Judgment and Slander

James 4:11-12

One of the most valuable assets you have is your reputation. If character is what we are in fact, then reputation is what people perceive us to be. Character is the most important, but reputation is never far behind. That’s why slander is so sinful. Slander is the assassination of an otherwise good reputation.

Back in the 1828 edition of his dictionary, Noah Webster defined slander as: “A false tale or report maliciously uttered, and tending to injure the reputation of another by lessening him in the esteem of his fellow citizens, by exposing him to impeachment and punishment, or by impairing his means of living.” God says such behavior is categorically sinful. So God is telling believers through James that false and malicious communication will invite the judgment and displeasure of Jesus Christ.

We saw in the previous section (verses 7-10) that James turned aside to specifically address the unbelievers mixed into the Christian assembly – calling them sinners and double-minded. Now, he’s speaking again to believers, which becomes clear in verse 11. He’s warning us about our tendency to speak evil of fellow Christians and make premature judgments. Let’s consider this together. In honor of God and His Word, let’s stand for the reading of these verses.

11 Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother, or judges his brother, speaks against the law, and judges the law; but if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law, but a judge of it. 12 There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor? [NASB]

[Prayer] In the whole Bible, there is one sin denounced more than any other sin; it’s the sin of slander. Interestingly, the title, “Devil” literally means “accuser” or “slanderer”. When we accuse and slander, we’re doing the work of the devil and it causes great harm to the Body of Christ. This is so easy for us to commit, it’s almost as common as the air we breathe. In fact, many people slander without even thinking of it as sin. James presents God’s Word on the sin of slander in the form of a negative prohibition in verse 11: “Do not speak evil of one another, brethren.”

Yet every time the Bible tells us not to do a certain thing, it also enjoins the positive – opposite behavior. Like when the Bible tells us not to bear false witness, it doesn’t mean we should just remain silent; no, it means we should actively affirm the truth. “Do not murder” enjoins the positive command “affirm life and protect it!” That being the case, I’ve tried to state each of the four propositions from this little passage in the positive. Notice the first one:

I.          We must affirm, edify, and speak truthfully of fellow believers (4:11a).

That’s how we as believers obey the prohibition in verse 11: “Do not speak against one another, brethren.” The compound word for “speak against” was old even in the first century. It meant to use harsh words about someone who was absent. In this case, the words are not only harsh, but they’re untrue! James is forbidding slander that arises from a sinful motive. In no way is James suggesting we should not confront sin in an unrepentant brother and just pretend everything is well. That would not be truthful. It would also violate other clear commands in the Bible; like Jesus’ words in Matthew 18. Some sins are of such an overt and scandalous nature that they must be dealt with corporately and even with church discipline. Most sins, however, are better dealt with out of the limelight, so that all the facts can be established before the public becomes involved… and even then, only if the sinning person refuses to repent… like the man in 1 Cor. 5:1-5.

When someone sins against us personally, especially by their speech, whether it was intentional or unintentional, if that matter can be forgiven and dealt with privately, this is much better. It seems that these personal sins are in view in Proverbs 17:9 where it says: “He who covers a transgression seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates friends.” A “transgression” here would be a personal offense of some kind; like if a friend answers you in an unthoughtful way that causes you hurt or embarrassment. It’s not a federal offense and it’s not a scandalous sin, but it is an attitudinal sin and it needs to be confessed and repented of.

The proverb seems to be saying that when that happens to you, don’t take this transgression to heart when you’re the offended party. Instead, cover the transgression of your friend in a way that pursues love (which is the opposite of what was done to you). But if you repeat the matter and start reporting this grievance with a few of your “closest prayer partners,” then you’re acting just as sinfully as the person who first offended you.

So Scripture is forbidding critical, personal accusations against fellow Christians which tear them down and harm their reputation. “Do not speak against one another, brethren.” Instead, we must affirm, edify, and speak truthfully of fellow believers. Second…

II.        We must let God’s law be the judge of all hidden motives and intents (4:11b).

That’s the second half of verse 11: “He who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge of it.”

In this context, to speak against is to slander or malign someone. And the assumption here is that the report isn’t true. So this would be spreading vicious rumors and lies about a fellow Christian just to hurt them. There is never a godly justification for that kind of behavior. There’s never a time for slander. On the contrary, there are some times when even an unfavorable truth about a fellow Christian should be guarded closely in order to get the facts straight and to foster repentance before anything is shared publicly. If the report is indeed true and repentance is spurned, then the church will need to go public in confronting that sinning member. Again, Jesus gives the clear stages of confrontation in Matthew 18.

There was a situation in a church several years ago where one of the church members defaulted on a business deal with a man who happened to be visiting the church that Sunday. When this visitor saw the man who had left him in a huge financial lurch without so much as a sorry, he vowed to never return to that church again. But it didn’t stop there. After he left, he began to circulate rumors in the community that the whole church was deceitful and corrupt; he implied that the church knew about the deceitfulness and approved of it. This simply wasn’t true. In fact, if the pastor of that church had known about the shady business deals of this sinning member, he might have privately intervened. But (as is so often the case) the church was never informed – and this member obviously didn’t want anyone to find out. So both of these men sinned and their sin hurt many others who didn’t even have a clue about the problem. Now imagine that the first man was an honest and godly businessman – and the same thing happened: an angry member or associate began spreading vicious rumors about his ethics just to hurt his reputation and the church he attends. That’s closer to what James is forbidding.

