SPEAK NO EVIL!
Posted by Pastor Greg Allen on August 21, 2024 under AM Bible Study |
AM Bible Study Group: August 21, 2024 from James 4:11-12
Theme: We must cease speaking evil of one another in the body of Christ.
(All Scripture is taken from The New King James Version, unless otherwise indicated).
I don’t know about you; but the words of Proverbs 18:8 always make my toes curl a bit. It says;
The words of a talebearer are like tasty trifles,
And they go down into the inmost body (Proverbs 18:8).
The Hebrew word that’s translated as “tasty trifles” speaks of something that’s swallowed down greedily—like candy. And that certainly describes the words of a ‘talebearer’ or a ‘gossip’; doesn’t it? But it’s interesting that, according to a Hebrew tradition, the same word is translated as “wounds”; and that’s how it’s translated in the old King James Version. That also describes the nature of the talebearer’s words. They go down deep “into the inmost body”; and cause terrible damage to the speaker, the hearer, and to the one being spoken against. It’s a cringe-worthy verse; and it must be something that God wants us to take to heart, because the Holy Spirit has chosen to repeat the same words again in Proverbs 26:22! Once should be enough … but twice constitutes a warning to be taken very seriously!
And it’s with that terrible symbolism in mind that we consider Pastor James’ words of instruction in James 4:11-12. He wrote to his beloved church family and told them;
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. There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another? (James 4:11-12).
This speaks of a sin within the body of Christ that most of us wouldn’t have any difficulty identifying or recognizing as evil when we see it in others. But sadly, it’s also one that we tend to dismiss all too easily in ourselves … or that we even enjoy by proxy when it’s committed by others in our hearing. It’s a sin that we can find ways to justify when we commit it; thinking to ourselves, “Well; the person that I’m sharing this with probably needs to know this … so that they can pray more effectively.” It’s a sin in ourselves that we all find ways to excuse. But as James describes it, it’s a serious sin that bears the marks of deep sacrilege; because by it, we both dare to mistreat a brother or sister in Christ, and to set ourselves up above God as we commit it.
James’ words in this passage teach us that we must cease speaking evil of one another in the body of Christ.
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Let’s begin our look at this passage by considering first …
1. THE COMMAND THAT JAMES GIVES US.
At the beginning of verse 11, James wrote; “Do not speak evil of one another, brethren.” The phrase “evil speaking” is one word in the original language. It’s made from two Greek words put together: kata which means “against”, and laleō which means “to speak”. And so; katalaleō means “to speak against” someone or “to speak evil” of them.
Notice also that this command is put in a very particular form. It’s stated in what’s called ‘a prohibition in the present imperative’. That means that James was issuing a command to cease a behavior that was assumed to be already going on. It’s as if he was saying, “You are currently in the ongoing habit of speaking evil of one another, brethren … and you must stop it!” It’s like a command that was given—in a similar form—in James 5:9;
Do not grumble against one another, brethren, lest you be condemned. Behold, the Judge is standing at the door! (5:9).
How might we ‘speak evil’ of one another in the body of Christ? It can take several forms. It can, for example, come as the propagation of an outright lie about a fellow believer. This, of course, would be a very serious thing to do; because it would be to engage in the practice of the devil himself. Our Lord Jesus warned us in John 8:44 that the devil “is a liar and the father of it”. But evil-speaking can come in less overt ways than in outright lies; such as manipulating the telling of the truth about a brother or sister in such a way as to have the same effect as a lie—highlighting certain things and excluding others, so that a false impression about a brother or sister is put forth. It can also come in the form of sharing something about a brother or sister as if true, but without having really investigated it or without having an edifying purpose for sharing it.
But perhaps the most common way of speaking evil against a brother or sister is through sharing something that is, in fact true, but that is not necessary to share; something that would be better to conceal, and that the sharing of which is intended to diminish that brother or sister in some way. It would be the sin of a talebearer. As it says in Proverbs 11:13;
A talebearer reveals secrets,
But he who is of a faithful spirit conceals a matter (Proverbs 11:13).
