SERMON: “Judgy: Gossip and Slander in Church” (James 4:11–12)
“Judgy:
Gossip and Slander in Church”
(James 4:11–12)
Series: “James: True Faith Works” #20 Text: James 4:11–12
By: Shaun Marksbury Date:
March
9, 2025
Venue: Living
Water Baptist Church Occasion:
PM Service
I.
Introduction
As the saying goes, it’s easy to jump to conclusions. One case that stands out in this regard is
that of Richard Jewell. His ordeal began
as a moment of heroism on July 27, 1996, when he discovered a bomb at the
Atlanta Olympics and helped save countless lives, but it soon spiraled into a
nightmare of false accusations. Within
days, the media and the FBI branded him the prime suspect, fueled by
speculation and a rush to pin blame on the unassuming security guard.
For 88 days, he endured relentless scrutiny. Reporters hounded his home, agents followed
and surveilled him everyday, and his past was dissected, despite zero evidence
linking him to the crime. He lost
friends and job opportunities. Finally,
he was cleared as a suspect in October 1996, and Jewell fought back with
lawsuits. The real bomber, Eric Rudolph,
wasn’t caught until years later, leaving Jewell to bear the scars of a ruined
reputation until his death in 2007.
His story stands as a stark lesson in the perils of rushing
to judgment. When haste overrides
evidence, it doesn’t just tarnish a name; it can destroy a life. This is a reminder that truth demands
patience.
This is a lesson for us in the church. We should be truth speakers here, but there
are times when gossip and slander rises.
People assume that, just because they can connect some dots, they have a
true theory about a brother or sister in the Lord. People today even add an online element,
spreading information about people in the church. It can similarly ruin reputations and
relationships, and even destroy the spiritual lives of the people who witness
it. Sadly, though, many Christians don’t
consider gossip to be one of the “big” sins like adultery, so they feel
justified in these transgressions. Even
when the record is corrected, they continue on their path, and the church can
get a reputation for being judgmental.
This attitude is what James was seeing, as well. Those who were only focused upon their own
selves and desires were quick to spread slander about other believers. Perhaps they even thought this would gain
them status in the world they loved so much.
Whatever the cause, James addresses it here.
The Lord clearly condemns unrighteous judgment. This evening, we’ll see three principles that
demonstrate that: unrighteous judgment harms the brethren, it dishonors the law,
and it usurps the Lord. Let’s consider
the first of those.
II.
First, Unrighteous Judgment Harms the Brethren
(v. 11a)
Do not speak against one another, brethren. He who speaks against a brother or judges his
brother…
James begins here with a clear command against speaking
against a brother. That is a literal
translation, but to be clearer, other translations render this with the
ill-intent the term implies. The ESV and
NKJV, for instance, translate this “speak evil,” and the LSB uses the word “slander.” This is talking about using words for harm.
This is speaking of gossip or
slander, but how might we understand those English terms? Gossip refers to idle talk or the
spreading of information about others (personal, private, or sensational),
typically without a constructive or edifying purpose. It’s characterized by a lack of restraint in
speech and can involve sharing rumors or unverified stories. An example of this might be telling others
about someone’s personal struggles to others for no redemptive reason, even if
the details are accurate.
The Bible warns against gossip
as it often leads to division, strife, or harm to relationships. As Proverbs 11:13 says, “He who goes about as
a talebearer reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy conceals a matter.” Gossip doesn’t necessarily involve falsehood;
it can be true information shared carelessly or even maliciously. The sin lies
in the intent (e.g., to entertain, boast, or stir trouble) as well as the
breach of trust or love for others.
Slander, on the other hand, is more explicitly false and
malicious in intent. It involves
spreading lies or damaging statements about someone to harm their reputation,
often with a deliberate aim to defame or accuse. This would be falsely claiming someone
committed a sin or crime to ruin their reputation, and God warns in Psalm 101:5,
“Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy.” Slander reflects a heart of hatred or enmity.
These are the concepts at the core of this command. In James 5:9, he’ll say, “Do not complain,
brethren, against one another, so that you yourselves may not be judged;
behold, the Judge is standing right at the door.” This is about harming others with our words,
whether they were carelessly or maliciously spoken.
Now, this is not talking about challenging the sin in
others or practicing church discipline.
