Speaking Evil

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)?

I've been trying to figure this one out. It appears, on the face of it, to be another "judge not" passage. "Don't point out to others that they're doing anything bad." Of course, when Jesus said it, He couldn't have meant "Don't recognize sin in others" because He went on to explain that you had to. What about James?

Well, it's pretty clear that this isn't what James meant either. Why? Well, James very next thought is a correction to anyone who thinks that we can make plans without taking God's will into account. In fact, the entire epistle is one of "Do this" and "don't do that". "Count it all joy when you encounter various trials" followed by "A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways." "Do this" (Count trials as joy) and "don't do that" (be double-minded). Just the opening examples. And he doesn't mean "It's okay to recognize sin, but don't point it out to individuals", either. Why? Well, he starts out Chapter 5 with "Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you." That's personal. And he ends the epistle with "If anyone among you wanders from the truth and someone brings him back, let him know that whoever brings back a sinner from his wandering will save his soul from death and will cover a multitude of sins." You have to admit that turning a wandering brother from sin requires personal intervention. So James cannot be saying, "Never point out when someone is wrong."

Explaining what James does not mean, however, doesn't explain what he does mean. The first clue, I think, is in the first phrase: "Do not speak evil." It isn't "Do not speak of evil", but don't say someone is doing something wrong that they aren't doing wrong. Don't accuse of evil when no evil is present. Or, in the Old Testament vernacular, do not bear false witness. The second clue is found in the phrase, "If you judge the law ..." The problem, then, is accusing someone of doing evil who is actually doing what is right.

Let me give you a blog example. One of the blogs I read is Von's The Practical Theonomist because sometimes he has some interesting stuff on there. The other day he wrote a blog on The Marriage of Isaac from a "politically correct" standpoint. Von, you see, is a proponent of the biblical concept of betrothal. He holds that fathers should select spouses for their children. Now, you can imagine that this kind of position will draw fire. I even heard some prominent Christian women decry the practice as evil. And that, dear reader, would be what I'm talking about. To "speak evil against" Von, in this case, would be to call his position which is based on Scripture and even affirmed by God (He, after all, chose a bride for His Son) would be to judge the law. It would be inaccurate to call his position "evil". You might argue that it isn't particularly practical today or you might suggest that it's an "Old Testament position no longer in use today" or some such, but you cannot argue that it is evil.

Of course, that's just an example. There is a lot of this out there today. The Bible clearly portrays homosexual behavior as sin, but we are told we are evil for saying so. The Bible clearly says that women should not usurp authority over men, but we are told that we are evil for taking that position. The Bible clearly endorses corporal punishment, but we are told that we are evil for agreeing with the Bible. The Bible is quite clear on a lot of things that we are told are evil positions. Not merely wrong; evil. And that, I believe, is what James was warning about.

Just when I thought that I had another passage that told us that we weren't allowed to point out sin in others (an oh, so popular idea today), it looks like I was wrong. Love demands that we turn those who are wrong toward the truth. Truth demands that we point out error. But I don't think the case can be made that Scripture demands that we "stop being so judgmental and intolerant". It just doesn't work.