A Living Faith Evidenced in Godly Affections: Part 4 (James 4:1-12)
Click here for previous posts on James 4: part 1, part 2, and part 3.
James has addressed the manifest problem of quarreling and fighting. Then he pinpointed the source of such a problem. Finally, he revealed the solution to that problem incentivized by the Holy Spirit’s conviction. Now the believers need to apply that solution to their situation.
Moving Forward with the Solution (James 4:11-12)
What are we to make of James’ concern in James 4:11–12 in context? Are we supposed to conclude from these verses that believers are out of step with God’s Word for evaluating others’ lifestyles and admonishing them for worldliness? Certainly not! Not only would that contradict the very thing that James has just done in the previous section, but it also cannot be harmonized with the rest of Scripture’s clear teachings to do that very thing (just a few examples: Matt 7; Rom 15:14; 1 Thess 5:14ff.; Gal 6:1ff.). In fact, James concludes this letter in James 5:19–20 by encouraging believers to address sin in others’ lives!
What we should make out regarding James’ concern in James 4:11–12 is a concern that believers avoid a wrong kind of judging. The key seems to revolve around different motives/intents and a different basis of authority in making a particular kind of judgement.
James condemns speaking evil of a brother. Thus, the motive/intent is to destroy rather than to restore. Certainly, there is a difference between a subjective personal attack against a person and a sober objective biblical evaluation of the fruit of a person’s life out of alignment with the teachings of God’s Word. There’s a difference between guessing about a person’s heart motives and appealing for realignment with God’s Word in one’s observable actions.
James also condemns taking on God’s role as the ultimate judge and placing oneself as the judge over God’s law as if you are the one who has the authority even over God’s law. I believe this condemns extra-biblical human tradition being added to God’s law as if God’s law was not sufficient. And it condemns making use of that extra-biblical self-written law and self-given authority to stand in God’s place to damn people’s souls. Let’s be clear that James is not condemning connecting a concrete application of God’s principles or implications from God’s law to evaluate the fruit of a person’s life. But he is condemning exactly what the Pharisees were guilty of throughout the gospels. He is condemning presuming the role of the ultimate determiner of someone else’s eternal destiny. We do not have the authority to curse others to eternal damnation—certainly not based on a law that we ourselves invent as if we were the lawgiver (cf. 3:9-10).
One last caution seems to be in view. It is always easier to point fingers at others (rooted in pride and jealousy resulting in fighting; cf. James 3:1–4:4). James encourages believers to pay attention to themselves regarding whether they themselves are being a doer of the Word. If you’re too busy judging whether the law is strict enough and judging others for not meeting up to your own strictures, you won’t be focusing on whether you yourself are being a doer of the Word (James 4:11, pointing back to the main thrust of the whole book in James 1:22–27). Certainly, this does not undermine healthy biblical admonishment. But it rightfully cautions against misplaced priorities and misdirected judgments.
Douglas Moo helpfully clarifies:
In light of the argument of these verses, therefore, we should note that James is not prohibiting the proper, and necessary, discrimination that every Christian should exercise. Nor is he forbidding the right of the community to exclude from its fellowship those it deems to be in flagrant disobedience to the standards of the faith, or to determine right and wrong among its members (1 Corinthians 5 and 6). James rebukes jealous, censorious speech by which we condemn others as being wrong in the sight of God. It is this sort of judging that Paul condemned among the Roman Christians, who were apparently questioning the reality of one another’s faith because of differing views on the applicability of some ritual laws (Rom. 14:1-13; see esp. v. 3-4 and 10-13). It is entirely possible that some situation like this was responsible for the problems James addresses. A bitter, selfish spirit (3:13-18) had given rise to quarrels and disputes about certain matters in the church (4:1-2). These disputes were apparently conducted, as they usually are, with a notable absence of restraint in the use of the tongue (3:1-12), including perhaps cursing (3:10) and denunciations (4:11-12) of one another. Such behavior is nothing more than a manifestation of a worldly spirit (3:1-5; 4:1, 4).1
In conclusion, let us focus on being doers of the law ourselves (James 1:22–27; 4:11), according to the central biblical ethic of loving our neighbors (James 2:8) with a spirit of mercy (James 2:12–13). This living faith will be evidenced by our works (James 2:26). And when we do have disputes, we should be displaying the wisdom that comes from above in our speech and conduct (James 3:17–18); we should be turning to God in rightly motivated prayer (James 4:2–3). Above all we must by God’s grace be characterized by humble holiness rather than worldliness (James 4:4–10). And all of this will direct proper instead of improper judgments (James 4:11–12).
Kevin Collins has served as a junior high youth leader in Michigan, a missionary in Singapore, a Christian School teacher in Utah, and a Bible writer for the BJU Press. He currently works for American Church Group of South Carolina.
Photo by Ben White on Unsplash
- Moo, James, 199. [↩]