Someone might complain that such confrontations, by definition, require
the speaking against another. In various
places like Matthew 18:15–17, our Lord commands us to confront sin in
others. Our mothers gave us good advice
in general when they said, “If you don’t have anything nice to say, don’t say
anything at all;” yet, there are clearly times where we must oppose others.
Still, James is not addressing a group of Christians who are
suddenly concerned with holiness — quite the opposite. This is a situation where James’s audience
should have known better, too. As one
commentary notes, slander was condemned in the Old Testament and “likewise
attacked in Jewish communities of the NT period and later (Test. Iss. 3:4,
where it is contrasted to simplicity, ἁπλότης;
Test. Gad 3:3; 5:4; 1QS 4:9, 11; 5:25–26; 6:26; 7:2–9; Midr. Ps. on Ps. 12:3; Mek.
on Ex. 14:31; Dt. Rab. 6 on Dt. 24:9).”[1] The command against slander was not a new
revelation for them.
Note the emphasis he gives here. He repeats the term three times in this
verse, which we can see it clearly in the NASB: James says “Do not speak
against one another, brethren. He
who speaks against a brother or judges his brother speaks against
the law.” We’ll get more into how this
is speaking against the law in a moment, but James is clearly wanting us to see
this term.
He also inserts another repeated term. He calls them “brethren” or “brothers (and
sisters)” for the first time in this chapter, and he immediately uses the term
“brother” again, and then again a third time!
This is more than a subtle reminder of who they should strive to be. They are supposed to be the family of God,
yet they are going around as slanderers, demonstrating hatred for one another.
Why might that be?
The Greek term for brother here is ἀδελφός,
adelphos. This is a term you
might recognize in the city name Philadelphia, the city of “brotherly
love.” However, instead of a φιλία τῶν ἀδελφῶν
(philia tōn adelphōn, “love of the brethren,” they have a φιλία τοῦ κόσμου (philia tou kosmou, “friendship
with/love of the world”) according to v. 4.
Their affections were disordered, not on those closest to
them. As such, they harmed the brethren with
their words, engaging in unrighteous judgment.
As Romans 14:4 says, “Who are you to judge the servant of another? To his own master he stands or falls; and he
will stand, for the Lord is able to make him stand.” James already said, “you not made
distinctions among yourselves, and become judges with evil motives” (James
2:4). Believers must not engage in a
constant state of judgment of one another are opposed to the love God has
commanded.
This is why we need reminder of our need for philadelphia.
In 1 Peter 1:22, we read that we
should have a “sincere love of the brethren” and “fervently love one another
from the heart.” Love for the brethren
is what is lacking in situations of gossip and slander, and pursuing love is an
excellent corrective for our speech and behavior.
However, there are some who need a stronger word. As such, James continues. Not only is the unrighteous judgment they
practice against the brethren, it is also against the law, as we see next.
III.
Second, Unrighteous Judgment Dishonors the Law
(v. 11b)
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.
Again, this is the third use of this verb. As such, the ESV and NKJV again has “speaks evil,” and the LSB has “slanders.” Christians must accept the challenge here: If
you slander your brothers, you slander God’s Word.
Why is that? As we’ve
already noted, slander was condemned by Old Testament. For starters, it’s a ninth commandment
violation (Exod. 20:16). The Lord goes
on to say, “You shall not go about as a slanderer among your people, and you
are not to act against the life of your neighbor; I am the Lord” (Lev. 19:16). At the very least, we might say that a
Christian who goes about speaking against other Christians ignores the law of
God.
Technology has created additional difficulty here. Social media creates a firestorm of
controversy in a moment’s notice. People
placing their grievances online might find that they are falsely accusing the
brethren before the watching world.
That might be the point in some cases. For instance, Artificial Intelligence (AI)
has created a whole new level of slander.
Feeding enough audio and video of person into a computer program can now
create evidence of someone saying or doing anything. For instance, in April 2024, Dazhon Darien, a
31-year-old athletic director at Pikesville High School in Baltimore County, MA,
was arrested for doing just that, making an false audio recording of Principal
Eric Eiswert uttering racist and antisemitic remarks.[2] He was retaliating against Eiswert, who had
investigated Darien for mishandling school funds and poor job performance. The fabricated audio went viral in January
2024, caused widespread outrage and threats, requiring Eiswert’s leave and
police protection for his family. Investigators,
including the FBI, confirmed the recording was AI-generated, and Darien was
charged with theft, stalking, and other offenses after his arrest at an airport
while attempting to flee. While the rise
of new technologies might cause us to question and wonder what the future may
have in store, this is amounts to false allegations and slander, something
against the law of God.
