biblicalthought.com

This BT Exclusive is by Rosanna Montoya.

The Word of God is essential to our Christian walk.  Daily we need to draw close to Him.  For in doing so we will hear from the Lord.  In James 4:8, it says, “Draw near to God and He will draw near to you.”  What excitement and joy we experience when we sit at the Lords feet.  Upon drawing near to God in the Word, He begins to reveal things to us that pertain to our personal lives.

One day as I read the Word, the Lord began to speak very clearly in regards to the subject of drawing near to Him.  The Lord met me as I drew close to Him.  He had to because that’s what James 4:8 says.  It’s a promise!  I found great wisdom as I looked up James 4:11 in Simon J. Kistemaker’s Commentary on James.  As I began to read the commentary on James 4:11, it convicted me because I realized I had been doing in a small way what it had forbidden.  Whether it was in a small or big way, it was plain, I was slandering.  It is so easy to get caught up in slander or even gossip whether it be big or little.  It’s sin!  Sometimes we don’t even know were doing it until the Lord checks us as we draw close to Him through His Word.  As a body of believers, we need to encourage, admonish, and rebuke one another when we fall into the sin of slander.

Upon reading James 4:11, in which it says, “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.”  Please note in other translations, the word “speak out against” is the same as slander.  1 Peter 2:1 says, “Therefore, putting aside all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander.”  Kistemaker says, “In one of his psalms, David links slander to a lack of humility.”  He goes on quote Psalms 101:5, “Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, him will I put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, him will I not endure”(143).  These are some heavy words from God in scripture. 

As Believers, we need to have a healthy fear of who God is and what He can do to us when we are caught up in this sin.  Psalms 119:117 says, “Uphold me that I may be safe, that I may have regard for Your statues continually.”  Psalms 119:20 also says, “My flesh trembles for fear of You, And I am afraid of Your judgments.”  Just a tiny bit of slander is just as bad compared to a whole spiel of words against a brother.  James 4:7 says, “Submit therefore to God.  Resist the devil and he will flee from you.”  Slander gives place for the devil to work and we need not be ignorant of his schemes (2 Corinthians 2:11).   

Kistemaker goes onto say, “Slander issues from the heart of the person who fails to consider others above himself.  The humble Christian, however, opposes slander and says,

                        No wicked thing or slanderous accusation

                        Shall stand before mine eyes with approbation,

                        No hateful doings of apostasy

                        Shall cleave to me

                                                                      - Dewey Westra

The link between verses 7 and 11 lies in the word devil (v.7) and the verb slander.  In the original, the noun diabolos (devil) means “slanderer.”  James, then, is exhorting his readers not to slander one another, for this is the work of the devil.  He is telling them to stop this evil practice to which the have resorted.  If they continue to slander each other in the church, they will eventually destroy the fellowship of the Christian community.

James delves deeper into the subject and tells his readers that slandering a brother involves the Law (Lev. 19:16).  Note the parallel James develops in the next sentence:

                                        Anyone who

                         speaks against - speaks against

                                  his brother - the law

                                            or - and

                                 judges him - judges it

The emphasis in this verse is on the word brother, which denotes the close bond of fellowship believers have in the church.  If you speak evil of your brother behind his back, you are setting aside the royal law, “Love your neighbor as yourself” (James 2:8; Lev. 19:18; Matt. 22:39; Rom. 13:9; Gal. 5:14).  And if you set aside the law, you have become a judge of that law.  Then you have placed yourself on the level of the Lawgiver.

In court a judge must be impartial in evaluating the evidence, and be just in applying the law and passing sentence.  The slanderer, by contrast, generally neglects to learn the facts, avoids speaking in the presence of the accused, sets aside the law of love, and as a self-appointed judge hands down the verdict.

James exposes the true nature of the sin of slandering when he instructs the recipients of the epistle in these words: “When you judge the law [as you are doing], you are not keeping it [because you have placed yourself above the law], but sitting in judgment on it [as a judge].”

The slanderer puts aside the law God made and thus places himself on the same level as God.  Only God has the authority to abrogate a law.  Blinded by sin, the backbiter often is unaware of the seriousness of his doings.  The fact remains, however, that slander is a sin against the person who is accused and against God who forbids this sin by divine law (143-144).

What it all boils down to is that we need to stay away from slandering our neighbors because it will only destroy us.  Sometimes we may be blinded from what were doing until the Lord shows us how we are being disobedient to His Word.  May we draw near to the Lord so that we may receive instruction from His Word.

Finally, here are a few verses of encouragement for all of us to put into practice.

Ephesians 4:22-25 “that, in reference to your former manner of life, you lay aside the old self, which is being corrupted in accordance with the lusts of deceit, and that you be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new self, which in the likeness of God has been created in righteousness and holiness of the truth. Therefore, laying aside falsehood, speak truth, each one of you, with his neighbor, for we are members of one another.”

 Ephesians 4:31 “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice.  And be kind to one another, tender-hearted, forgiving each other, just as God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

 James 1:21 “Therefore putting aside all filthiness and all that remains of wickedness, in humility receive the word implanted, which is able to save your souls.”

(here are some to show our depravity)

James 3:8-10 “But no one can tame the tongue; it is a restless evil and full of deadly poison.  With it we bless our Lord and Father; and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of God; from the same mouth come both blessing and cursing. My brethren, these things ought not to be this way.”

Romans 1:28-32 “And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper,  being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips,  slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents,  without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful;  and, although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

May we all be encouraged and continue to draw close to God.  For in doing so, you shall hear from Him.