A Call to Humility | James 4:11-12

It seems like a basic law of human nature that where two or more are gathered, there will inevitably be conflict. Disagreement, offense, arguments…it is not a matter of if these things will arise between people, but rather when, for how long, and over what. 

Imagine you were stranded on a deserted island and you are all alone. Likely, one of the things you would most long for would be the joy of human company and relationships. The isolation and loneliness would be one of the key sufferings one would experience on the deserted island.

But now imagine you’re granted your wish, and are now on that same deserted island with your worst enemy. It’s not hard to imagine that you would likely disagree and find conflict quickly. That seems obvious. But now imagine you’re there not with your worst enemy, but with your spouse or best and closest friend—the person you who is dearest to you above all. Even then, given enough time, you would likely find conflict even in the closest of relationships.

This seems to be a part of fallen human nature. Wherever you have people, you will inevitably have conflict. Disagreements, arguments, and offenses seem to be the constant companion to all human relationships. It’s one thing to think of people who have wronged you, people who you just don’t get along with, people that may rub you the wrong way, people you might have serious disagreements with…but conflict exists in every relationship. Even with those who are the closest to us—our families and loved ones. So what are we to do?

Throughout the book of James, the half-brother of Jesus has been slowly, directly, and painstakingly diagnosing our human condition. Like a careful surgeon, he has been poking and prodding, calling us to have joy in the midst of trials, to be doers of the word not just hearers only, to love our neighbors as ourselves, to trust in Christ so that visible fruit is produced, to watch out for the dangers of the tongue, to receive the wisdom that only comes from above, and to take control, by God’s grace, or our passions and desires that cause the conflict and quarrels we face in community.

One of the amazing aspects of this letter, and also what makes it so uncomfortable, is its practicality. James is not content to dwell in the theoretical. He is pervasive in his application, and we would do well to listen carefully.

Here at Emmaus Road Church, one of the things we value highly is community. We’ve had a lot of visitors of the past couple years, and as we have grown, I have had the sweet opportunity to sit in many a membership interview, and a running theme I would hear regarding what drew people to want to commit themselves to this local church was often summed up in a single word: community. There is something discernibly unique about this community and we want to be a part of it. Maybe you have a similar story.

Of course, Ryan and I would communicate how encouraging and edifying that is, but would also be quick to point out that we are far from perfect. We know, as James makes clear at the beginning of chapter 4, that fights and quarrels are inevitable, no matter what. We often reference this quote from Charles Spurgeon, but it is worth repeating…

If I had never joined a church till I had found one that was perfect, I should never have joined one at all; and the moment I did join it, if I had found one, I should have spoiled it, for it would not have been a perfect church after I had become a member of it. Still, imperfect as it is, it is the dearest place on earth to us.

—Charles Spurgeon

That is our posture to our local church and to the community of believers that makes up this local body we call Emmaus Road Church. Wonderful, flawed, not perfect, but the dearest place on earth. 

The question is not whether we will have conflict, and not even what will be the issue of that conflict, but rather what is the process by which we will deal with that conflict. How will we respond when fights and quarrels arise among the people of God. I believe that in James chapter 4, we are given a continued answer to that question.

James 4:1–12 is a singular unit within the broader letter. Having started with the question, “what causes quarrels and what causes fights among you?”, and having pivoted to a stern, harsh, denunciatory address of “you adulterous people!”, James returns here to his familiar affectionate address of “brothers.”

And it is here in v. 11–12 that James seems to come to his concluding theme: humility. Verse 10 served as a transition to this theme when he says…

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

—James 4:10 

And, as James is wont to do, he doesn’t just state that abstract idea and leave you to wonder what he means—he applies that into the practical, everyday life of the community of believers. And here, I believe, is the summary of what James means to communicate to us and our gospel community. Humble submission to God the Judge through Christ is the bedrock to gospel community.

From this bedrock principle, there are 3 other realities that we are going to see from these 2 powerful verses that will inform us about living in community.

Slander destroys community.

James begins his application with a direct command: do not speak evil against one another, brothers. Again, it's important to note the audience—these are not pagan enemies, but believers, brothers in Christ. This is family. These are fellow church members. And it is to these loved ones that he warns them of the danger of slander—a sad irony, again, that the ones we love the most are often the ones we attack the quickest.

James begins by summarily forbidding “speaking evil” against one another. That word, translated “speak evil” literally means “talking against.” This is a really broad term that encompasses any and all defamation, slander, or any kind of speech that attacks another brother, harming their reputation. Alfred Plummer defines it this way…

It is not so much abusive or calumnious language that is condemned, as the love of finding fault. The censorious temper is utterly unchristian. It means that we have been paying an amount of attention to the conduct of others which would have been better bestowed upon our own. It means also that we have been paying this attention, not in order to help, but in order to criticize, and criticize unfavorably. It shows, moreover, that we have a very inadequate estimate of our own frailty and shortcomings. If we knew how worthy of blame we ourselves are, we should be much less ready to deal out blame to others. 