James is applying this to the church, though. And he goes on to say that slandering
brethren is a means of slandering God’s Word.
As one study notes, “By refusing to submit to the law, slanderers place
themselves above it as its judges.”[3] It is as though you read the Scripture, say
that does not rightly apply to you, and create your own law. That is far worse than ignoring Scripture:
you are becoming a judge of it.
Perhaps this is why James changed what he said
previously. In James 1:22, he said, “But
prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude
themselves.” Here, he says that “you are
not a doer of the law but a judge of it.” Any true Christian should recoil from the
thought of becoming a judge of God’s holy Word!
Yet, that is what’s happening, and more. James goes on to heap on the
condemnation. Not only are we judging
God’s Word, we’re judging God Himself.
That brings us to the final point:
IV.
Third, Unrighteous Judgment Usurps the Lord (v.
12)
There is only one
Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you
who judge your neighbor?
Engaging in gossip and slander is business that is opposed
to the ways of God. As the Reformation
Study Bible notes, we need to consider that fact that the “Greek word for ‘devil’
means ‘slanderer.’ ” If we call
ourselves the people of God, then we must not engage in the business of the
enemy of God.
James calls us to understand that we are not only setting
ourselves up in opposition to God; we are attempting to usurp Him. The text refers here to the One who is
Lawgiver and Judge, obviously God Himself.
There is only One who inspired Holy Scripture and has authority to
condemn or remit sins, yet the gossip and slanderer attempts to fulfill this
role. The difficult but necessary task
in the Christian life is finding the line between judging rightly and judging
unrighteously, for we will quickly find ourselves crossing the line into God’s
territory of judgment if we are not careful.
Of course, no Christian would want to say that they wanting
to dethrone God, or that they are attempting to set themselves up over God like
the devil thought he could. However, in
our behavior, we may be doing just that.
We must remember that our Lord is the only “One who is able to save and
to destroy.” Those who would condemn
fellow believers to hell or declare false teachers “Christians” to get back at
someone else have zero authority to do so.
As the Lord says in Romans 12:19, “Never take your own revenge, beloved,
but leave room for the wrath of God,
for it is written, ‘Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,’ says the Lord.” Christians must beware, for the Lord who gave
them life can take it away from them.
Consider this. The
Lord may be at work in someone’s life in the church. Perhaps it’s a teenager coming with his or
her parents. Scripture says, “By this
all men will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another”
(John 13:35), but this teenager sees infighting and slander. Such a sight may irreparably shake the young
person’s faith in the Lord.
James basically asks, “Who do you think you are?” He wants his readers to drink in a dose of
humility. We who are commanded to love
our neighbor — our fellow Christians — should not engage in unrighteous
judgment against them.
V.
Conclusion
Obviously, Christians must sometimes judge. We make judgment calls about what is right or
wrong in our own lives. We’re also
called to confront sin and avoid false teachers. Yet, we must endeavor to ensure that we’re
engaged in a righteous judgment.
If we feel the need to talk to others about the scandal of
another person, we should take a moment and consider why. If that person is a danger to another, then
there is cause for warning out of love. Perhaps
you want to talk to a pastor or trusted Christian about how to handle a
situation, that’s one thing. Sharing a
“prayer request” in a group setting to tell some juicy information is not a
God-honoring action.
If we enjoy gossip or contention, then it is often wisest to
keep it to ourselves — especially if we have not verified the facts. Our ultimate aim should be to love one
another. If we are engaging in judgment
to generate gossip or slander, we must consider how that harms the church, the
testimony of Scripture, and our relationship before the Lord. Let everything we do be done in love.
[1] Peter H. Davids, The
Epistle of James: A Commentary on the Greek Text, New International Greek
Testament Commentary, (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1982), 169.
[2] David K. Li, “Teacher arrested, accused of using AI to
falsely paint boss as racist and antisemitic,” NBC News, April 25, 2024, https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/teacher-arrested-ai-generated-racist-rant-maryland-school-principal-rcna149345
[3] John MacArthur Jr., Ed., The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed., (Nashville, TN: Word
Pub., 1997), 1933.
