“Do What You Know Is Right”

A father has two sons. One day, out of the blue, the younger son walks into the kitchen and tells the dad something no parent ever wants to hear. I am leaving, and the money you have set aside for me when you die, I want it now. The son is basically saying, “I want what you can give me, but I don’t want you.”

The father, shocked, agrees, and the son leaves with the money. In the city, he chases pleasures that fades, and soon the money is gone. Alone and hungry, he hits rock bottom and finally decides to return home.

As this son begins the long walk up the driveway, he looks up and sees his father running to him. The father embraces him, doesn’t even let him get his speech out, and quickly gets him new clothes, food, and says I am glad you are back, my son. Tonight, we will have a party to celebrate.

Remember, the father had 2 sons. The other son stayed, faithful, working, never wasting money. When he returns and sees the celebration for his brother, he is surprised to find anger instead of joy.

I’m sure that by now most of you recognize this story. This is a parable Jesus told in Luke 15, offered in response to critics of his ministry. Jesus welcomed tax collectors and sinners, and the Pharisees grumbled that he associated with the “wrong” crowd.

When we hear the story of the Prodigal Son, we focus on the younger son. The one who left, but this story highlights the Pharisees. Those who are religious only by name and not by practice.

The younger son shows apparent sin; the older son shows hidden, attitude-based sin, the Pharisees’ kind, and Jesus shines the spotlight on that hidden sin.

Luke 15:28-30- The older brother became angry and refused to go in. So his father went out and pleaded with him. 29 But he answered his father, ‘Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. 30 But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!’

Jesus turns the spotlight on the older brother, the one who stayed, obeyed, and appeared righteous, but his heart, his actions, and words here were not loving. The Pharisees were furious that Jesus would interact with and love sinners. Jesus shows them that the ones who appear righteous are sinners as well.

Both brothers represent sin. The younger son represents sins of the flesh. But the older son represents what a lot of Christians today have, and that is attitude sins. Such as pride, jealousy, anger, gossip, and rebellion.

James has something to say about this in his letter. James 4:11-17 talks about some subtle sins that we commit that hurt our relationship with God. Sadly, what happens in life is that these subtle sins become acceptable to us. They become acceptable because we don’t see them or because the world says this is just how you act. As you think about the older brother, many of us probably see nothing wrong with his actions or words, but his heart was full of pride, his words full of hate, and his attitude toward grace was all mixed up.

James 4:11-17 shows us that sin can quietly take root in our hearts. As I studied this text, I read a sermon by Pastor John Miller that helped me see this passage more clearly. His thoughts helped shape how I’m approaching this text today.

 Real faith keeps God in our words, our plans, and our obedience.

James 4:11-12 - Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. 12 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?

 The harsh, condemning address of 4:4—adulterous people—and of 4:8—sinners and double-minded, gives way here to James’s more familiar brothers. Here, there is a shift from the call to repentance back to teachings relating to specific forms of behavior. James comes back to our words, and how we treat other believers. Remember this passage is teaching that real faith keeps God in our words, how do we do that?

We refuse to tear others down.

James says Don’t slander your brothers and sisters. The Greek word for slander or speak evil has this idea of meeting in corners and gathering in little groups and passing information, when the ones you are talking about are not there to defend themselves.

Notice James’ words in verse 1. They are a command, “do not slander one another”. It’s not an option in the body of Christ. James is commanding us to stop backstabbing, gossiping, and speaking evil of those who are not around to defend themselves.

You may be thinking, well, surely Christians don’t act like that. There is no way that we do any of that, and if you think that way, you are sadly mistaken. It is amazing how cruel Christians can be. It is amazing how we talk about one another in private or in smaller groups. It is amazing how easily we engage in it and see nothing wrong with it. We will call out the drunkard and the adultery, but our gossip that’s not a sin, it’s just information.

A couple of years ago, here at FCC, there were a few high schoolers talking about someone at youth group, and one girl was in the conversation, said, they’re not here to defend themselves and I don’t think we should be talking about them. The conversation stopped, I was shocked, in a good way, but also challenged a high school student just did something that most mature adults can’t do.

