No Evil Speaking - James 4:11

What follows is the fourth installment in my study of what the Bible teaches about judging.

Passage 3: James 4:11

“Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?”

Here the admonition is to not speak evil of one another. The next sentence puts judging and speaking evil of another in the same category. Even though we may not understand this sentence, it is very clear that the person who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. Doing so makes one a judge of the law and thus above the law. In our relationships with one another no one is above another. None of us is on the judicial bench investigating and evaluating another person’s life. The passage before us teaches us that there is one Lawgiver – God. Lifting ourselves above another and thus above the law is equivalent to putting ourselves on an equal footing with God. Is that really where we want to be? He is the one who is able to save or to destroy. Therefore who are we to judge one another?

James, almost as a passing comment says in 5:9, “Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold the judge is standing at the door.” What a picture. Here we are grumbling against our brother and the true Judge of the universe knocks on the door. He is the one who has the true power to condemn or justify. We started this discussion with the word condemn. Here we see that just grumbling against one another is dangerous. Why, because it may bring the condemnation of the judge. Shouldn’t we be making sure our behavior will be pleasing to Him rather than lifting ourselves up to God’s level and finding ourselves condemned by Him?