—Alfred Plummer

What does this type of “speaking against” one another look like? When we use words dramatic and legal terms like slander or defamation, we might think that all that James has in mind is some dramatic, loud, public smearing of others’ character. But that would be missing the point. Remember, James is talking in familial terms. 

This is subtle. It’s the slightly off comments and attitudes that seem to be unnecessary or unkind. It’s the type of comments—whether true or not—that run down a person in your community, belittling them and putting them at arm’s length.

It’s the critical thoughts that go through your head when someone outlines how they do discipline in their house and you think that’s not how it should be done. Or you have a disagreement with a friend over education for your kids, and you know it’s clear that they are wrong and you are clearly right. Or you find that person's political leanings repulsive and potentially sinful. Or you don’t like the books that he is reading and find the authors he’s reading to be potentially dangerous. Or you're frustrated with how someone handles a situation and think you would do it differently and better…

We could go on and on. But it is those types of things that inevitably leads to fights and quarrels within any community. And it doesn’t matter the size—it can be as small as your marriage and as large as a nation, but there is a well worn path that destroys and decays any community. It can start small with true concerns that then grow into bitterness, frustration, annoyance, and comes out in harsh tones, avoidance, or gossip after people leave your house. To this James says, “watch out and stop it.”

James gives us an even clearer diagnosis. He connects the dots for us. Speaking against a brother is the same as judging that brother. And if you judge your brother, you have set yourself up over that same law, making yourself the judge. It is taking the seat that does not belong to you in order to do what you are unqualified to do. And the motivation is what is most in view: pride. Pride and self-justification are at the center of it all. We look down on those in our community or those around us, constantly criticizing and correcting not to help and edify, but because we believe that we are right and they are wrong, and we are justified in our harsh words. Pride is, at its core, self-deception. 

Pride refers to an unwarranted attitude of confidence. 

—William A. Williams

That is what James is communicating here in chapter 4. James is not saying that it is wrong to distinguish between right and wrong things, to have convictions, to denounce that which is evil and to promote what is good…this is not a simple “DO NOT JUDGE EVER” command. What he is concerned with is the heart motivation of the brothers in the community. When we are frustrated with someone in our community, it is likely that it isn’t because they have transgressed the law of God, but rather that they have transgressed the law of me. Rather than condemning what doesn’t please God, we condemn that which doesn’t please me.

I have set myself up as the judge over all, and it is from this seat of judgment that I declare rulings. It is this disposition that James is warning about because it is this disposition that kills community. If you set yourself up as the judge, set yourself in a seat that doesn’t belong to you, the pride that is produced actually sets you up against the very law you are seeking to adjudicate. In short, if you speak against others out of the selfishness and pride of your own heart, you fail to keep the royal law, the law of liberty he talked about in chapter 2—to love your brothers. You become, as James says, not a doer of the law but a judge of that law. It is destructive to your soul as you fail to obey the royal law, the law which says to love your neighbor as yourself.

That is what erodes community. Trust is the necessary communal adhesion. And when someone in a community sets themself up as the judge over all according to their own preferences and opinions, trust is eroded. And when trust erodes, community becomes impossible.

So, if we fail to heed the warning of speaking evil against one another, community becomes impossible. So what then are we to do? 

Humility fosters community.

Remember James 4:10…

Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you.

—James 4:10

If pride kills community, humility fosters it. Pride is self-deception saying that I am over the law and have the authority and ability to judge and condemn. But pride is an attitude of unbelief—not only that, it is the fruit born out of false belief that I am on the throne.

Look again at the text. Notice, after describing what speaking evil against your brother does—namely sets you up as judge over the law—James is clear about why that is so deceptive…

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 4:12

This is a kindness of God to give us a text that functions as a mirror to see ourselves rightly. What do people who are deceived need more than anything? They need the truth. They need to be shown what is actually the case. “Oh, according to your actions, you seem to think that you are the judge over all. Well…there is only one judge, and you are not him.”

James has already used this same device in his letter. Remember back in chapter 1…

But be doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving yourselves. For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks intently at his natural face in a mirror. For he looks at himself and goes away and at once forgets what he was like.

—James 1:22–24

Do not be self-deceived, brothers. Do not be like the man who forgets what he looks like directly after forgets what he looks like. Heed the mercy of God in his word to remind us how the world actually works: you are not God. He is God alone.

It is clear that the sense being conveyed in this passage is meant to recalibrate and refocus our view of ourselves in order to humble us. The effect that this should have on us is not one of self-deprecation or of self-pity, but rather humility. Humility sees and recognizes that God is God and we are not. Pride, when left to grow and fester, gives birth to idolatry—placing ourselves on the judgment seat and condemning one another’s faith and life. That is destructive to community.

But humility—recognizing that all of God’s gracious law applies to me in the first case—fosters and strengthens community. Humility says in a conflict, “what is my heart disposition toward this person? How can I act selflessly humbly toward this person?”