Sometimes, the only exercise Christians get is running others down and jumping to conclusions. We love gossiping with our friends, we speculate what is happening in someone’s life.  We slander other people, and many times we don’t even realize it, because it has become so natural. James shows us that real faith in Christ doesn’t do that.

James, so don’t speak this way. This speaking comes from our heart. James says that when we speak in this way, we are judging our fellow believers. We get a little confused when we start talking about judging. James is not forbidding all forms of judgment by Christians. We can and should judge a person’s actions as sinful when they are contrary to the written Word of God. Look at the words of Jesus:

In Matthew 18:15, Jesus said: “If your brother or sister sins,  go and point out their fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over.

Look at what Jesus says here: if you see a brother or sister sin, you should text your best friend or tell everyone else. You should talk behind their back. No, Jesus said Go to them.You confront them privately. You don’t tell anyone else. You take it to them, and you talk to them. There is a time and place to confront people. Jesus said, “You will know them by their fruit.” You might say, “I’m not a judge; I’m just a fruit inspector. And your fruit is rotten.” Jesus said we can discern or ascertain sinful behavior.

What James is condemning is speaking evil of a person without talking to them or allowing them to defend themselves, but we love to do this. We love to talk about people; we love to say things behind people’s backs that we would never say to their face, and James says this should not happen. In the body of Christ, this should not be.

Ask yourself: When you get together with other Christians, how do you talk about your brothers and sisters in Christ? Do you use phrases like, “I don’t mean to be critical, but…” or “Perhaps I shouldn’t say this, but…” or “I really like so-and-so as a person, but…” then we throw in our little tidbit. We let our prideful hearts get in the way of brotherly love.

That’s what that older brother did. He said, “That son of his. He wasted his money on prostitutes, and now he’s had a party for him. I’ve been a good boy all my life. I’ve done everything right. I deserve a party.” His heart wasn’t right. His attitude wasn’t right. There are a lot of Christians who are saying things about other Christians that dishonor God and are sinful. We often put others down to make ourselves look good. This is sinful behavior.

James says it is sinful behavior because when we act like this, verse 11, we contradict or speak against the law. What law is he talking about? Leviticus 19:18 “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.” James, back in 2:8, says this is the royal law because Jesus gave it again.

When we don’t guard our words and let our hearts be full of pride, we slander our neighbor, and we do not keep the law of love. When we don’t talk to the person face-to-face and talk about it with others, we are judging them without their knowledge. We are being critical, finding fault, stirring division, and dimming our witness for the Lord. We don’t know why a brother or sister might be doing what they are doing, we can’t judge the motives of their heart because only God knows, so it does us no good to slander them. If they are sinning, we are to confront them directly. When we slander, speculate, judge, and talk about why someone is doing something, we are elevating ourselves to lawgiver or judge. That’s what verse 12 says.

Look at the question verse 12 asks, “Who are you to judge”? If we are critical, trying to find fault in people, and talking with others about their actions without talking to them, we are not judging righteously or correctly. We are trying to elevate ourselves to do the work that only God can do. Only God knows what’s going on in a person’s life. Only God knows a person’s heart. We don’t have all the facts. We don’t know everything. God is the only one who can save and destroy; our slander does nothing for our brother or sister.

Charles Swindoll, in a book, shares a story of something that happened to him when he was in seminary. He says all the students were gathered together for chapel, and a missionary came to give a talk. He said it was terrible; the worst he had ever heard. After the service was over, he was at the back of the church criticizing, attacking, and defaming. He got a group around him and said, “Can’t that guy preach the Word? Doesn’t he know how to talk? That was miserable!”

Then a younger student came up and said, “Chuck, you don’t know all the facts.”

He said, “What do you mean? That was a terrible message.”

