Lesson 12 – James 4:11-17 New International Version
11 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?
13 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. 17 If anyone, then, knows the good they ought to do and doesn’t do it, it is sin for them.
First Impression?
- I have always liked these two pillars of judge no one and the sin in an act can be different for others.
What is slander? the action or crime of making a false spoken statement damaging to a person’s reputation. Why is it an issue to be addressed?
- I always struggle with this word’s meaning. Gossip always seemed to carry the meaning of this word in my mind. Gossip that was a sin anyway. If we are to love our neighbors, then tearing them down surely cannot be righteous.
CSB says criticize. How do we help our neighbor if we do not criticize them when they are wrong?
- I used this question to point a finger at myself. Our PC culture says everyone has the right to their own opinion, leaving out the ‘as long as they agree with me’ part. We often see and complain to ourselves when a neighbor’s yard is not good enough. We rarely say this where they can hear and never say it to their faces, right? We are constantly correcting our kids. Where do we drop this ability to help our neighbors learn from our knowledge?
Speaks against the law and judges it: How does speaking against someone or judging someone doing something to the law?
- My ego tells me to limit this to aspects of judgement that only God can determine and that I am free to judge for obvious things like lying or stealing. But I think the goal here is to realize that when others sin, they are only doing the same we do only maybe slightly different. If we judge them for their sin, why not ourselves for our own sin. When we have strong relationships, we can help others deal with their sin. If we are not helping, then we have no standing to even mention it.
Judge the law, sitting in judgement on it: So, if we are Christians, what is the law to us? Why is judging it even a thing? What is James driving at?
- Again, I think the law and judging are for us to look at our own behavior, and maybe our kids. It is not for us to apply to others who may not even acknowledge God, much less submit to the laws He has provided.
Who are you to judge your neighbor?
- I have seven neighbors I can judge: My wife, my oldest kid, my youngest kid, my mentor, and the three guys in my accountability group. I can’t even judge the two other guys in my weekly Bible study. Only when they ask can we judge someone else, except our kids until we cut the purse strings.
What are the positives that James passes along to us in the midst of this judging “non-sense”?
- God will provide our salvation. This is the one that stuck out for me. The more I read the Bible, the more I see this concept played out over and over.
Go, carry on, make: Are we not supposed to make plans?
- We are absolutely to make plans. We are not to ever not have plans. God has given us time and we need to allocate it to the best of our ability. It is within those plans that He works and directs our steps. If you are sitting on your behind at home watching tv, you are not able to see when God has put an opportunity for service in front of you.
Do you not know what will happen tomorrow?
- We had a neighbor come bang on the door last night. She was desperate with a $250,000 bill to pay. Hadn’t spoken to them in ages, but they came needing help. Hopefully, we can figure a way to provide help. We had no idea that was coming.
What is your life?
- If you thought about anything other than an opportunity to serve God, then you have room for improvement.
If: Is not the if implied? How do we plan differently assuming it will only happen if God permits?
- We plan with no expectation of success. My kid is following a plan for college that we worked out ages ago. Except it has changed every semester at least once and sometimes at the last minute before a deadline. Our original plan of a BS and an MBA remain, but almost everything else below that level has been super fluid. And it has provided more stress in her life than she could have handled if she had not been trying to use God’s strength along the way.
As we established before, I am a big boaster. Why? What do I do different? Is what I do really evil?
- This was for my group and referred back to something I have forgotten in the weeks before. Probably about how I have hats and watches to coordinate with the various colors of clothes I have to wear. Blue hat for a blue shirt, etc. I know some people have one hat and one watch and a limited number of ‘outfits’ to pick from. Either because that is all they can afford, all they choose to have, or because they never think about it. I have a tendency to collect. Baseball cards, hats, watches, boots. I do not spend money on these things that I need for anything else. God has provided for me in this area, and I try to be sensible in buying these things at ‘reasonable’ price points and not excessive ones. In most cases, I spend the time to ask God if what I am buying is a total waste or not. I have nominal limit on how much to spend on a hat, a watch, a pair of boots, and actually a system of how much is too much for the myriad of baseball cards out there. So yes, I could just say no to it all, but as of yet, God has not given me that unmistakable direction.
Boast in your arrogant schemes: Is boasting in arrogant schemes a big problem today? How does it manifest in today’s culture? In today’s church?
- I ran out of steam at this point. I assume this is as big a problem as ever, even if I do not see it myself. Hopefully my group had answers that I do not recall.
Is trusting God for everything and being thankful arrogant? Or do people just not want to hear about someone else who has been blessed even if the glory goes to God?
- I think not as this is my goal attitude. I do think there is a risk of people being put off if we continually talk about how greatly God has blessed us. I think there is a need to develop a relationship in which we plant seeds with some of our blessings but focus our bragging on not things.
Such boasting is evil: What is boasting? exhibiting or characterized by excessive pride or self-satisfaction.
- I like having my 911. It gives me satisfaction. It is 28 years old and did not cost a fortune. I know the only reason I have it is that I have been blessed by God. I try not to talk about it too much, and I often try to down play it. ‘Excessive’ is the key in the definition and what is excessive can only play out on an individual level. I seek to not boast, but glorify.
Verse 17?
- I like 17. It points out one of my big problems: ignorance. Buried in that is a lack of ability, or at least skill, in learning how to understand how other people’s brains receive the message I am trying to convey. I can often say what I mean, but often not have a clue about how other people will understand it.
So how do we overcome our ignorance and sin no more?
- Pray, read, listen, ask, abide…