Paul commands this same idea in Philippians 2…

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

—Philippians 2:3–4

Humility looks like counting others before yourself. It looks like seeing myself rightly, and acknowledging that I am not the judge over all, but am under that same law first. It looks like removing the log from your own eye first, so that you are then able to rightly see the speck in your brother’s eye. That is the relational glue that will hold a community together. That is the bedrock of gospel community.

It’s vital to remember, however, that while James is serious in this warning against this prideful judgment, James is not prohibiting the proper, and necessary, discrimination that every Christian should exercise. James is not calling us to never confront one another, never to admonish one another, never to bring to attention concerning behaviors or beliefs. Remember 1 Corinthians 5 where Paul is clear we are to make strong exclusions even within the church…

I wrote to you in my letter not to associate with sexually immoral people— not at all meaning the sexually immoral of this world, or the greedy and swindlers, or idolaters, since then you would need to go out of the world. But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? God judges those outside. “Purge the evil person from among you.”

—1 Corinthians 5:9–13

So clearly, the NT writers care about right and wrong, good and evil, truth and falsehood, and care for the gospel purity of our community. The judging that is taking place here is for unrepentant sin from remorseless people. Paul calls us to care about sin in our midst. In fact, one of the incredible blessings of being in gospel community is to do life with people who love you, care for you, and are able to observe and discern weeds of sin in your life that you may be blind to, and call you to turn away from that sin and to turn back to Christ in faith. Remember Proverbs 27:6…

Faithful are the wounds of a friend; profuse are the kisses of an enemy.

—Proverbs 27:6

But James is warning, once again, of the type of slanderous, quick-tempered and loose-tongued judgment that comes not from above, but from below. Not the loving, edifying, or careful wounds of a friend, but a harsh judgment from a counterfeit judge. This is foolishness, dangerous, and destroys community. In fact, back in James 3:15, he warns that this is demonic and leads to chaos and disorder.

We all know what it’s like to be rebuked. Isn’t there such a clear difference in how you receive that rebuke if it comes from a friend who you know cares for your soul and loves you and wants to help and care for you, and receiving a rebuke from someone who is critical and demeaning and conniving to manipulate you and belittle you? One fosters community and one destroys community.

Again, James ends with a warning and a rhetorical question…

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 4:12

God alone is the lawgiver and judge, and he alone sits on his throne and in his judgment seat, and he is the only one able to judge justly. While this is meant to humble us, there is a proper fear that we ought to feel in light of this reality as well. If we act as the judge, all we can ever do is destroy community. God, the actual judge, is able to destroy your soul. Remember Jesus’ warning in Matthew 10…

And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.

—Matthew 10:28

When I understand myself rightly, a sinner who has transgressed that holy and perfect law from the one true lawgiver, there is only one verdict I deserve: guilty. Like Isaiah who comes into the throneroom of the Ancient of Days and declares…

“Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the LORD of hosts!”

—Isaiah 6:5

We are a people who have broken the law of God. Who will save us from this body of death?

Jesus secures community.

Behind this great passage stands the one who first humbled himself. Behind it all stands one who when he was rejected, did not speak evil against his brothers. Peter explains this exactly in 1 Peter 2…

He committed no sin, neither was deceit found in his mouth. When he was reviled, he did not revile in return; when he suffered, he did not threaten, but continued entrusting himself to him who judges justly. He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, that we might die to sin and live to righteousness. By his wounds you have been healed.

—1 Peter 2:22–24

We have not received the verdict that we deserve. Because of Christ and him alone, and because of his humility, his humiliation, we are made righteous. He is the bedrock of our community. It is through his blood and in him alone that we belong. He is our great example. Remember the command of Paul in Philippians 2…

Do nothing from selfish ambition or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others.

—Philippians 2:3–4

But look then what is the foundation and means of that great command…

Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

—Philippians 2:4–11

Jesus Christ, the Son of God incarnate, submitted his innocent life to the judge over all. He humbled himself in the place of ruined sinners in order to reclaim them. It’s not enough that he talked about it, but actually paid the price to satisfy the price that the law demands, so that the ones for whom he died would not be destroyed by the just judge, but be saved. What marvelous love this is, what a supreme act of kindness and love to those who hated, despised, and rejected him. It is in him, then, that humility is possible. In union with Christ, we can humble ourselves before the Lord because he humbled himself. And it is in Christ then that we are also exalted. It is in him that we can actually obey his command to humility, to not speak evil against one another, and thus can actually foster and build community that bears the name gospel community.

What an incredible expression of the love of God to us that he would send his only son to bear our sorrows, and thus secure for himself a people, a community that is holy to the Lord our God, who is able to dwell together in gospel peace.

So as we walk this life in community, remember the gospel. As you encourage one another, remember the gospel. As we rebuke one another and admonish one another, remember the gospel. As we love one another and serve one another and care for one another, remember the gospel. Remember what God has done for you in Christ—he who loved you while you were still a sinner, can now love your neighbor as yourself.