The young student pulled him aside and said, “Do you realize that two hours before that missionary showed up to teach the service that he got a call from his wife that his daughter had just been murdered? And do you realize that two weeks ago, his wife was diagnosed with cancer and not expected to live?” Chuck said that it just hit him to realize how foolish he had been.

Many times, all we can focus on is me. Well, they didn’t say hi, they must be mad. She posted this picture on Facebook; her marriage must in trouble. That text seemed short; he must not want my help. Hey, did you hear about Sandy? Did you see Harry’s kids at the game last night? He had no control over them, and where was his wife? I bet there is trouble.

We don’t know anything about the back end of any of these situations. Maybe the person who didn’t say hi just got a phone call that was horrible news. Maybe the picture on Facebook without her spouse was because her kid took it of her and said Mom you look pretty and that made her smile. Maybe what happened to Sandy didn’t really happen. Maybe Harry just got fired and is trying to figure out how to tell his kids, so at the game, he is letting them have some fun, while his wife is at home sobbing, so the kids don’t see her.

When we let our talk outrun our compassion, it breeds trouble. When we let our pride get in the way of reaching out to our brothers and sisters, to see what’s going on, people live in silent pain. When word gets around to others that we as Christians have been spreading things that aren’t true, it causes people to turn away from the church. James says slander has no place in the body of Christ. Sadly, we have accepted it as normal, but it is not, and in the body of Christ, it must stop.

James goes on to talk about another sin that many of us are guilty of. It’s in verses 13-16. It’s the sin of leaving God out of your plans.

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.” 14 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. 15 Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.” 16 As it is, you boast in your arrogant schemes. All such boasting is evil.

These verses condemn an arrogant and independent spirit. Meaning, we don’t seek God about our decisions and plans. We say we love God, but we live like He doesn’t exist. It’s called “practical atheism.”  

We plan, but we don’t pray or seek. When we do pray, it’s only to ask God to bless our plans. Think about that. We’re all guilty of it. “Lord, we’re going to do this in summer. Next year, we’re going to do that. Lord, we’re going to start this new business. So Lord, please bless our plan.” James says, we should seek God “Lord, is it Your will? Do You want this? Where do You want us to go? What do You want us to do?

How do we keep God in our plans?

We submit every step to His will.

James says it is foolish to live an independent, arrogant life. Verse 13 says, “You who say, ‘Today or tomorrow we will go to such and such a city, spend a year there, buy and sell, and make a profit.’” We think we have life all planned out. Life is complex. We set our own time. We select our own path and place. We decide the duration. We arrange the activities. We predict the outcome. We think we have all the answers to the complexities of life.

We plot and plan, but we don’t often say, “Lord, what do You want me to do? Do you have another plan? If so, I want to follow that.” We forget God. It’s so important not to forget God. Life is getting more complex every day and the only way to thrive it to seek God and submit to him. If we try to navigate this complex life on our own, we will never have the joy, peace, or assurance he offers. Life is complex, and he must trust the creator.

We submit to God and trust him because life is uncertain. Verse 14, You do not know what will happen tomorrow.” One ring of the phone could bring bad news? You don’t know if you’ll wake up tomorrow.

Proverbs 27:1 says, “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”  We don’t know what tomorrow holds, but we know who holds tomorrow. We can trust God with each day, each moment of our lives

Don’t forget God in your plans. We need His wisdom, His strength, His guidance, His provision, and His protection. Don’t forget to live in the present, not in the past or in the future. We spend so much time trying to go back to our life in the past, or we think it’s going to be better in the future, that we miss the “now.” Wherever you are, young, middle-aged or older it doesn’t matter; God wants to use you where you are, but we must trust him and submit to him.

Planning without submitting to God, is us planning for the here and now, but our time on this earth is brief.Verse 14 says, “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.” Think of your breath on a cold morning, you breathe out and you see that puff of vapor when you breathe, and then it suddenly dissipates and disappears.

