Judging Your Neighbor

Well, good morning. It's good to see you all here.

It was one of the most significant moments of my life for many reasons.

Sitting in a room, seeking to resolve conflict with a good brother who loves the Lord,

a mediator looked at me and said, in effect,

that I had exercised judgment in a destructive way in the conflict I was having with this brother and in this relationship.

And in that moment, the Holy Spirit spoke to my heart,

revealed to me that the more that I care about something, the more judgmental I become of others.

It showed me how much I loved to judge other people.

Ah, to be the judge.

It feels good, doesn't it?

I don't think I'm alone.

In loving that role, it shows itself, I believe, in all sorts of ways.

From the casual, did you see what he wore last night to the party?

To the deeply destructive, you got fired?

I knew you would never amount to anything.

Judgment is something that can happen on a societal level.

As our society today is grappling with the fact for years,

this country has judged people on their gender and the color of their skin,

rather than their intrinsic worth.

It's created in the image of God.

Judgment can be brutal, like a lynch mob or a violent confrontation.

And it can be subtle, like the quiet whispers at a department cocktail party or a family reunion

or a church fellowship hour.

Judgment happens a lot these days online.

The culture of canceling is a culture of judgment.

Driven by a desire to impose our judgments on other people.

Why do we judge, my friends?

We love it because it makes us feel superior.

We love it because it gives us a sense of power over others.

We love it because it covers up our own insecurities.

And we gain against its significance

by distinguishing ourselves from others and disparaging them.

But friends, God has a strong word to us this morning.

To us who love judging others.

We're in the book of James, chapter 4.

James 4 · chapter mention

We're looking at just verses 11 through 12 this morning

because this is such a significant topic.

We're going to focus on this.

If you're at home or here in the service, in person,

if you have an opportunity to turn there with me,

we're going to read James 4 together.

And as you're turning there,

just let me remind you what we looked at last week.

Last week, James reminded us that we have quarrels and fights.

And why is that?

He said because we're controlled by passions

that are ultimately fundamentally self-centered.

They're about us.

And in that, we participate in a world view

and a world pattern that is in rejection of God himself.

And that God calls us to repent of that

and to turn to God in humble repentance,

submission,

and ultimately to land in a place not of judgment,

but of humility.

That's what we saw in verse 10,

that we are called to humble ourselves before the Lord,

that he will exalt us.

And that leads us then to verse 11 and 12,

which we'll read now.

James 4, verse 11 and 12.

James 4:11

Do not speak evil against one another, brothers and sisters.

The one who speaks against a brother or sister

or judges his or her brother or sister

speaks evil against the law and judges the law.

But if you judge the law,

you are not a doer of the law,

but a judge.

There is only one lawgiver and judge.

He who is able to save and to destroy.

Who are you to judge your neighbor?

Let's pray.

Lord, we ask this morning,

Lord, by your spirit,

will you do work in our hearts?

Lord, as we have confessed earlier,

how often we love to see the speck in our brother's eye,

our sister's eye,

how often we see it in our neighbors

and yet ignore the log in our own.

God, I pray that you would help us to see that this morning.

And Lord, we pray that by your grace,

we would see you

and ourselves in light of you this morning

and that you would root out this love

and change our hearts.

We pray this, Lord, in Jesus' name.

Amen.

Well, God has a hard word for us, does he not?

What does God think about judgment?

We are not to judge others

because God is the ultimate judge of all.

And in this passage, as we walk through it,

we're going to see two reasons

and then we're going to talk about two questions that arise.

We're going to do reason

and then a question that arises

and reason and then a question that arises.

So let, first of all,

in verse 11, what do we see?

What is the first reason in verse 11?

We are not to judge

because judgment is a violation of humility.

You see, in verse 11,

as you look through the flow,

it's actually a little bit more challenging

than we think to know what he's saying here,

but he starts by saying,

do not speak evil.

And this word has been translated in lots of different ways.

Sometimes it's slander.

