If you are a Christian and you want to feel superior toward others, it is relatively simple; you merely pick the sins that you think are most offensive and judge those who commit them. It’s impossible to find anyone without sin, so demonstrable superiority requires the skill of focusing on the notorious sins of others and proclaiming your innocence of those offenses. This enables you to deflect away from your sin and proclaim, “I haven’t killed anyone.”
Jesus condemned the superiority exhibited by the Pharisees. He demanded that the righteousness of His followers must surpass the righteousness of the Pharisees. In an earlier post, I named the righteousness of Kingdom members as “holiness” (see the post entitled, Holiness: A Distinct Way of Living in This World that considers Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5:21-32). Kingdom “holiness” is not merely a matter of rigorous obedience to a set of rules. It requires something much more profound, something deeper.
Where does holy character emanate from? What drives and sustains Kingdom pilgrims to live a life of holiness? In Matthew 12, we read about Jesus contending with Pharisees who condemned Him and His disciples for not strictly observing Sabbath restrictions. In verse 24, when Jesus heals a mute man who is described as demon-possessed, the people begin to believe He is the promised son of David.
Incredulous of their beliefs, the Pharisees accuse Jesus of doing His miracles through the power of Beelzebub. In verses 34-35, Jesus responds by focusing upon the nature of their words and their origin: “You brood of vipers, how can you, being evil, speak what is good? For the mouth speaks out of that which fills the heart. The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil.”
In verses 36-37, Jesus establishes a broader principle of how God views our behavior and character: “But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.” Contemporary translation? Our words reflect the condition of our heart – if the gospel of the Kingdom changes our hearts, our character, behavior, and even our speech will be evidence of that change.
Jesus makes this point from another perspective in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:21-30), where He discusses the notorious sin of murder – failing to value another’s life so much as to rob them of their life.
In verse 21, Jesus cites the law (You shall not commit murder) and interpretations of religious teachers at that time (Whoever commits murder shall be liable to judgment – the Greek word, “kresei”). However, in verses 22-26, Jesus delves deeper, addressing the condition of one’s heart and providing an example of righteousness that surpasses that of the Pharisees. He confronts us with our anger, our expressions of careless and abusive speech aimed at fellow believers, and our pride that prevents us from reconciling with a brother or sister, believing we can worship God without our hearts being open to reconciliation.
When discussing Jesus’ teaching on anger in the context of the law against murder in this passage, George Eldon Ladd wrote, “[t]he primary emphasis is upon inner character which underlies outward conduct. The law condemned murder; Jesus condemned anger as sin” (The Presence of the Future: The Eschatology of Biblical Realism). Conduct can be controlled with laws and regulations; in contrast, Ladd noted, “anger belongs not to the sphere of outward conduct but to that of the inner attitude and character.”
If Jesus addresses an outward conduct, He points us to the conduct that flows from our anger: our speech. He offers no discussion about justified anger, but when he addresses our careless, disrespectful speech toward others, particular in the community of faith (i.e., “his brother”), we know he is not talking about justified anger – He is referring to an anger that controls us and overflows from our heart to the words that come out of our mouths.
This “anger” is an offense that makes the person liable to judgment. Unlike the tradition of the religious leaders, Jesus uses “judgment” (kreisei) as the punishment for anger, not murder. His reassigning judgment to this emotion instead of murder is intended to startle His listeners. To think that our anger toward a fellow believer is akin to a criminal offense, worse, a moral offense, subject to God’s judgment, defies our logic.
What angry words did Jesus find so offensive? Calling a brother a “good-for-nothing” is an offense that makes one subject to the Sanhedrin (Jewish judicial and administrative body that included Scribes and priests). To call a brother a “fool” is an offense subject not only to capital punishment, but to the fire of hell itself. Jesus’ viewpoint is breathtaking and intentionally shocking to our senses, just as it was to His listeners. He traces a movement “from a furious attitude to abusive speech, calling a person an idiot or a fool” (David Turner, Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament: Matthew).
You want to deal with the outward conduct of murder? You have to address the issue of uncontrolled anger in a person’s heart that also manifests in abusive speech to brothers and sisters. These expressions are ways in which the abuser objectifies their target, counting them to have no value, be worthless, and a fool. These are words of a person spiritually blind, who fails to see the value and dignity that God places upon their victim, but also who fails to see their own spiritual poverty and overestimates their superiority. The mention of the judgment of eternal hell is a signal for us that this is a matter of great importance to God.
We should be able to innately sense the anger and its fruit that Jesus is referring to. We “get carried away,” our anger “takes a life of its own,” we “lose perspective,” and “say things we regret later.” That’s the anger – that common, nasty trait in every fallen human being that festers in the heart and takes shape in our words to cause damage and harm to others by devaluing their God-given worth.
James offers practical guidance on the speech of believers. He teaches that if we are blessing God and cursing humans, it is like salt water and fresh water coming from the same spring (James 3:10-11). It should not be. According to James, a heart filled with bitter envy and selfish ambition does not come from heavenly wisdom, but is earthly, unspiritual, and demonic (James 3:14-15). Kingdom members’ speech is the fruit of the heart guided by and rooted in heavenly wisdom. It is pure, peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy, impartial, and sincere (James 3:17).
The heart of the Kingdom member is transformed and will bear the fruit of holiness in speech. However, it will require the Kingdom members to “tame their tongues” (James 3:2-6), putting them under submission to the Holy Spirit and allowing Him to prune anger.
Jesus warns that if our brother or sister is offended by us, our hearts are not in a place where we can worship. He instructs us to leave our gift on the altar, go and reconcile with them, and then return to worship (Matthew 5:23-24). The heart of the Kingdom member should be conditioned in such a manner that reconciliation is a way of life, a second nature – even with adversaries (Matthew 5:25-26). There is no room for unbridled anger and abusive speech – otherwise, worship is nullified as hypocrisy.
In light of Jesus’ teaching, worship cannot be understood solely as a one-hour event. Worship begins with communion with the Holy Spirit in the life of Kingdom members long before the hour of corporate worship. That communion will involve submission to the Spirit’s heavenly wisdom, pruning our anger, and transforming our speech. Our prayer may look a lot like the lyrics of part of the song written and produced in 2023 by Abbie Gamboa and Upperroom:
Not for anything that I could gain
Just to honor You and bring You praise
Like a fragrance broken on the floor
May my worship be pure
There’s no motive, there’s no hidden catch
Here’s my all and I don’t want it back
Like a fragrance broken on the floor
May my worship be pure
Thy Kingdom Come 
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