Sometimes I think I must mentally edit Scripture as I read it: there are some verses and passages of which I have absolutely no recollection. Were I more mystical or charismatic, I might suspect that revelation is still being given and that, in my case, the Holy Spirit is publishing it in my Bible at night. I know this isn’t true, for when I return to the same passage after a little time has passed it’s as though the troubling verses were never there. Whew!

For whatever reasons, there are a few rare occasions that I actually do notice these elusive verses. It happened today as I read the following:

Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you - who are you to judge your neighbor?” - Jas 4.11-12 (NIV)

I am telling the truth; I am not lying: in my hundreds of times reading the Book of James, I have never seen these verses before. Or, at least, they never registered before. If you doubt this, read some of my older posts here and elsewhere or track down some comments I have made at various blog slopfests.

Having the right “editing” tools for the biblical text is important in such moments: given the correct resources, I can typically negate the clear teaching of the Bible in order to suit myself, i.e., to excuse what I most deeply want to do: indulge my flesh. Some of my most trusted tools failed me on this one, though. Take the New International Dictionary of New Testament Theology, for example, on the word translated “slander” above:

katalaleo, speak evil of, rail at, slander; katalalia, evil speech, railing, slander; katalalos, slanderer, railer, defamer.”

Mundle, who authored the article, doesn’t help and actually makes it worse.

In the NT katalaleo is not used of blasphemy against God; but slanderers (katalalous) are among the sinners whom Paul mentions in Rom. 1:30 as typical examples of paganism. It is linked with psithyristas, whisperers, talebearers (v. 29). The cognate nouns psithyrismos, gossip, tale-bearing, and katalalia are again linked in 2 Cor. 12:20 and 1 Clem. 30:3; 35:5. Similarly katalaliai, slanders, are among the sins which Paul fears he will encounter in the rebellious church of Corinth (2 Cor. 12:20): the fellowship of the community is destroyed by this sin. But the Christian churches are themselves the victims of such evil speech: it is the result of the hostile attitude taken up towards them by the heathen world around. Christians ought, therefore, for their part to be so much the more concerned to show by their “good behaviour in Christ” that the slanders against them are groundless (1 Pet. 2:12; 3:16). As “newborn babes”, i.e. those born again, who know the kindness of their Lord, Christians should put away malicious slander along with other sins (1 Pet. 2:1-3). The letter of James, too, with its particular censure of sins of the tongue, emphatically forbids Christians to indulge in evil speaking. It is not only an expression of arrogance and disregard for one’s brother, but also a slight to God’s law and God himself as the one Lawgiver and Judge of all (Jas. 4:11 f.). Thus the apostolic injunctions show us what the outworking of Jesus’ love-commandment should be in the life of the Christian churches.”

Note his words: “Christians should put away malicious slander along with other sins.” Hey, leave us something, will ya’!?!

If you are like me, you will think it outright unkind, unloving, and unfair to suggest that I must demonstrate my eloquence by being silent in the face of blatant and deliberate unwitting and unintentional provocation from another Christian. And I know you are, in fact, like me: I read a lot of other people’s blogs.

James obviously didn’t anticipate the advent of the internet and blogs or he would never have made such a demand of believers. If it were not for the spiritually-discerned criticism and mockery of others, a lot of us wouldn’t be able to blog at all. Think about some of the more popular blogs - I am not talking about Challies or Pyromaniacs - where blasting other Christians is the soup du jour each day and every day (as long as it is called today).

Even this post is a criticism of others. But in my heart (or my “heart of hearts,” since that means I really, really mean it) I give thanks and glory to our Father: “I thank you, God, that I am not like other bloggers . . . ”

We not only frequent these blogs faithfully but we add our comments and (unconsciously) become more like these caustic, abrasive, arrogant - my own personal unholy trinity of self-possessed and meticulously-maintained attitudes - bloggers.

Is it not possible to correct or confront a fellow Christ-follower without demeaning or ridiculing them? Can we not maintain respect for them and treat them with dignity? Can we not love them as Christ has loved us?

Well, that seems to be what James is saying, but we could always fall back on Luther’s opinion of the book. If James is really saying what he appears (on the surface, i.e., to the untrained eye of the rabble) to be saying, then we cannot indulge in such exquisitely-satisfying, orgiastic feeding frenzies. It would take a very learned theologician to circumvent what James is saying and we must honestly ask ourselves the critical question: Is it worth it?

Well, I know what I think: I think I need to get some more tools.


2 Cor 1.13