The Soil Of Slander - James 4:11-12 Series

1) It Comes from a Judgmental Heart

Out of the Overflow of the Heart…

After giving us the command not to speak against one another, James tells us why. And when he tells us the reason, he introduces a new component – judging.

James 4:11 Brothers, do not speak against one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges his brother speaks against the law and judges the law.

If you have been with us in this study, it’s not hard to see what James is doing here. Once again, he is pointing us to the heart. Unkind words come from a judgmental heart.

Matthew 12:34 Out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks .

You say what you say, because of what was in your heart.

One poet put it well: “Your heart is a garden, your thoughts are the seeds. You can grow flowers, or you can grow weeds.”

Everything comes from the heart. So when you criticize and put people down or gossip or slander or grumble about them – that kind of speech is the fruit of a judgmental heart. James is always concerned about the sin beneath the sin – the heart issue that causes the actions and words. And the sin beneath the sin of gossip is judgmentalism.

The Lens of Judgment

You see, here is the thing about us – we are not just walking video recorders. We are judges. We don’t just observe and report. We make judgments about the person, then we observe what they say and do through the lens of those judgments. That is why you judge people so differently based on how much you like them.

The Lens of Mercy

We never know all the facts. There are so many blanks in our knowledge of the situation. We don’t know everything that led up to what they did, we don’t know their motives, we don’t know all the circumstances – there is so much we don’t know - so many blanks in our knowledge, and your heart will fill in those blanks based upon your attitude toward the person. And if you really like the person, mercy will fill in the blanks in a positive way. Mercy will put the best possible construction on what they do. And that is essential for making right judgments. And if we evaluate each other without mercy filling in the blanks with good assumptions, we provoke God’s wrath. James warned us about that back in chapter 2.

James 2:13 judgment without mercy will be shown to anyone who has not been merciful.

In order for us to judge properly, there must be mercy in our hearts toward the person. And if that mercy is missing, you will render a wrong judgment. In Matthew 9, the Pharisees rendered a judgment and they were way off. They were condemning repentant sinners – instead of rejoicing over their repentance. And here is Jesus’ response:

Matthew 9:13 But go and learn what this means: 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice.'

They rendered a wrong judgment because they lack mercy, so Jesus told them to go study about mercy in Hosea 6:6. Three chapters later they are making another wrong judgment – once again condemning the innocent.

Matthew 12:7 If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent.