second thing that James says is that judging others is God's job, not mine. It's God's job, not mine.
2. JUDGING OTHERS IS GOD’S JOB, NOT MINE
James says....
James 4:11-12
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?
God is the only true lawgiver and judge, he alone has the authority to save or destroy. So then James says, "So then who are you and what gives you the right to pass judgements on others? He is saying essentially... Why are you sitting in God’s chair? Why are you playing God?
Any time I judge other people I'm playing God.
Paul says the same thing in Romans 14, look at this verse, Romans 14:4.
Who are you to judge someone else's servant? To his own master he stands or falls. And he will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand. - Romans 14:4?
So if I look at you and I judge you, God says, "They're not your servant, They're my servant. They're the Lord’s servant. I will judge them, not you."
Judging others can reflect that we are trying to play God... to stand in the wrong position. God says... what are you doing in my seat?
Finally, a third reason we shouldn’t judge others, is because...
3. JUDGING OTHERS IS UNCHRISTIAN
The word “Christian” refers to those who are like Christ... who are now following his work in the world. And we can see that James is writing to those who seeking to be Christian believers. He is raising this problem of judgmentalism to those he calls, "My brothers and sisters." He calls them my brothers and sisters. Christians are supposed to be like Christ, but we can't be like Jesus when we're judging others, because John 3:17 says this:
?For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him. - John 3:17
He goes on to say that the truth is that the world already faces judgment, and that Christ came to save us... and that what matters is how we receive him. If you want to be like Jesus, we will stop judging the world and start trying to save the world by pointing them to Jesus Christ.
Every time I'm condemning somebody... I'm not being like Christ. In fact, the Bible says Satan is the accuser of the brethren, he's called the accuser of believers, that's his name. He is the source that is at work to condemn others without the hope of Christ. He wants to drive every soul that could look to Christ...to turn away in hopelessness and shame.
So when we judge others... when we condemn others...we are doing Satan's job for him. When we speak of someone with a desire to condemn...rather than to save...we are doing the work of Satan. We need to realize that what we tend to think is our astute gift of generalizing people...and categorizing people...can really be a process of choosing to join the spirit of condemning rather than saving... the work of Satan rather than Christ. How often do we see something that perhaps rightfully offends our sense of good... and then we categorize and condemn the whole of a particular life or group of people. How easily we see one thing over here that we don't like, and then we write the person off... as now placed outside of what God is actually seeking to do. In so doing...we are aligning ourselves with the work of enemy. It is fundamentally contrary to the work of Christ. It’s unchristian.
What I hope you and I will stop and realize right now... is that James is confronting something so much more significant than we usually grasp. We live in a culture in which many consider criticism a virtue...and the ability to judge others to be an art. So we can create a comfort with the way we criticize others... an acceptable way of doing so. But through James... God is confronting us today... showing us the spiritual significance. The tendency to be judgmental is not just about what type of personality we have... it’s about a significant transformation that God wants to do in our lives.
And so let’s conclude with considering...
HOW CAN I LEARN TO BE LESS JUDGMENTAL?
This is such a valuable time to step and reflect on how God can help us overcome our criticalness. We have living through the stress of a pandemic... and stress will tend to bring out the worst in us. In particular.... we all may be facing some frustrations related to the consequences of this pandemic... and when we are frustrated... we want to blame someone. Our frustrations just want to find a target...any target. So someone may yell at their spouse...who then yells at the dog...who then chases the cat...and away we go.
And nothing provides a context for blame like a national election. It can be like a holiday celebrating the gift of criticism. I mean...I know that it is also about the freedom to vote... but for most people... the actual process of preparing to vote and voting...involved just a few hours... but criticizing and judging...for many people, that has been real heart of the season. It’s been a as much about the right to celebrate how superior we are to others.
So I can’t think of a better week to stop and consider how I can learn to be less judgmental. Let me suggest to you five things from God's word to remember. If we will really take this five things into our hearts... we can find real freedom from being so judgmental of other people.
Number one, if I want to be less judgmental, if I want to be more merciful, I want to not break the royal law of love your neighbor as yourself, number one....
First, if I want to be less judgmental, when I begin to judge somebody,
1. REMEMBER I DON’T KNOW THE WHOLE STORY
I don't know the whole story. I don't know the hurts, I don't know the crisis, I don't know the limitations, I don't know all of the background. I'm just seeing the behavior, I'm looking at how far they need to come rather than how far they've already come.
