But Who Are You? - a podcast by Rev. W. Reid Hankins

Sermon preached on James 4:11-12 by Rev. W. Reid Hankins during the Morning Worship Service at Trinity Presbyterian Church (OPC) on 04/25/2021 in Novato, CA..















Sermon Manuscript







James has been confronting his original readers regarding their conflicts with one another. He has also been confronting them on their use of their tongues – on what they say. We’ve been noting how those things can be connected. We can sin against someone in what we say. Well, today’s passage specifically develops this connection. James again confronts them on their behavior when it comes of how they are sinfully speaking against others.







Though we can notice that his tone changes a bit here. Last week it was such a strong word of rebuke where he called them double minded sinners and wretches. But then he pointed them back to the fountain of God’s grace. And so here he resumes referring to them as brothers. And yet while that should comfort and encourage them, it also should remind them that they have been speaking ill of their brothers. Such is the topic we find being addressed today.







Let us begin in our first point by considering verse 11’s admonition to not speak evil against one another. The word here sometimes is translated as “slander” which is when you attack someone’s character or reputation, often by making false statements about them. But the Greek word is even broader than that, literally to means to “speak against someone”. And so, it prohibits any sort of sinful speech that you direct against someone. Technically this could be done in someone’s presence, but often this kind of speaking against someone is done when they are not present. You speak ill of them and discredit them, and often behind their back. So then, verse 11 is a general prohibition of speaking in an evil manner against someone else.







James further adds to this prohibition in verse 11 when he speaks of the related concern of judging. See how he closely pairs these together when he refers both saying, “the one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother”. Notice that he again is concerned that this is something they are doing to their fellow Christian brothers. So then, James puts speaking evil against others in a similar category here as judging others. It seems James is not talking about two different sins but using nuanced language to help describe what he is addressing. The way they have been speaking evil against each other is also a form of sinful judging. In fact, this idea of inappropriate judging is at the heart of this passage and referenced in various ways.







We recall that Jesus spoke against sinful judging in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 7:1, he said, “Judge not, that you be not judged. For with what judgment you judge, you will be judged; and with the measure you use, it will be measured back to you.” That is an often abused verse because some people will take it to mean that we can’t ever speak out against anyone, regardless of their conduct or creed. But Scripture must interpret Scripture, and there are too many places where we learn that there are times when we must make judgments. What Jesus and what James here must forbid is sinful judging. Even James next chapter, in 5:19, speaks of how it is good if we help a sinful wandering brother back to the truth. Such implies that we would need to recognize and make a determination that a brother is wandering sinfully away from Christ.







And yet it’s James’s point in 5:19 that can help understand in contrast what he is condemning here. It’s one thing to lovingly urge a wayward Christian back to the truth. It’s another to go around and denouncing him before others and pontificating to others that the person should have no place in the church.

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