The Bible says that’s what life is like; it’s brief. Psalm 102:11 says that it’s “like a shadow that lengthens.”In Job 7:9, the Bible says that life is like a vanishing cloud. Psalm 103:15 says, “As for man, his days are like grass; as a flower of the field.” Think about how short life is, how quickly it passes.

As Christians, we must live in dependence on God, seeking to do His will now and seeking to be with hi for eternity. Verse 15 says: “If the Lord wills, we shall live and do this or that.” In other words, it’s all about trusting God.

This is deeper than simply tacking the words "if the Lord wills" onto any statement of future plans. God wants His children to willingly live in dependence on Him. We cannot leave God out of our plans, we can’t keep planning and planning, because when we only chase our plans, we miss out on what God has for us.

James shows that leaving God out of our plans isn’t just a bad habit, it’s a spiritual problem. It reveals that our confidence is often in ourselves more than in God. Most of us would never say we don’t need Him, but we often live as if everything depends on our wisdom, our schedule, and our decisions.

We are the mist. He is the Maker. We are temporary. He is eternal. We are limited. He knows all things.

James is not saying we shouldn’t plan. He is saying God must be the anchor of those plans. Before you commit, before you move, before you decide, pause and ask, “Lord, is this from You? Is this what You want for me?” And then be willing to change course if God redirects.

This mindset changes everything. It slows our pride. It builds humility. It keeps us teachable. It keeps God, not self, at the center.

James has challenged us in two parts of our lives, but chapter 4 ends with one statement that will challenge all of us in this room today.

James 4:17 - If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.

After talking about our words, plans, and actions, James essentially says:

“Now that you know better, you’re responsible to do better.”

This is a sobering truth. Not heavy in a discouraging way, but heavy in a wake-up way. James is reminding us that obedience isn’t just avoiding sin, it’s doing the good God calls us to do. Living in the way he calls us to live, loving those he calls us to love. Letting our faith drive our actions.

How do we obey God?

We act on the good we already know.

James is saying: You know God should lead your plans, so let Him. You know your words should reflect grace, so speak that way. You know pride has no place in the life of a believer, so humble yourself. You know God wants you to love, so go and do it You know your actions are driven by your faith, so act

To know the right thing and refuse to do it is to push God aside and elevate yourself.

James is not letting us hide behind good intentions or knowledge. He is confronting the excuses we quietly tell ourselves. Verse 17 cuts through every delay, every spiritual shrug, every “I’ll get to it later.” James is saying:

If God has made the good clear and you refuse to act, it is sin. Period.

That means…

· If God has told you to reconcile and you keep waiting for the “right moment” that delay is sin.

· If God has convicted you about a habit, you push it off because it’s uncomfortable; that resistance is sin.

· If God, through his word, has shown you have to live and you don’t do – that disobedience is sin

· If God has given you a person to serve, forgive, encourage, or share Christ with — and you nod, but never move — that hesitation is sin.

We often think sin is the big, obvious, destructive stuff. James says sin is also the quiet moment when God speaks and we don’t move. It is possible to attend church faithfully, read Scripture regularly, have good theology, look respectable, and still live in full-blown disobedience because we consistently avoid the good God is calling us to do.

James is pressing us to ask the uncomfortable question: Where am I knowingly ignoring what God has clearly put in front of me? God is not asking for our agreement. He’s asking for our obedience.

A man once noticed smoke rising from his neighbor’s house. He saw the glow of flames and knew someone was inside. He hesitated, just long enough to think, “Someone else will call. Someone else will act.” Help eventually came, but too late to save the home. Later, he said, “I knew what to do. I just didn’t do it… and I’ll carry that hesitation with me forever.”

James is telling us that the most dangerous moments of our faith are not when we don’t know what’s right, but when we delaydoing what we already know God is calling us to do.

Real faith keeps God in our words, our plans, and our obedience. Not later. Not when it’s convenient. Not when we’re sure everything will work out.

“Whoever knows the right thing to do and fails to do it, for him it is sin.”

Don’t hesitate. Don’t wait. Don’t assume someone else will do what God put in front of you. Do the good you know to do, today.