Judgement and Boasting

Intro

Real Faith isn’t Judgmental

James 4:11–12 ESV

Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against 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 only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

When we speak against Christians, we are going against the Law.

Look at Lev. 19:18 “You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord.” or Mark 12:31 “The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these.””

When we are mean and judgmental to our fellow Christians, we go against God.

James pulls a lot of this from Jesus.

Matt. 7:1, Mark 7:20-22, Matt 15:17-19.

Throughout the Book of James, we see different ways in which James is pulling ideas from his big Brother.

The Bible is filled with different examples of how we shouldn’t be judgmental

Judgement and accountability

James is right in saying that God is the only Judge, but He gives Christians the responsibility of holding other Christians accountable.

Christians aren’t supposed to judge other Christians, but that doesn’t mean we are to let people do whatever they want.

We must be willing to let other Christians tell us when we’re going away from God, and be willing to tell others when they are doing the same.

Ex. If you talk like a sailor, you should have friends around you that hold you accountable, and vice versa.

Those that make the claim, “Only God can judge me,” are often the ones who know that they are sinning, but don’t want to deal with their sin.

Don’t judge, but love people well.

Real Faith Doesn’t Boast.

James 4:13-17 “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” As it is, you boast in your arrogance. All such boasting is evil. So whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

This passage has always felt a little weird to me.

It felt like we’re just not supposed to have any plans

You can’t think about what you’re going to have for breakfast tomorrow, because God might kill you.

Anyone else?

Thankfully, that’s not what this passage is actually saying

Don’t value wealth over God.

Something that you guys have been taught to do from the beginning of your schooling is to plan your career, and to have money in mind

Figure out your college, or a career early so that you can make as much money as possible.

I did the same thing! I was going to be a surgeon, both because I liked the idea of medicine, and because I knew that surgeons made a ton of money.

We put all of these plans in place to be “successful” and make a lot of money, but do we ever ask God about it?

Rely on God.

Instead of having all of these ideas on how you’re going to make everything work out, rely on God.

Ask Him what the calling of your life is

It might not be as lucrative, but it will bring you more satisfaction than any amount of money could.

Questions

If you had to get rid of one candy, what would it be?

How can you be someone who holds others accountable without being judgmental?

Do you have people in your life who can hold you accountable? If not, where can you find someone?

How can you be wise and plan for your future, but not boast about tomorrow?