Few of us who profess to be followers of Jesus would share an outright lie about someone in the church family. But we often share truths unnecessarily out of a secret desire to hurt them.
So; this is the command: “Do not speak evil of one another, brethren.” Let’s next consider …
2. THE REASONS WHY JAMES GAVE THIS COMMAND.
A first reason is drawn by implication from what James says in verse 11; “He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother …” And so, one reason for James’ command not to speak evil of a fellow Christian is that evil-speaking makes us out to be against our own family.
It’s important to notice that James gave this command within the context of the body of Christ; declaring the ‘one another’ of this command to be our own brethren in Christ. The family relationship we share with one another is very prominent in James’ mind when he gave this instruction. In fact, if you notice carefully, you’ll find that the words that are used to describe our family relationship with one another are found three times in just verse 11 alone. It’s a terrible thing to “speak against” one another in the body of Christ; because when we do so, we speak against someone for whom Jesus loves and shed His precious blood—someone with whom we share a common heavenly Father (in that God has adopted us both as His own children); and with whom we have a common Brother (in the person of Jesus Christ our Savior); and with whom we are sealed in a bond of eternal kinship (in that we are brought together permanently into God’s family by the Holy Spirit who seals us together and indwells us both).
When we speak evil of one another within the body of Christ, we behave like none of those spiritual realities are true. How it must break our Lord’s heart when we, who have been redeemed by His precious blood, also speak evil of someone else that Jesus redeemed by that same blood! As the apostle John has put it to us;
Beloved, let us love one another, for love is of God; and everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. He who does not love does not know God, for God is love. In this the love of God was manifested toward us, that God has sent His only begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him. In this is love, not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son to be the propitiation for our sins. Beloved, if God so loved us, we also ought to love one another (1 John 4:7-11).
Another reason that James gave the command to cease speaking evil of a brother or sister in Christ is because evil-speaking makes us out to be above God’s law. James wrote, “He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law”.
In His ‘Sermon on The Mount’, the Lord Jesus taught—in Matthew 7:1—“Judge not, that you be not judged.” But it’s obvious that He didn’t mean that no judgment was ever to be made with respect to other people; because in the same sermon, He warned us to beware of false prophets whose nature we would recognize by their ‘fruits’. That’s something that would be impossible to do without exercising at least some form of judgment. Rather what He meant—and what James meant as well—was that we’re not to judge the motives and character of others on the basis of our own self-made standards, and evaluate them in a way that’s distinct from God’s own revealed commandments and instructions. We’re not to—as it were—set up our own ‘laws’ and judge others on the basis of them; because as Jesus went on to warn;
For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you (v. 2).
As those who live under God’s revealed truth in this world, there are times when it is proper and appropriate to make judgment calls about things as being truly “right” or “wrong”. But how can we know when it’s a proper and just thing to do? A good rule to follow is to consider the ‘authority’ on which we base our judgment. If it’s a matter of humble submission to the judgment that God has already declared in His holy word, then—obviously—it would be appropriate. But if it’s a matter of the arrogant creation of our own fleshly criteria for judgment—in defiance of or in disregard to the limitations of God’s revealed judgment in Scripture—then it would be sinful for us to pass judgment on our brother or sister. To judge in that second way—that is, on the basis of our own self-created standards—would be tantamount to speaking against and judging God’s law.
This was why James went on to say, “But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.” This is true for two basic reasons. First, when we speak evil toward a brother and judge a brother, we are ourselves directly breaking God’s law. We are not ‘doing’ God’s law; because God Himself said in His law that talebearing and evil-speaking of others is something that we ought not do. In Leviticus 19:16-18; God said through Moses;
“You shall not go about as a talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbor: I am the Lord.
“You shall not hate your brother in your heart. You shall surely rebuke your neighbor, and not bear sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord” (Leviticus 19:16-18).
