PRÉCIS ON RIGHTEOUS VS. UNRIGHTEOUS JUDGMENT OF A FELLOW CHRISTIAN: WITH FEAR AND TREMBLING BEFORE GOD

SCRIPTURE. “Believers, do not speak against or slander one another. He who speaks [self-righteously] against a brother or ^[a]judges his brother [hypocritically], speaks against the Law and judges the Law. If you judge the Law, you are not a doer of the Law but a judge of it.” ― JAMES 4:11, AMP

EDITOR’S NOTE. “This is not a prohibition of all judgment, nor is it a command to stop using godly wisdom, common sense, and moral courage together with God’s written Word to discern right from wrong, to distinguish between morality and immorality, and to judge doctrinal truth. There are many judgments that are not only legitimate but are commanded (cf John 7:24; 1 Cor 5:5, 12; Gal 1:8, 9; 1 John 4:1-3; 2 John 10); however, you cannot judge another if you are committing the same type of sin.” – Bible Gateway, ret. Feb. 9, 2024; edited

KEY TERM: “SPEAK EVIL.” ‘Katalaleó’ [καταλαλέω]: “‘To be a traducer’ [tell lies about someone so as to damage their reputation unfairly]; ‘to slander’ [make a false statement about someone with the result of damaged condition]; defamation [as opposed to ‘Truthful Defamation’ of offering an accurate report of unrepentant evildoing by a brother or leader]; to (falsely) accuse, blame or condemn; to speak against or criminate (forbidden by the Law of God).”

QUOTATION. “‘A Rumor is a Social Cancer:’ It is difficult to contain and it rots the brains of the masses. However, the real danger is that so many people find Rumors enjoyable. That part causes The Infection. And in such cases when a Rumor is only partially made of truth, it is difficult to pinpoint exactly where the information may have gone wrong. ‘It is passed on and on until SOME BRAVE SOUL questions its validity;’ that Brave Soul refuses to bite the apple and let the apple eat him. Forced to start from scratch for the sake of Purity and Truth, that brave soul, figuratively speaking, fully amputates the information in order to protect his personal judgment. In other words, his ignorance is to be valued more than the lie believed to be true.” ― CRISS JAMI, Killosophy, 2015; edited

COMMENTARY. “‘Speak not evil.’ — Do not ‘back-bite’ [gossip maliciously in secret], as the same word is translated in Romans 1:30, and 2 Corinthians 12:20 … ‘He that speaketh evil.’ — Punctuate thus: ‘He that speaketh evil of his brother, judgeth his brother; speaketh evil of the Law, and judgeth the Law.’ In this way the cumulative force of St. James’s remarks is best preserved. Hearken to the echo of his Master’s words. ‘Judge not, that ye be not judged’ (Matthew 7:1). ‘But the Apostolic condemnation is in no way meant to condone a vicious life and leave it unalarmed and self-contented; for boldness in rebuke thereof we have the example of John the Baptist.’ All that he reproves is the setting up of our own tribunals, in which we are at once prosecutor, witness, law, lawgiver, and judge; not to say executioner as well.” ― CHARLES ELLICOTT, An Old and New Testament Commentary for English Readers, 1878, 1897; edited

DK. I have written this to clarify THREE PURPOSES that the Lord had in writing these important words about our ‘Speech Communication about our Brethren,’ especially when a Controversy arises in our midst. So here they are, based on what has gone before from the research conducted.

1. SLANDER. Is absolutely prohibited by the Biblical Canon and is punishable by God with well-deserved severity. This is the case with ‘spreading false and malicious reports’ about a brother or sister, but most especially concerning a  leader, pastor or teacher.

• TRUTH. However, nowhere does the Scripture prohibit our telling a difficult truth about a leader in a position of influence who is teaching or speaking falsely about Christ or the Canon. On the contrary! We are indeed to ‘reprove’ such error for the benefit of those being misled, and to protect the sacred name of The Christ.

• MOTIVE. Mitigating all of this is one’s motive of heart. God does observe the outer conduct, but His most intense scrutiny is the heart of a man for speaking negatively of another. Even in the case of Truthful Defamation, is ‘The Intention’ of the report to: (1) Stop the destructive Lie; (2) Bring the offender to Repentance, or (3) Or to Damage the offender?

THE CHURCH. The American Church’s grave error has been TWOFOLD in recent times: One: It has slandered or permitted defamation of individuals who are not in agreement with Trump’s Christian Nationalism Movement, thereby doing great harm to those individuals through isolation, shunning and overt character assassination.

Two: The Church has compounded its error by approving of – by Silence or by open Affirmation – of the Reprobates among us in the form of Christian Nationalists, idolaters, and the false teachers who bring such villainy into the Pulpits and Pews of the local (or televisual) churches.

CODA. As I have repeatedly taught and warned: God is preparing blistering Judgments against all “CHRISTIAN TRADUCERS”who shall soon be brought to the Lord’s Bench for proper penalties. He will by strong contrast richly Reward those who have held on to the Truth under conditions of persecution by one’s fellow Christians.

These are those “BRAVE SOULS” referred to by Mr. Jami who are sprinkled throughout Church History who dared to resist corrupt Church Leaders, at enormous price to their personal station or person. Stephen. Paul. Polycarp. Justin Martyr. Ignatius. And later Huss, Tyndale, Latimer, Luther, and still later Bonhoeffer, Wurmbrand, Schindler, Niemöller. And some would reasonably argue the several American Founders were such heroic figures as well.

All this as THE QUESTION: Are you willing, beloved, to be a “Brave Soul for Christ” as our Nation enters possibly her very Last Days under the presumptive First American Dictator, Donald John Trump?

I tell you the Truth: It is not I asking this Question, beloved. It is not. It is your own KING JESUS who poses it this way: “Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will He really find faith on the earth?” (LUKE 18:8).

Will He indeed, and if so, will you be one of them?