Sometimes it's criticized.

In other translations, malign, disparage, backbite.

The core idea here is that of defamation.

That is, we speak to denigrate,

to speak down of someone else,

to speak poorly of someone else.

And here's the thing.

This word doesn't say that what you're saying is not true.

It could be truthful things that are being said,

but they're being spoken with the purpose

of elevating ourselves,

and more importantly,

of diminishing or oppressing

or sitting over someone else.

It is not actually as much a violation of love,

for we can speak the truth and love to someone,

but it is a violation of humility.

I am going to stand over you

in the words that I speak about you.

You see this because James then turns the corner,

right?

The one who speaks against one

or judges one,

and that's where you see he turns his vocabulary to say,

this is about our judgment of other people.

And to sit with a power to condemn others,

often, maybe always,

with a heart of selfishness or jealousy

that drives us,

we love to put others down.

We love to put others down

so that we might seem better than them.

And the focus here, I think,

is on verbal judgment.

We're in a long section

where Peter's been,

or I'm sorry,

where James has been talking about speech

and words.

But remember what we read earlier

in James chapter 2,

James 2 · chapter mention

where he was talking about

how you treat people

when they walk into a meeting room

or a meal.

He says,

if you pay attention to the one

who wears the fine clothing

and say,

you sit here in a good place,

while you say to the poor man,

you sit over there

or sit down at my feet,

have you not then made distinctions

among yourselves

and become judges

with evil thoughts?

So this judgment can be seen

by the things that we say

and it can be seen

by the way that we treat other people.

James goes on in verse 11

to then say this,

the one who speaks evil

or judges his brother

speaks evil against the law

and judges the law.

You see,

this violation of humility

is not merely because

we want to think better

of ourselves

than other people

and to put them down.

It's also that we

think ourselves better

than God's law.

Because when we judge other people,

we take on

a heart of arrogance.

We know what is right.

We know what is true.

We make ourselves

the judge, jury,

and executioner

of someone else.

We determine by our words

their standing

before God's law.

And we pronounce

their place

before God's law

by our evaluation.

Mother Teresa

famously said

that you can't judge others

because if you do,

there's no room

to love others.

when we spend

our time

condemning others,

we fail then

to become

a doer of the law

as James has been

encouraging us

throughout this whole letter.

When we allow

our minds

to be consumed

with thinking

and meditating on

and developing

our argumentation

for why someone else

is in the wrong

and why we should

disparage them,

we have no room

left in our heart

to actually love

someone.

We violate God's law

and it's called

a humility

and it's called

to integrity.

This is what Jody

read to us

in the passage earlier.

The words of Jesus.

Why do you look

at your brother

and see the speck

in his eye

and ignore

the log

in your own?

when we

speak

and think

and act

in judgment

of others,

we are denying

the reality

of our own

sinfulness

and our own

deserve

of judgment.

One commentator,

Alex Motier,

says this,

defamation

defamation

begins

and lives

on

in our minds.

It is something

we say to ourselves

long before

we pass it on.

But if our minds

were drilled

in biblical attitudes,

then love

for our brothers

would begin

to root out

censoriousness.

That's a big word.

Would root out

our critical spirit.

Consideration

for our neighbors

would begin

to replace

the hurtful

and arrogant

words.

Replace them

with helpful

and caring

pastoral

concern

for others.

Friends,

God tells us

to stop

judging others

because it is

a violation

of the humility

that he calls

us to.

what are the

contexts in which

we might be

tempted to?

I thought

about a few

in our culture

today.

Our political

leanings

and affiliations

are areas

where it is

very easy

to demonize

the other

who disagrees

with us

and to look

down on them

and to treat

them as less

because of

our disagreements.

it also

can happen

in lots

of other

ways.

In families,

how we

parent

is an easy

place for us

to sit in

judgment

of other

families

and other

parents.

It's easy

for us to

judge one

another in

the choices

of schools

that we

make.