As I’ve shared before....I have found myself humbled by having judged someone too soon... before really knowing their story. I don’t think I tend to be particularly given to being judging others... but I have found that about every year or two... I will meet someone and have some level of misgivings about their nature... perhaps and edge of distrust... or concern. And then an opportunity comes to hear more about their story....and discover how much they have had to go through...rise up through...and my in my heart...judgment is change to honor. And I sense God humbling me... allowing me to realize how limited I am in my understanding.
As Proverbs 18:13, says:
“It is shameful and stupid to decide before knowing the facts!” - Proverbs 18:13 (LB)
John 7:24, Jesus said this:
Jesus: “Stop judging by appearances.” - John 7:24
God has shown me I was too quick with appearances. Because when we look at the appearance, we look at the outward behavior, we really don't know the whole story.
Most of our judgment comes without ever engaging the other person....without ever seeking to understand. We tend to project our assumptions into what we don’t know...more than we actually try to listen and understand the other person.
As James had written earlier... in James 1,
Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak and slow to become angry, - James 1:19
Listen first before you judge.
If we want to become less judgmental, we will make it a goal to try and listen compassionately, honestly, sincerely, and fairly.
One time the Pharisees were trying to judge Jesus without even letting him have a say, and then Nicodemus, who by the way was a Pharisee, spoke up and Nicodemus says this to the other Pharisees who were trying to judge Jesus without even letting Jesus speak, without even hearing him. Nicodemus says in John 7:51,
"According to God's law we cannot judge people before listening to them and hearing what they've done." - John 7:51
Those words should challenge us to consider how many times have we may have judged our child ...without listening to their story first. How may times we may have judged someone based on appearance... without assuming that we have any responsibility to understand what they did or said. It doesn’t mean that there may not be an issue to raise... but no one wants to be judged without being understood.
And that leads to the next point.
Number two, in a similar way, the second thing to remember.
2. REMEMBER I NEVER KNOW ANYONE’S MOTIVATION
Any time you judge somebody's motivation, that's just dumb. Why? Because you don't know your own motivation much of the time. So much of the time I can't even understand why I do what I do. We don't know why we do what we do so much of the time. So if you can't figure out your own motivation half the time, what makes you think that you can judge the motivation of others? You don't know anybody's motivation. That's just nonsense.
1 Corinthians 2:11 says this:
“No one can really know what anyone else is thinking or what he is really like except that person himself.” 1 Corinthians 2:11 (LB)
There's no way I can know your motivation, there's no way you can know mine. No one really knows what somebody else is thinking or what they're really like. I can’t know what is in someone’s heart. Only God knows what is really in our hearts. Only God can discern the heart fairly.
That’s why The Bible tells us,
“Therefore judge no one before the appointed time; wait till the Lord returns. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and he will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive the right praise from God.” 1 Corinthians 4:5 (NIV)
"Judge no one before the appointed time." What's the appointed time? When Christ comes back. He says, "Wait till the Lord returns." That's when everything is going to get judged. It says, "He, God, will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and he will expose the motives of men's hearts."
Number three, here's the third thing to remember, to help me be less judgmental.
3. REMEMBER I HAVE BLINDSPOTS I CAN’T SEE
Now, we all have blind spots in our lives, and the fact that they're called blind spots means I can't see them. You can see my blind spots, but I can't. I can see your blind spots, but you can't. We can't see our own blind spots, that's why we need each other. The third reason to not be judgmental, is to remember we don’t see OUR OWN FAULTS clearly.
Jesus talked about this in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 7, which is in the middle of the Sermon on the Mount, verses 3 to 5 Jesus says this:
Jesus: “Why are you so concerned about a speck of sawdust in someone else’s eye when you have a huge log in your own eye? How dare you say, ‘Let me get that speck out of your eye!’. . . Instead judge yourself and first remove the log in your own eye so you can see clearly to help others.” Matthew 7:3-5
Jesus is capturing the ironic humor of how we tend to judge others. He's saying, "Why are you so concerned about the speck of sawdust in somebody else's eye when you got a huge log, a telephone pole, in your own eye? How dare you say, 'Let me get that speck out of your eye?' How dare you?" Jesus says, "Instead, judge yourself and first remove the log in your own eye." That's your blind spot. Remove the log in your own eye so then you can see clearly to help others.
