JAMES WEEK Eight

PUTTING FAITH INTO PRACTICE: To Judge or Not to Judge?

I once heard a story about a little girl who was listening to her mother’s conversation at church. She stood quietly staring up at her mother’s friend as they discussed the day’s sermon. Finally, the little girl, looked at her mother and said loudly, “Mom! You were wrong. Mrs. Smith doesn’t have two faces.”

Any of us who have children know that little mouths often repeat what little ears have heard.

When we moved into our house ten years ago, I was disconcerted to discover that the neighbors on each side of us were best friends. Now, that in itself, was not a problem. However, the fact that they blazed a trail through our front lawn when visiting each other troubled me. One of the reasons we had moved was for more privacy, and the neighbors didn’t seem concerned that they were walking very close to our windows.

One day, one of my sons came into the house yelling, “You’re not going to believe what Braxton just did!” Upon asking, I learned that our youngest son had stood outside in the drive and yelled at our neighbors as they were passing through, “My momma doesn’t like you walking in our yard!”

Braxton and I personally got to meet our neighbors for the first time that day as I dragged him to their house to apologize for being disrespectful. Still, I knew who had taught him.

In the scriptures we are studying today, James uses only two verses to tackle a very serious problem—judgementalism.

Verses like these are often remembered and used to discourage people from judging. However, most people would readily agree that there are other verses in the Bible that make it clear that certain judgments have to be made. Passages of scripture, such as those found in Matthew 18 and Galatians 6, call Christians to hold one another accountable. How is that possible if we do not make some sort of judgment about each other’s actions based on the truth of God’s Word? After all, are we not judging when we condemn someone for murder or adultery or theft?

That’s why it is important to understand the difference between exercising good judgment and being judgmental. As Christians, we not only have the right but also the serious duty to call sin what it is—sin. However, we are not to do that based upon our own opinion or from an attitude of arrogance. Understanding our own sin nature, we are to make judgments only on the basis of the truth of God’s Word and always with a sense of humility, knowing that we too are sinners saved by grace.

James (along with other New Testament authors) is not saying that we should not judge in that regard. He is saying that we should not be judgmental. So, what is the difference?

According to author R. Kent Hughes, judgmentalism is “a critical and censorious spirit that judges everyone and everything, seeking to run others down.”

James makes this clear from the first words of today’s reading. “Don’t speak evil against each other, dear brothers and sisters.”

Interestingly enough, James does not say, “Don’t speak evil against each other unless it’s true.” It doesn’t matter whether our words are true or not. We are commanded not to say bad things about one another, not to degrade each other or criticize one another in an effort to tear each other down.

Oh, how convicting are those words! How many times do we talk about one another, sometimes even cloaking our words in the disguise of a prayer request? How often do we think that the little stories we tell are harmless? But James reminds us that our words are not harmless at all.

Is there a time to hold people accountable? Yes. Is there a time to criticize or correct? Yes. The key here is in the true motive behind our words and what we seek to accomplish with them. In other passages, the Bible tells us plainly how we are to handle such situations.

No matter how we seek to sugarcoat it, we are smart enough to know the difference between one friend confronting another in love about her drinking problem and two friends sitting across from one another talking about how Susan got drunk on Saturday night. And saying, “Bless her heart! We need to pray for her” doesn’t make it right.

James reminds us that God takes this very seriously.

When we respond to one another with criticism and negativity, we are actually rebelling against God’s law. We are refusing to acknowledge God’s authority and, in essence, saying that we know better than God what’s what and who’s who. So, before we worry about what others are doing, we do well to consider our own actions, words, and motives and how well we are obeying the Lord.

It’s just one more way that James tells us to put our faith into practice.

THIS WEEK

Continue memorizing James 1:22. Say it to a family member or friend without looking.
Read James 4:11-12 every day.
If you, like me, are convicted by James’s words, confess your sins to the Lord, and be encouraged that He promises to forgive. However, don’t stop there. Pray for wisdom to discern your own motives and to be more aware of your words.
The Bible has a lot to say about our tongues. Use Google or your Bible’s concordance to find verses relating to our speech. Copy one or two onto an index card or on your phone. Read them frequently, especially when you are tempted to take part in gossip.