The sin in James 4:11 is that someone has set themselves up as an accusing judge of a believer while setting aside the written law of God. Speaking evil is coupled with judging a brother. This judgment is in the form of lying slander, which is condemned by the law of God. So by accusing a brother with malicious slander, this person speaks against the law (that is, he slanders the commandments of God) and he judges the law (meaning: he sets himself above God’s law as the judge of someone else’s hidden motives and intents).

James says, “If you judge the law, you’re not a doer of the law but a judge.” In this case, the sinner judges the law as unworthy of his attention, obedience, or submission. To make our personal feelings the standard of right and wrong in the church is a form of blasphemy. Our objective standard is the Word of God. God’s law is an extension of His character. To judge the law by slandering a believer is to invite the wrath of God. So we must let God’s law be the judge of all hidden motives and intents. Third…

III.       We must remember that God alone can save or destroy the guilty (4:12a).

Look at the first part of verse 12: “There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy;” This sentence calls us to consider what we really think about God. Do we really believe that God is ultimately in control of His people and their destiny? In the first phrase of verse 12, James seems to be addressing the slanderer directly; he’s saying “Look, there is one Lawgiver and Judge and it isn’t you – He’s the only one who is able to save and destroy.”

Since God is the one Lawgiver and Judge, He is able to do two things regarding all people: He is able to save and He is able to destroy. Let’s think about what these mean. When we say that God alone can save or destroy the guilty, who are the guilty? The guilty refers to all of us. We all need to be saved by God. This means that none of us can take God’s place and act as final judge over our brothers and sisters in Christ. We’re all guilty, if only by virtue of our birth in Adam. So our need for salvation puts us all on level ground before the cross. And as we noted in James 2:13, to say that “mercy triumphs over judgment” is telling us that God is very pleased when His people act with mercy and love toward our fallen brothers and sisters in Christ. This doesn’t mean we condone sin. Nor does it mean we don’t confront sin. It simply means we address sin with an attitude of mercy and love. Only God can save – so we point each other back to God.

But notice the second thing God can do as Lawgiver and Judge: He is able to destroy. Again, this is referring to ultimate destruction in hell. The judgment we are forbidden from making is ultimate, final judgment. God alone can save ultimately and God alone can destroy ultimately. Therefore, the slanderer must repent immediately and stop tearing other Christians down with his words! When you slander one of God’s covenant people, He takes it personally. You’re not just sinning against a fellow believer, you’re sinning against Jesus Himself. God alone can save or destroy the guilty – and that includes the one who slanders. Finally…

IV.       We must esteem fellow believers as better than ourselves (4:12b).

This is really the key to overcoming the sin of slander. The last phrase in verse 12 says: “but who are you who judge your neighbor?” This little question asks us to consider what we think of ourselves. Who are you? Remember, James is writing under divine inspiration; so he’s asking this question on behalf of King Jesus. The King wants to know, who do you think you are? It’s a rhetorical question to drive home the point. Jesus already knows what we are and who we are. He’s requiring us to consider who we are. We are unworthy sinners. We are people who desperately need the mercy of Jesus for our own sins.

One of the best ways to prevent slander is to think rightly about other Christians. We are all sinners. There are no perfect people in the church. Slander doesn’t move anyone closer to holiness. Spreading hurtful rumors about another Christian is like cutting open a goose-down pillow and tossing the feathers into the wind. The slanderer can repent and even ask for forgiveness, but retrieving all of those feathers is next to impossible. Or to change the metaphor, you can’t un-ring a bell.

Here’s how God’s Word helps us avoid slander: (1) we must affirm, edify, and speak truthfully of fellow believers; (2) we must let God’s law be the judge of all hidden motives and intents; (3) we must remember that God alone can save or destroy the guilty; and (4) we must learn to esteem fellow believers as better than ourselves. The consequences of slander can be devastating.



This fact came home to me when I read the following story – and with this I close.

They were a happy little family, living in a small town in North Dakota, even though the young mother had not been entirely well since the birth of her second baby. Still, each evening the neighbors were aware of a warmth in their hearts when they would see the husband and father being met at the gate by his wife and two small children. There was laughter in the evening too, and when the weather was nice Father and children would romp together on the back lawn while Mother looked on with happy smiles.

Then one day a village gossip started a story, saying that [the father] was being unfaithful to his wife, a story entirely without foundation. But it eventually came to the ears of the young wife, and it was more than she could bear.

Reason left its throne, and that night when her husband came home there was no one to meet him at the gate, no laughter in the house, no fragrant aroma coming from the kitchen—only coldness and something that chilled his heart with fear. And down in the basement he found the three of them hanging from a beam. Sick and in despair, the young mother had taken the lives of her two children, and then her own.

In the days that followed, the truth of what had happened came out—a gossip’s tongue, an untrue story, a hellish tragedy. [MacArthur: James Commentary, 4:12b.]

Let’s pray.

(c) Charles Kevin Grant

May 11, 2006