What's ironic is that we tend to judge in others what we dislike in ourselves. We tend to see in the eye of another person what is uncomfortably in our own eye but we are trying to ignore. If I’m lazy I don't like that about myself, I will tend to judge other people as lazy, I’ll see it in others. If you're prideful, you tend to spot pride in others quickly. If you're greedy, you tend to spot greed in other people. We are often reacting to what we are struggling with. That’s another truth to remember that can help us be less judgmental.
Moving to number four...the fourth thing God teaches me to help me be less judgmental,
4. REMEMBER I DO NOT SET THE STANDARD
We tend to shape a standard that fits us on the good side...and others on the bad side. But I need to remember, I don’t set the standard by which we are judged.
2 Corinthians 10:12 in Today's English Version says this:
“We should never dare to classify or compare ourselves like those who rate themselves so highly. How foolish they are! They make up their own standards to measure themselves by, and then judge themselves by their own standards!” 2 Corinthians 10:12
I’m not the standard of perfection adn neither are you. It’s dangerous to try and define the standard.
Jesus said this very clearly, Matthew 7:1-2, he said this:
Jesus: “Do not judge others, or YOU too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged! And with the same measure you use, YOU will be measured!” - Matthew 7:1-2
Jesus said that when we try to set the standard...it will ultimately show our own inconsistency. It will ultimately prove to be a standard that will judge us.
As we have gone through this election process... I have heard a lot of convictions about what matters most...and about what is so wrong with the other side. And my sense has been that either side has a substantial basis for what they raise. But what has concerned me is how each side seems to become very accepting of what may not honor God’s will and ways within their own side. It seems to me that we may tend to form a limited sense of what matters to God to fit within our election choice... perhaps too comfortably.
It seems that we can identify how the other side are compromising what matters to God... without facing that we may be compromising some values as well. As I shared during our previous series about engaging politics together... I think if we stepped back a little...we might be able to see that such political elections involve everyone choosing to accept some significant compromises. If we accept that we are ALL choosing between morally flawed platforms and persons... then we can at least become less judgmental of one another. When we accept that we are all having to navigate some significant compromises with God’s ideal...we it will help us to not judge others by a standard that could be used against us as well.
Through the Apostle Paul, the Bible tells us in Romans 14:10 and 12 and 13 ...:
So why do you condemn another believer? Why do you look down on another believer? Remember, we will all stand before the judgment seat of God. ... Yes, each of us will give a personal account to God. So let’s stop condemning each other. - Romans 14:10, 12-13 (NLT) ?
He says, "One day there will be a judgment day, a judgment seat." How is God going to judge people? Two ways, truthfully and impartially. One day I will be judged truthfully, not based on my standard... but on God’s standard... and I will be judged impartially. None of my perceived privilege will matter. None of my presumptions about my morally superior positions will matter. So knowing that I will be judged...not by my skewed standards ...but by God... I will be wise to be less quick to be so confident of my standards of judgment.
Finally, here's the fifth and final thing...and this is the biggest reason of all for me to not be judgmental.
5. REMEMBER HOW GOD HAS SHOWN ME GRACE
Remember how God has shown me his grace. If I got what I deserved, I wouldn't even be standing here. You wouldn't even be taking your next breath. Remember, God has shown me and shown you grace and mercy.
We can recall James stating earlier in what he wrote:
Mercy triumphs over judgment. - James 2:13
Those words are the most powerful and ultimate words of hope that we will ever hear.
One of the most fascinating dynamics of human life...is how we declare our desire for the world to be fair... we are quick to declare our demand for justice... for all that is wrong to be judged.... but... when our own propensity to do what is wrong... is in the light... we want mercy.
Jesus brought this out in what is often called the parable of the unmerciful servants. He tells the story of a servant who owed theor master a debt so large it was beyond a lifetime of wages...and the master showed them mercy and forgave the debt. And then...on the very path home...they ran into a fellow servant...who owed them just a days wages....and the one who had just been forgiven a lifetime of wages...refused to forgive their fellow servant for a day of wages. And Jesus warned us... don’t let that become the story of our own lives. If you reject the way of grace towards others...you will be rejecting the very grace by which can be forgiven yourself.