It's easy

to look down

on a Yankees

fan if you're

a Red Sox

fan.

All right,

that's humor.

We can laugh

about that,

right?

But we do

this from the

trivial to the

very important,

how we spend

our money.

There's so

many different

areas in which

we are so

quick to

judge other

people.

What movies

will you watch

or not watch?

What media

will you consume

or not

consume?

all these

things.

It's so

easy for us

to judge

one another.

And look,

we need to

recognize something.

In all of

these areas,

from the

most serious

ones to the

most trivial,

there's a

great opportunity

for robust

discussion,

civil

disagreement,

and strong

feelings.

It's okay to

talk about

these things

and to have

disagreements

about them.

In fact,

we ought to

see them as

wonderful opportunities

for us to

grow by

discussing and

learning how

others who

think differently

than us,

how they think

about what

they believe

and how they

live.

So I'm not

saying that we

ought to never

talk about these

things or even

not to disagree

about them.

But when we

become the

police,

when we sit

in judgment

of others,

when we

dismiss them,

disparage them

in word or

in deed,

James says we

lack humility

and we have

failed to walk

in the path

of wisdom

and wholeness

that this book

is encouraging

us to walk

in.

So this is

the first thing

and it raises

a question for

us.

If you've been

in church for

a while or

even if in

our society,

there are times

when we have

this sense,

but doesn't

the Bible tell

us to judge?

Doesn't the

Bible says we

need to make

decisions about

things?

We need to

determine what

is right.

And the fact

is that the

answer is yes,

it is true.

Jesus himself

told the crowds

stop judging

by mere

appearances and

make a right

judgment about

the religious

leaders.

In Matthew

7, right

after the

do not

judge,

Jesus tells

the crowds

in 7,

15 and

following to

beware of

false prophets

of those who

will teach

untrue things

and who live

lives that are

contrary to

God's path.

In Galatians 2,

we see the

apostle Paul

confronting his

brother, the

apostle Peter,

because of his

behavior and how

he was disparaging

the Gentiles

and denying

the gospel in

the process.

We know that

in Matthew

18 and in

1 Corinthians

5 and 6,

the church is

called to

address sin

in the lives

of a brother

or sister,

even to the

point of

declaring them

no longer

consistent in

their profession

of faith and

their life.

So we need

to acknowledge

that yes,

the Bible does

call us to

have discernment

and even at

times to

make judgment.

But listen

to Galatians

Galatians 6:1

chapter 6

verses 1

and 2

or 1

through 3.

The apostle

Paul writes

this,

Restore a

fallen brother

or sister,

but do it in

all humility.

Brothers,

if anyone is

caught in any

transgression,

you who are

spiritual should

restore him.

in a spirit

of gentleness,

keep watch on

yourself,

lest you too

be tempted.

Bear one

another's burdens

and so fulfill

the law of

Christ.

For if anyone

thinks he is

something when

he is nothing,

he deceives

himself.

So what the

Bible says is

there are times

to make

determinations,

to make

evaluations,

to discern

truth and error

right from wrong.

it is right

to do that.

But the only

way that we

are able to

do that

before God

properly

is with the

kind of

humility

that James

has talked

about in the

previous passage

and the kind

of humility

that Paul

addresses here.

I am not

better than you.

I know that

I too am

prone to sin.

I know

that I am

not beyond

failing.

I know that

I don't have

all wisdom

and knowledge

and yet I

bring this

to you,

brother,

sister,

with gentleness

and with

tears

and humility.

That's the

kind of

judgment

that God

does expect

us to

exercise

more broadly.

And so

Doug Moo

in his

commentary

says,

James is not

prohibiting the

proper and

necessary

discrimination

that every

Christian

should

exercise.

James rebukes

jealous,

censorious,

again there's

that word,

critical speech

by which we

condemn others

as being wrong

in the sight

of God.

And friends,

this leads us

to the second

reason why

judgment is

wrong.

It is because

judgment of

others usurps

God's right

role as the

judge of all.

