Occupying the Place of God

“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?”

(James 4:11-12 ESV)

We’re continually told, today, that we’re not to judge. What is meant by this is that we’re not to speak against the behavior of others, sinful or not. What is meant by this is that we are not to share God’s truth. And it may be easily assumed that this is what James is saying above.

He tells us, however, that we’re not to speak evil of one another. This can also be translated as: speaking against our brother, or slandering our brother. It’s a general term that can describe many forms of harmful speech such as questioning legitimate authority, defamation, or bringing wrongful accusations against another. In other words, we are not to make it seem that our brother is guilty when the reality is different or even unknown.

As believers, then, we are not to run one another down. We’re not to assume the worst about one another. This is something that we see in Luther’s explanation of the Eighth Commandment in his Small Catechism. Luther says: “We should fear and love God so that we do not deceitfully lie about, betray, backbite, nor slander our neighbor but defend him, speak well of him, and put the most charitable construction on all that he does.”

Sadly, this is something that happens all the time in the church. We see or hear something about another that raises a question or doubt in our mind. And we naturally assume the worst about him.

We judge him. We determine that he’s living in unrepentant sin. We determine that he’s wrongly occupying a position of authority. We believe that his faith is in question. And not only do we harbor these thoughts, but we share them with others.

In this way, we run down our brother. In this way, we destroy his reputation. In this way, we speak against him.

This is something we must not do. In this case, we’re assuming a position that belongs not to us, but to God. James tells us that, by doing so, not only are we wrongfully judging our brother. We’re standing in judgment of the law. We’re acting as though we are the author of the law. We’re acting as though we are God himself.

This, we’re reminded, is not our position. God alone is the author of the law. God alone renders judgment. God alone is able to save and to destroy.

This doesn’t forbid us from the proclamation of God’s Word. It doesn’t forbid the preaching of the law. And it doesn’t forbid us from holding one another accountable.  However, while we are called upon to voice God’s law and his judgement, we are not called to share our own. While we are called upon to proclaim the Word of God, we are not called to share our own. We are not to speak against our brother, sharing our baseless judgment of him.