Clearly, whenever we speak against and judge a fellow believer in the way that our Lord forbade, we ourselves are actually breaking this primary commandment from God. We’re no longer ‘doing’ God’s law. But even more horribly, we’re actually setting ourselves up as judges of God’s law; and are in essence declaring that God’s laws are not sufficient for us. We’re presuming to know how to modify God’s rules for living and make them even better than He intended. We’re actually claiming to have a more righteous standard of judgment for other people than God Himself.
When we thus judge our brother or sister, we’re no longer seeing ourselves as being obligated to the same law as our brother or sister, but are daring to sit in judgment of God’s law with a law of our own. And as James warned us in James 1:22;
But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves (James 1:22).
And a third reason that James gave the command to cease speaking evil of a brother or sister in Christ is because evil-speaking makes us out to be in the place of judgment that only our Lord Jesus Christ should occupy. As James wrote in verse 12, “There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?”
The apostle Paul was often subjected to the ungodly and fleshly judgments of others. And frequently, professing believers within the church were even getting caught up in such judgments against him. But he wrote in 1 Corinthians 4:4-5 and told them;
For I know of nothing against myself, yet I am not justified by this; but He who judges me is the Lord. Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness and reveal the counsels of the hearts. Then each one’s praise will come from God (1 Corinthians 4:4-5).
This gives us an extremely wise policy to follow when it comes to the members of the church family. We should allow the Lord Jesus to do the judging; because He alone is qualified to do so. Only He has the full wisdom and insight into the thoughts and motives of our brothers and sisters in Christ; for we only look on the outward appearance, but He looks at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). Also, He alone knows how to deal with the actual sins of our brothers or sisters in a way that is perfectly balanced with justice and mercy. He is “merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abounding in goodness and truth” (Exodus 34:6). And because He willingly gave Himself to suffer on the cross, and alone paid the full penalty for sin, He alone is qualified to declare someone who trusts in Him to be ‘free from condemnation’ with regard to whatever sin they may have committed. He is the one who died for them, and furthermore is also risen for them, who is even at the right hand of God for them, who also makes intercession for them (Romans 8:33-34).
And so; in the original language of the end of verse 12, James spoke in a very emphatic way; writing, “But you—who are you to judge another?”; or as some translations have it, “to judge your neighbor?” It’s not our place to sit in judgment of those who belong to Another. The apostle Paul similarly wrote;
Who are you to judge another’s servant? To his own master he stands or falls. Indeed, he will be made to stand, for God is able to make him stand (Romans 14:4).
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So then; what should we do about this sinful tendency in us to speak evil of our brothers and sisters and sit in judgment of them? Here are some suggestions:
First, we should repent of all forms of gossip and slander and talebearing. This passage assumes that it’s going on already, and is commanding us to stop it. Let’s ask God to show us where we have offended Him and have injured others in this sin; and allow His Holy Spirit to apply His conviction to us in this area.
Second, we need to gently but resolutely respond when we see this sin occurring in the church. When we hear a conversation turning to open slander of a fellow believer, we need to stop the conversation and say, “I’m sorry, but I must excuse myself from this kind of talk.” Or, when we hear gossip being shared with us about someone else, we need to ask, “Have you discussed this matter with them yet? If not, then are you willing for us to go together and do so now?”
Third, we need to deliberately replace this sin with what God would have us do instead. That’s how all such bad habits are broken. As the apostle Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:29-30;
Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers. And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption (Ephesians 4:29-30).
And finally, we need to agree together that this is a sin that has no place in the body of Christ or in our lives. In fact, we need to recognize that no one who has fellowship with a holy God can ongoingly practice it. As it says in 1 John 4:20-21;
If someone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also (1 John 4:20-21).
May God—by the indwelling Spirit of Christ—help us increasingly to obey this command: “Do not speak evil of one another, brethren.”
AE
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