The end of

verse 12,

he says,

who are you

to judge

your neighbor?

And the

answer is,

you are

nobody.

Because,

go back to

the beginning

of the

verse,

because there

is one

God,

one

judge,

one

lawgiver,

and it

is not

you.

You were

not tasked

with being

the judge

of the

world.

You were

not tasked

with making

all things

right

everywhere.

It is

not your

job to

redeem and

fix the

world.

There is a

God in

heaven.

But we

love judgment.

Do you know

why?

It's because

it's at the

very root of

our sin

nature.

Go back

to the

Garden of

Eden.

Do you

remember what

the serpent

brought to

Adam and

Eve?

doubting

God.

Did God

really say?

And then

denying God's

truthfulness.

You will

not surely

die.

And then

baiting him.

In fact,

you can be

like God.

You can

take God's

place of

determining

what's right

and wrong

in the

world.

You can

take God's

place to

be the

judge of

your own

goodness

and

happiness.

James

says,

there is

only one

lawgiver

and one

judge.

And it

is not

us.

It is

the God

who created

the heavens

and the

earth.

And the

root of

our self-centered,

self-important

passions,

the root of

our sitting

above God's

law or

sitting above

our brothers

and sisters

and judging

them and

putting them

in their

place is

ultimately

a rejection

of God

himself.

God who

is the

only one

who by

his nature

is the

lawgiver

because he

is the

one who

embodies

all that

is perfectly

right and

good in

the world.

He is

the only

judge for

as creator

all of

his creation

is accountable

to him.

He knows

all things.

He has

created all

things and

given all

things life.

life.

And the

Bible

affirms

over and

over again

that he

is altogether

right in

all of his

evaluations.

James goes

on and

says he

alone has

the power

to save

and to

destroy.

We

recognize

that as

our creator

God holds

our life

in his

hands.

He holds

right and

wrong in

his hands.

he holds

the

eternity

our

eternity

in his

hands.

And he

is able

to both

save and

destroy.

And when

we take

up that

place,

when we

sit in

the seat

of judgment,

we are

usurping

God.

Friends,

this is a

frightening

place to

be.

Listen to

the words

the writer

of Hebrews.

A warning

to us.

He says,

for if we

go on

sinning

deliberately

after receiving

the knowledge

of the

truth,

there no

longer remains

a sacrifice

for sins,

but a

fearful

expectation

of judgment

and a

fury of

fire that

will consume

the

adversaries.

Anyone who

has set

aside the

law of

Moses dies

without

mercy on

the evidence

of two or

three witnesses.

How much

worse do you

think will be

deserved for

the one who

has trampled

underfoot the

Son of God

and has

profaned the

blood of the

covenant by

which he was

sanctified and

has outraged

the spirit

of grace.

For we

know him,

that is God,

who said,

vengeance is

mine, I

will repay.

And again,

the Lord will

judge his

people.

It is a

fearful thing

to fall into

the hands of

a living God.

God.

And friends,

it is to

our peril

when we

choose to

try to

usurp that

God's role

and to be

the judge,

jury, and

executioner

ourselves.

And this

raises a

second question

for us that

is a very

pertinent one

today.

God doesn't

seem to be

getting it

right.

What about

the injustice

of the world?

What about

the wrongs?

What about

the wrongs

that I have

suffered?

What about

the wrongs

that have

happened in

our history?

What about

the wrongs?

It looks

like evil

is winning

sometimes.

We're afraid

that evil

will triumph

triumph.

And that

God's

judgment

is not

sufficient.

And he

does not

execute his

judgment in

our timing

quickly enough.

There's a

whole other

sermon to be

preached in

response to

this question,

but I want to

give just two

thoughts.

First,

there is a

right place

for speaking

the truth in

love.

There is a

right place

for resisting

evil.

There is a

right place

for confronting

sin, both

individually in

relationships with

others, and

societally and

globally.

It is right to

call sin,

sin.

