Marsha's Musings: Spiritual High Horses (James 4:11-12 KJV)

Speak not evil one of another, brethren. He that speaketh evil of his brother, and judgeth his brother, speaketh evil of the law, and judgeth the law: but if thou judge the law, thou art not a doer of the law, but a judge. There is one lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy: who art thou that judgest another? (James 4:11-12 KJV)

Oh boy, here we go. You know, the whole judge not that you be not judged song and dance that so many like to flaunt.  Many use it to shut others up who might say something about an obvious sin they are indulging in or if they are in violation of Scripture, this is an easy one to pull out to shut up the opposition.

A lot of unbelievers use it to shut up Christians who might speak out in the political arena against moral issues.

All of these uses are a twisting of Scripture.  Jesus called the Pharisees whitewashed tombs for their hypocrisy.  That seems to be judging others. Is it wrong, then, for us to call a spade a spade? No. 

I believe the context here speaks to those who judge another Christian's spiritual growth or even salvation with no mercy and in a legalistic manner.  God is the lawgiver. God is the one who saves. Likewise, God is the one who works in a person's heart and brings about growth in His own timing. Who are we to judge a person's spiritual growth or perceived lack thereof?  Our pastor has told us we need to be merciful with one another because we are all at different stages of spiritual growth. Some are weak in the faith while others are strong. We need to exercise mercy in dealing with our brothers and sisters in Christ.

To my shame I have not always done this and there are a couple of glaring examples of this in my life that I do not care to talk about here. I pray that next time I am ready to get on my spiritual high horse that God will bring to my memory these events of my life.