Judging and Boasting

James deals with two issues in James 4:11-17.

The first issues that James deals with is judging.

James 4:11-12

Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you – who are you to judge your neighbor?

James tells us we are not to slander one another. Slander is saying something about someone to others so that it harms them. James says that when we do that, we are judging that person.

In Matthew 7:1a Jesus tells us to judge not.

Then in Matthew 7:1b-2 Jesus tells us why. He says, “That you be not judged. For with the judgment you pronounce you will be judged, and with the measure you use it will be measured to you.”

Jesus says we are not to judge because the way we judge others will be the way others judge us.

We need to understand what is meant by judging.

Judging is not calling sin, sin.

Judging is not calling something wrong, wrong.

Judging is not in love expressing concern for another’s actions.

Judging is not separating yourself from others whose behavior tempts you to sin.

Judging is saying or thinking things about another that hurts them.

Gossip is judging.

Condemnation is judging.

Slander is judging.

Trying to control another is judging.

Lying about another is judging.

James then goes on to say that when we judge another, we also judge the law. And when we judge the law we are not keeping it.

In Leviticus 19:18 we are commanded to love our neighbor as we love ourselves.

In Mark 12:31 Jesus commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves.

In John 15:12 Jesus commands us to love each other as He loves us.

When I judge, slander, gossip, or condemn another, I am not loving them and I am not obeying the commands of God. I am judging the law and saying I am above the commands of God.

Another huge problem with judging is that it displacing God out of His position of Lawgiver and Judge.

The reason that this position is reserved for God is that God is the only one who can save and destroy.

In Matthew 10:28 Jesus tells His followers that they are not to fear those who can destroy the body, but fear the one who can destroy both body and soul.

God is the one who gave the commands (Lawgiver) and the only one who can judge if a person is obeying them (Judge).

So who are you or I to judge our neighbor? The answer is we are not the ones to judge; only God is.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about loving our neighbors and not judging them.

The second issue James deals with is boasting.

James 4:13-16

Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil.

James tells us not to boast and brag. He says that boasting is evil.

James gives us two reasons why boasting is wrong.

First, we as humans have limited knowledge.

We don’t know for certainty what will happen tomorrow.

We have finite knowledge – God has infinite knowledge.

We have finite power – God has infinite power.

We have finite authority – God has infinite authority.

Second, we as humans don’t live long.

Our lives are compared to a morning mist that appears for a short time and then goes away.

I remember as a child thinking that people in their 50’s and 60’s were old. Now, in my mid 60’s I look at anybody under 100 as not really old.

When you say 80 or 90 or 100 years it sounds like a long time, but when you live it, it seems like a short time.

I may plan many things for myself, but my lifespan my very well not allow me to accomplish a lot of those plans.

Psalm 90:12 is a prayer of Moses where he asks God to teach us to number our days. We are to live knowing that it is God, not us, that determines the length of our lives.   

If we are going to boast we need to boast about Jesus, not about ourselves or what we are going to do or about what we have accomplished.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is about humbling ourselves by boasting about God.

James 4:17

Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.

Sin is not just not doing certain things.

Sin is not doing what God wants us to do. Sin doesn’t have to be aggressive; it can be very passive.

Sin can also be very subtle.

Sin can be gossiping about another person.

Sin can be quietly condemning another person.

Sin can be boasting about what we are going to do or what we have done.

Sin can be making plans without consulting God to find what His will is.

These don’t look like sin to most people, but they do to God and that is what matters.

Raise the Roof and Remove the Walls is knowing what God wants and doing it.

With Love and Humility Raising the Roof and Removing the Walls

                                                 Joe