re: “James 4:11-12 - Do not speak evil of one another, brethren. He who speaks evil of a brother and judges his brother, speaks evil of the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge.
There is one Lawgiver, who is able to save and to destroy. Who are you to judge another?”
Be careful of quoting a Bible text our of context. The whole letter of James deals with issues within the church - such as infighting, divisions, favoritism toward the wealthy, etc. James is not claiming that we never “judge” others actions in regard to right and wrong, obviously the church and, we ourselves, must “discriminate” or “judge” with our choices everyday.
Paul the Apostle said in 1 Corinthians 5:12-13, when dealing with a person who claimed to be a Christian but was sleeping with his step-mother. Paul told them to remove such a person from their fellowship. He says:
“What business is it of mine to judge those outside the church? Are you not to judge those inside? God will judge those outside. “Expel the wicked person from among you.”
In the James passage and others, sometimes to “judge” means that someone is attempting to “decide who is righteous and who is not, who is saved and who is not” - that is something we, as human beings, cannot really do - only God knows the heart and motives.
But, we are instructed to judge certain actions of others: murder, lying, stealing, rape, etc. God Himself established government to confront and punish evil.
In the church, we are not to be arrogant or full of self-righteous pride when we judge others actions. We must be mindful that we all sin and not be hypocritical.
I quoted James 4:11-12 as the Biblical support for the statement that Pastor Jeffress “is pushing back against several high profile Christian leaders and pundits who have mocked the professions of faith of Trump and anyone who votes for him.” Thinking one can judge another Christians heart is putting one in an exalted position that even a forgiven sinner doesn’t warrant.