When we judge others without grace... when we demand that they get what they deserve... we are demanding that we get what we deserve. This is no small choice. We will not completely overcome the struggle to want to criticize and judge others...on this side of heaven... but we must remember that all lives... including our own... do not find their ultimate hope in what they deserve...but in grace.
Ephesians 2:8, ...in the Amplified translation [4], it says this:
“It is by free grace that you are saved and delivered from judgment through your faith. And this salvation is not of your own doing. It is God’s gift to you!” - Ephesians 2:8 (AMPC)
Real faith has the power to deliver us from judgment...and when we are delivered from judgment...we can become free from what drives us to judge others.
Now, let me ask you, have you received that salvation? Because if you haven't, you still are stuck in your guilt. You're still stuck in judgment because you're either living under grace or you're living under judgment. You either have accepted everything Jesus Christ did on the cross by paying for all your sins or you're planning to pay for your sins yourself. Sin refers to all the ways we have lived independently of God... that we have lived as if we were God. We will face the c consequences ourselves... or we will accept that God has come through Christ to bear those consequences and restore life with God.
It’s not fair... it’s grace. If you have never accepted that grace... accepted the sacrifice of Christ that offers forgiveness ...and the life of Christ to come live and lead your life....I want to be sure to give you that opportunity today.
God wants to bring our lives under new management. Our own self-management is ultimately bound in guilt ...and judgment. God wants to bring our lives under the management of Christ living in us... and operating out of God the Father’s loving grace.
So I want to pray two prayers. First, I want to pray a prayer for those of you who've never invited Christ into your life and made him the Lord of your life, asked him to be the savior of your life, to forgive you, to start living under grace rather than under condemnation or judgment. Then I want to pray for the rest of us who've already made that decision and asked that God help us be a less judgmental and a little more gracious to others.
So I invite you to join me in closing our yes...to help us center ourselves before the presence of God... as I lead us in prayer.
PRAYER
Resources: I have preached through the Book of James twice before...and I have found that in drawing from Rick Warrens recent series in James on some messages... it has provided a fresh change to emphasize the practical elements. As such, this particular message is shaped and adapted from his (“A Faith That Keeps Me From Playing God In The Lives Of Others”)
Notes:
1. The term “speak evil,” or katalaléo, can be translated as “malign” or “disparage.” This is in contrast to Paul’s encouragement to speak “the truth in love.” (Eph. 4:15). Once again, it is the sinful activity of putting others down rather than the conduct of the Spirit of building others up with love. - Cedar, P. A., & Ogilvie, L. J. (1984). James / 1 & 2 Peter / Jude (Vol. 34, p. 85). Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson Inc.
2. This scene is found in John 8:1-11
3. In regards to how judging can show disregard for the “law”,
“speaketh evil of the law”—for the law in commanding, “Love thy neighbor as thyself” (Jam 2:8), virtually condemns evil-speaking and judging [ESTIUS]. Those who superciliously condemn the acts and words of others which do not please themselves, thus aiming at the reputation of sanctity, put their own moroseness in the place of the law, and claim to themselves a power of censuring above the law of God, condemning what the law permits [CALVIN]. Such a one acts as though the law could not perform its own office of judging, but he must fly upon the office [BENGEL]. This is the last mention of the law in the New Testament. ALFORD rightly takes the “law” to be the old moral law applied in its comprehensive spiritual fullness by Christ: “the law of liberty.” - Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 2, p. 492). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
“If you speak evil of your brother behind his back, you are setting aside the royal law, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (2:8; Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:39; Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:14). And if you set aside the law, you have become a judge of that law. Then you have placed yourself on the level of the Lawgiver.” - Kistemaker, S. J., & Hendriksen, W. (1953–2001). Exposition of James and the Epistles of John (Vol. 14, p. 144). Grand Rapids: Baker Book House.
4. Both of the Amplified versions expand the breadth of meaning in various original words and wording:
Ephesians 2:8 - Amplified Bible (AMP)
For it is by grace [God’s remarkable compassion and favor drawing you to Christ] that you have been saved [actually delivered from judgment and given eternal life] through faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [not through your own effort], but it is the [undeserved, gracious] gift of God;
Ephesians 2:8 - Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC)
For it is by free grace (God’s unmerited favor) that you are saved (delivered from judgment and made partakers of Christ’s salvation) through [your] faith. And this [salvation] is not of yourselves [of your own doing, it came not through your own striving], but it is the gift of God;