It is right to

point out what

was wrong.

This command

that to not

usurp God's

role as a

judgment does

not mean that

we cannot work

for a better

society.

It does not

mean that we

cannot look

to and call

our society

to a higher

standard.

But in the

end, we must

recognize that

we will never

create the

perfect society.

Our ability

to judge

and our

ability to

redeem

are similarly

weakened by

our creatureliness

and by our

sinfulness.

We are not

the ones to

make things

right in the

world.

ultimately,

God is.

We will all

stand before

his judgment

one day.

We will all

appear before

the judgment

seat of Christ,

says 2

Corinthians 5.

So is God

not doing it

right?

Well, friends,

the Bible

assures us that

God will judge

every sin.

He has

promised to

eradicate all

unrighteousness.

He has

promised a

kingdom that

is coming that

will be perfectly

just and

beautifully right.

The arrogant,

the wrongdoer,

the proud,

the violent,

and the bigoted,

they will all be

judged and they

will receive

their reward.

When we feel

like the

unjust are

winning,

there is great

comfort.

And throughout

history,

the church has

found great

comfort in

knowing that

even if God

does not punish

them today,

there will not

be one who

will get away

with what

they are doing.

You see,

the gospel

tells us

something much

more wonderful.

God is so

committed to

justice,

so committed

to righteousness,

so committed

to punishing

evil,

that he

sent his

very own

son to

die on

the cross

so that he

may redeem

sinners.

You see,

friends,

if we were

honest,

we would

recognize that

as much as

we want to

judge others,

we are

terrified of

God judging

us.

If we are

humble enough

to know our

own sin,

then we are

terrified that

God is a

judge.

judge.

And only

the proud

would think,

I have the

right to

judge others

because I

can stand

before God

as a

righteous

man.

The gospel

says,

no,

we are all

sinners,

and because

of that,

we are all

under God's

judgment.

And God

takes that

so seriously

that he

will not

give us

a pass

because we're

a little

better than

someone else.

He won't

give us a

pass because

we've been

doing good

church things

for a long

time.

He doesn't

give us a

pass simply

by our

own

righteousness.

It will

never be

enough to

satisfy his

righteous

standards.

For God

to be the

judge of

the world

and the

justifier of

the ungodly

like you

and me,

there was

only one

way he

could do

it.

He sent

his son,

Jesus

Christ,

the perfect

man who

deserved no

judgment.

And he,

the just,

went to

the cross

to bear

the punishment

for the

unjust,

which is

you and

me,

that he

might bring

us to

God.

And friends,

this is the

good news

of the

gospel.

This is the

great news

about judgment

is that

judgment is

real and it

will happen,

but God

has created

a place

of safety.

He has

created an

ark by

which we

might ride

through the

storm of

God's

judgment

judgment

when all

evil will

be judged.

And that

is in

faith in

Jesus

Christ,

our only

Savior,

the only

righteous

one,

the only

one who

has the

power to

judge.

Friends,

it is on

this basis

that James

calls us

to forsake

our sin

of judging

others,

forsake our

proud,

self-justifying,

forsake our

trust in

our own

discernment

and our

own

righteousness,

forsake our

judgmental

spirit and

our condemning

words and

our shunning

actions.

To forsake

all of these

things and

the humility

come to

the cross,

come to

the place

where justice

and mercy

meet,

come and

know the

grace of

God.

God.

And in

doing so,

let God

be the

judge of

all things.

Let's

pray.

Lord, we

are thankful

for you

this morning.

Lord, we

are thankful

that even

though we

deserve

judgment,

you have

made a

way for

us in

Christ.

Lord, may

we not

trample on

the greatness

of that

salvation by

becoming

judgmental

people who

look down

and disparage

others.

But Lord,

help us with

humility to

walk before

you.

And Lord,

help us to

be those who

walk in a

path of

wisdom for

righteousness

sake.

We pray

this in

Jesus'

name.

Amen.