Evil speaking

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 4v11-12

‘Who do you think you are to speak evil of your brother and judge him? Have you got the whole Law figured out? You are so busy trying to interpret the Law for others that you can’t do the Law yourself. Let the Lawgiver do His job. Stop speaking evil of your brother and get busy being a doer.’

Admittedly that is quite a parrowphrase but it does capture the essence of what James is saying here. How can we be about doing the Law if we are looking at everyone else and testing them according to the Law? There are some who seem to have taken on a ministry of judging and speaking evil. They somehow feel justified that they are earnestly contending for the faith. They spend their lives trolling the internet looking for dirt to dig up and post. Those who spend their lives this way are not doers of the word, but set them selves up as judges.

There is one Lawgiver. Why can’t we just let Him sort it out and get busy doing the work ourselves? Does this mean we never confront and expose error? No, of course not. That would not be reasonable or responsible. False teachers must be confronted with the desire to restore them to the truth.

The problem here is the harsh judgemental attitude that results in speaking evil of the brother. The Biblical attitude is love and a desire to correct. The wrong attitude is this harsh desire to punish.