Proper Christian Judgment

September 2nd, 2026
by Lance Waldie

James 4:11 Do not speak against one another, brethren.

If misinterpreted, James’s words will contradict other NT teachers, including Jesus Himself. Contextually, James teaches against Christian brothers speaking ill of one another and slandering each other based upon their jealous and selfish ambitions. But to conclude that James was against all forms of judgment would be to negate the very words he uses to judge his audience’s sinful judgments. Of course James’ words of judgment are consistent with Jesus and His apostles.

Like James, Jesus rebuked sin in Israel, teaching His followers to confront sin and deal with it. He said, “If your brother sins, go and show him his fault in private; if he listens to you, you have won your brother. But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that ‘by the mouth of two or three witnesses every fact may be confirmed.’ If he refuses to listen to them, tell it to the church; and if he refuses to listen even to the church, let him be to you as a Gentile and a tax collector. Truly I say to you, whatever you bind on earth shall have been bound in heaven; and whatever you loose on earth shall have been loosed in heaven. Again I say to you, that if two of you agree on earth about anything that they may ask, it shall be done for them by My Father who is in heaven. For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst” (Matt. 18:15-20; cf. Deut. 19:15).

Like James and Jesus, Paul rebuked Christians for their immoral behavior. Among the many sins he rebuked the Corinthian church for, he also spoke out against sexual immorality (1 Cor. 5-6) since sexual sins violate God’s Law (cf. Lev. 18:6-8; 20:11). In fact, Paul was horrified that the guilty parties in Corinth were not being judged by Christians in light of God’s Law. The Corinthians not only failed to mourn the sins in their midst, they were acting arrogantly. This is why Paul admonished them to act in the name of the Lord Jesus (1 Cor 5:4)—doing as Jesus had instructed, and judge sinner. This is why Paul handed the guilty man “over to Satan” (5:5).

Just as James taught against slandering fellow believers in 4:11, Paul said, “I wrote to you not to associate with any so-called brother if he is an immoral person, or covetous, or an idolater, or a reviler, or a drunkard, or a swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Do you not judge those who are within the church? But those who are outside, God judges. ‘Remove the wicked man from among yourselves’ ” (1 Cor. 5:11-13).

We cannot help but notice all the immoral practices Paul mentions—sinful ways that must be confronted and ultimately judged by church members. After all, Christ has established His Church on the earth and given authority to those who uphold God’s Law, which is Christ’s words. For when God’s people act in accordance with God’s words, God is in their midst (Matt. 18:20), judging those who blatantly defy Him. He does this through Christians in the church.

Notably, Paul was not saying that Christians had to be perfect in order to associate with one another. His point was that those who persist in the very activities they have been freed from after their conversion must be shunned. Shunning them was to be done in love with the goal of drawing them back into fellowship. Persistence in sin is what separates us from the community of believers who might be shunning us for our sin. In essence, it is the sinner’s own choice to be shunned. But it is vital to note that the apostles’ command to shun these sinners likely involves only the corporate gathering of worship, not individual contact (cf. 2 Thess. 3:14-15).

Food For Thought
Blatant sin must not be tolerated in our churches since it permeates like leaven and ends up corrupting the entire congregation. In obedience to James, let us never judge others out of jealousy; rather, let judgment stem from our zeal for God’s holy name to be glorified.