Grace when courts decide
part four of five
It is impossible to be humble when forcefully asserting an opinion. Being “right” on a divisive topic leads to arrogance and James calls that kind of boasting evil. When we speak against each other and judge each other, we are acting like the lost, not children of the Most High God.
The word for judge, κρίνω, includes the idea of slander and condemnation. Who are we to speak in such a way to each other? What does that show the world of Jesus? How can we claim to be of one family, one Lord, one faith, and one baptism if we do not live our lives (and guard our tongues) through the Holy Spirit?
Disagreements are natural. None of us has all the information about any subject, which makes it all the more important to be “quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger; for the anger of man does not produce the righteousness of God” (James 1:19–20). How we treat one another is how the lost in the world make meaning of what it means to be a believer. When we disagree, we must do so in love, respect, and grace.
Do you suppose that it is for nothing that the scripture says, “God yearns jealously for the spirit he has made to dwell in us?” But he gives more grace; therefore it says, “God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble.”
