doing the devils work for him…

what we are dealing with here in the 4^th chapter of james in the nt is something very serious.  we shouldn’t slander or judge people but so many do because it excuses their faults and because of pride.  but james then give us some reasons why we shouldn’t judge or slander.

one reason is found in the other part of  james 4.11.  it is unCHRISTian.  here is what it says in the new international version,  brothers and sisters, do not slander one another.  anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law… 

actually when it says, judges him it mentions the words brother or sister again.  brother or sister is used three times in this passage.  why?  it is because we shouldn’t judge one another because we’re all part of the same family.  we’re brothers or sisters.  when i see another CHRISTian stumble or fall or have a tough time, i shouldn’t rejoice in that because they’re family.  i should be concerned about it.  i think a lot of times we get a little bit of glee out of it.

i heard about a guy who came to a pastor one time and said, “i don't have but one talent.”  the pastor asked, “what's your talent?”  the man said, “i have the gift of criticism.” folks, the gift of criticism does not come from the HOLY SPIRIT but from the devil and the pastor was wise and thought about the parable in the bible and said, “the guy who had only one talent went out and buried it.  maybe that is what you should do with yours.”

notice it says, brothers and sisters, do not slander.  the word “slander” and the word “devil” are the same word in the greek.  the word devil means, “slander.”  the bible calls satan the accuser of CHRISTians.  he’s the slanderer of CHRISTians.  what does this mean? 

the devils number one activity is going around and putting people down, to slander them and malign them.  we are most like the devil when we slander, when we speak against somebody else (including all kinds of criticisms, maligning, judging) we’re doing the devils work for him.  that’s what the devil’s job description is. 

john 8:44 (niv), the devil is…the father of lies.  revelation says he’s the accuser of brothers.  it’s unCHRISTian to judge other people.

just a thought from the front porch…

why? why? why?..

james 4.11(msg) says, don’t bad-mouth each other, friends. (niv) says, do not slander one another.   i’m sure you wouldn’t do that but some do because it appeals to their pride.

proverbs 26:22 (cev) says, there is nothing so delicious as the taste of gossip! it melts in your mouth.

now why is that?  usually when somebody is gossiping, we are all ears!  we just can’t wait to hear what’s being said.  why?

it is because there is an innate ability of gossip or slander to capture our curiosity.  this is the sin, the sin of judging other people, that the bible says you’ll have to deal with more in your CHRISTian life than almost any other sin.  it’s a self-righteous attitude of putting people down, being critical, being judgmental.  JESUS condemned it more than almost any other sin. 

now there are many different kinds of slander.

there’s slander in the first degree – “do you know what that guy’s doing?” – a statement of judgment on them. 

CHRISTians like slander in the second degree – “i’m sharing this with you so you can pray about it with me.”  when we hear about how other people have fallen, there’s something inside, a little bit of pride … “that goes to show you..” 

the bible teaches that we often tend to judge other people because we think it’s going to put us in a better position but whenever you point a finger at somebody, you’re pointing three fingers back at yourself.  the bible says what we sow, we’re going to reap.

the bible says, we tend to judge others first to excuse our own errors and then also we have the natural ability to eat it up because it appeals to our pride, it makes us feel good, it gives us an ego blast.

just a thought from the front porch…

we deserve better from us…

now james in chapter 4 verse 11 continues in a practical way dealing with the how we are to relate to other people.  he says (msg), don’t bad-mouth each other, friends.  we are good people but we do this don’t we?  but why?

well one reason could be because we want to excuse our own faults.

romans 2.3 (msg),  you didn’t think,(that is usually the first problem) did you, that just by pointing your finger at others you would distract GOD from seeing all your misdoings and from coming down on you hard?

we think by pointing our finger at somebody else, GOD is going to forget what we’ve done.  or when you point out how somebody else has fallen then you don’t look so bad.  we use it as an excuse to blame others.  we love to accuse others and excuse ourselves.

how do we do that?  how do we excuse our sins?  we do that by relabeling them… “i’m not a gossip, i’m just sharing a concern,” “i’m not lazy, i’m just mellow,” “i’m not negative, i’m realistic,” “i’m not unreliable, i’m flexible.”  we have different terminology.  we excuse our sins by relabeling them.  “i’m not critical, i’m discerning.”  we all do that.

james says here, let’s stop bad-mouthing each other or as the new international version translates it, do not slander one another.  let’s start thinking about what we are doing.  people deserve better from us and we deserve better from us.

just another thought from the front porch…