James 4:11-12

Take your Bibles with me and turn to James 4. I’ve got to say, before we even get into this, that this is one area I know I need to work on. The Bible is a two-edged sword, and this one cuts me A LOT.

We are just going to look at two verses tonight, so this will probably be a shorter message. Look with me at James 4:11-12:

”Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?” (James 4:11-12)

A big part of the book of James are these little commands. They are all tied together. They are tied to the idea of humbling ourselves and not being worldly. This one is simple: “Speak not evil one of another.”

Everything else in these verses supports this simple command. Don’t speak evil against your brothers and sisters.

I’m going to give you two simple points tonight: The what and the why—what is commanded here and the reasons James gives us for this command.

Let’s pray and we’ll look at that.

Let’s start with…

The What:

What is James command here: ”Speak not evil one of another.” Simply, it means…

Don’t criticize or judge.

Barclay said that this sin is...

the sin of those who meet in corners and gather in little groups and pass on confidential information which destroy the good name of those who are not there to defend themselves.

It’s gossiping. It’s criticizing. It’s putting people down with your mouth.

• It’s “I can’t believe what so and so did.”
• It’s “Did you see what she had in her shopping cart?”
• It’s “I heard that so-and-so is letting his kids do this. Can you believe a Christian would do such a thing?”
• It’s “Brother so-and-so wouldn’t need so much help if he quit his bad habits.”

Be honest with yourself. You do this. I do this. This is one of those sins we just sort of wink at. It’s one of those commands we pretend isn’t even in the Bible. We might even spiritualize it and think we are doing some kind of Christian service or doing our part to keep the church pure. But God says, ”Speak not evil one of another.” Don’t judge; don’t criticize.

Now let’s just take a step back here and ask, “Why is this even bad?”

I mean, there has to be some judgment, right? It’s impossible to follow many of the commands of the Bible without some judgment.

For instance, how do you not walk in the counsel of the ungodly, stand in the way of sinners, sit in the seat of the scornful if you don’t first make a judgment about who is a sinner, scornful or ungodly?

And there has to be some criticism. The Bible says we are to earnestly contend for the faith once delivered to the saints. It says we are to mark those who cause divisions and offenses contrary to the faith and avoid them. That requires some criticism and judgement.

So what does this even mean?

We are going to talk about that, but I think the main difference is in why you are criticizing and judging. If you are criticizing and judging in humility—almost reluctantly as a part of your obedience to Christ—then that is a good thing. But the vast majority of our criticism and judgment isn’t that way. Most of the time we do it to make ourselves feel good, to win social points, or just because we like putting other people down. That’s bad.

So the what is don’t judge and criticize. Let’s look at…

The Whys:

James gives two reasons why it’s bad for us to judge and criticize. The first reason is…

1. When you judge and criticize, you are breaking God’s law.

James was saying that the God’s law forbids you from slandering and criticizing, so if you are slandering and criticizing your brother in Christ, you aren’t just breaking the law; you are putting yourself above the law and saying, “If I had written the law, I’d write this part different.”

Where does the law say this? The Old Testament does command against putting down your brother in Leviticus 19:16:

”Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:16)

But it was Jesus who really took this and made it much clearer in the New Testament. Jesus said in Matthew 7:1-2,

”Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.”

Listen: God’s Word says don’t be a critic. God’s Word says don’t be a judge. When you become a judge or a critic—when you make it your mission to find out what is wrong with everyone else—you are breaking God’s law.

2. When you judge and criticize, you are taking God’s role.

The second argument that James gives for why we shouldn’t be judgmental critics is found in verse 12:

”There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another?”

I think what James is saying here is that it’s not our job to judge. That’s God’s job. It’s not our job to criticize; that’s God’s job.

If you have multiple kids, you’ve seen this. One of our kids takes it upon themselves to be the little parent. They go to their brother or sister and say, “Don’t do that. You aren’t supposed to do that. Mom! Noah’s eating the carpet again,” or something like that.

It never goes well because it’s not her job to be the parent. That’s our job.

This is really important for us to understand. We are God’s servants. We report to God. It’s not our job to be a busybody and criticize what other servants are doing.

Romans 14:4 says…

“Who art thou that judgest another man's servant? to his own master he standeth or falleth. Yea, he shall be holden up: for God is able to make him stand.” (Romans 14:4)

Look at that question: Who art thou? In other words: Who are you? Who do you think you are? When did that become your job? The answer is it isn’t your job, and you are out of place.

One of my favorite passages is in John 21 when Jesus appears to the twelve and asks Peter, “Lovest thou me? Feed my sheep.” Remember that passage?

Well, at the end, Peter asks Jesus about John. Peter said basically, “Well, what about John?” Do you remember Jesus’ answer? Jesus said, “What is that to thee? Follow thou me.” Jesus basically said, “Peter, mind your own business. Focus on Peter, not on John. You’ve got enough to worry about right there.”

Listen: God wants us to mind our own business and leave the judging of others up to Him.

Sometimes people will come up to me and say, “Did you hear what Maranatha is doing? Or did you hear what Pastor so-and-so is doing?” And I want to say, “It’s none of my business. Our church has its own problems. Let’s focus on obeying God and let God deal with His other servants how He sees fit.”

It’s none of my business.

But also, I’m not God and I don’t know everything perfectly. I don’t know people’s intentions. I don’t know their heart. I don’t know every in and out and every circumstance.

Now let me come right down to it and tell you what I think the crux of this is. The reason why it’s wrong to criticize and judge has nothing to do with the truth. Sometimes the judgment or the criticism is true. It isn’t wrong because it’s not loving, although it might be. The main problem with being a critic and being a judge is that it’s not humble.

When we become a critic and when we become a judge, we are putting ourself in the place of God. That’s a very, very arrogant place to be.

Remember that James 4 is all about humility. Criticism and judging are the exact opposite of what we read last week about humbling yourself under the mighty hand of God and mourning over our own sin. Those two things don’t go together. If I think I’m a wretch, I’m really not going to be too hard on my brother. If I’m conscious of my own sin, I really am going to have no time to nitpick my brothers and sisters in Christ. That’s the attitude that we should have.

So when you judge and criticize, you are breaking God’s law, and when you judge and criticize, you are taking God’s place.

Conclusion

In closing, let me give you some practical questions to ask before you become critical. When you start to feel the urge to criticize, just go through this little checklist.

1. Do I have sin in my own heart? Do I have a log sticking out of my own eye I need to take care of before I pick this splinter out of my brother’s?
2. Do I know 100% of the circumstances behind my brother’s actions?
3. Can I see my brother or sister’s heart? Can I see their intentions and motivations?
4. Is what they are doing any of my business?

I think it was Lee Roberson who used to say, “It takes no size to criticize.” That’s a good motto. Let’s be bigger than that. Let’s be smaller than that. Let’s be truly humble and ask God’s help with this sin.