Recently, I was listening to an interview with a well-known Christian man. My heart started to break and tears began to fill my eyes, as I listened to his words. He was talking about how he had grown up in his Christian walk being told to stay away from certain Christian ministers. People in his "circle" had slandered others in the Christian faith based upon hearsay. Rumors and gossip were spread, sometimes with the intent to damage another individual who walked with God. "Christians" were attacking other believers with their words. Unity was not found.
Here's what the Bible has to say about it:
"Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another." (James 4:11a)
"For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder." (2 Corinthians 12:20)
"Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." (Eph. 4:29)
"Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. 29They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, 30 slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents; 31 they have no understanding, no fidelity, no love, no mercy." (Romans 1:28-21)
Now, I could go through a whole list of these evils and speak about how they are all wrong and should be avoided. The reality is though, if you are right with God, you won't continue to give in to the temptation to live in sin. However, I have seen and heard one too many that claim to be real Christians, continue to carry out these dangerous ways of living. This should be alarming to all of us! I won't name names because that would be gossip itself, because gossip is usually true but can hurt someone in effect. I don't intend to repay evil for evil here.
However, I will say that throughout my years of walking with Jesus, I have been shocked the number of times that I have heard other "believers" slander, gossip, and even commit malice towards others in the faith. These things should not be friends! How often we listen to others who have listened to others who have listened to others, repeat lies (or hateful truths) that have been replayed over and over with the intent to ruin someone else's life! Yes, maybe people do need to turn away from their wicked way of living and turn back to the Father, but trying to take them down because of their foolishness is not your job!
"Vengeance belongs to the Lord," Bible says (Romans 12:19). Let Him deal with the person. Your only job is to pray, intercede for them, and treat them kindly. And if you have the chance, talk to them one-on-one and peacefully confront them about the issue. If they don't listen, bring a trusted third-party or two in. If they still refuse to hear you, take it to the Church. If they still object, the Bible says to regard them as an unbeliever. Just read Matthew 18:15-17.
That being said, a lot of the times the people on verdict aren't even guilty! You have no idea how many times I have heard rumors spread by self-righteous types who think they can play God, in the name of righteousness. However, these prideful, condemning people, plenty of times are actually incorrect about their facts! After all, how many of us just take things at face-value without even questioning them? Just because someone, who probably isn't actually saved themselves, made a YouTube video on another person doesn't mean it's true!
And just because your so-called "Pastor" told you something was true about another Christian leader or brother/sister, doesn't mean it's factual either. We are so quick to blindly trust others spreading lies and hate, without doing the research ourselves, aren't we? We think if it's someone we trust or look up to, even a friend, that they surely wouldn't mislead us right? We fail to see that every human-being, no matter their status or relationship to us, can be misled themselves. So, we've got to do better guys! We can't just accept facts as facts, without taking it to the Lord first!
We have to pray about the information that has been given to us. Please, please, please don't just accept it, not even from me, just because you heard it from a loved one through the grapevine. Ask God. Take it to Him in humility and sincerely seek Him to find out how He sees that individual. If the information is in fact correct, pray your heart out for that person. Ask the Lord to connect your heart with His, so that you might intercede on behalf of that soul. They need it.
See, it's not our job to shamefully expose people we're unsure about, even if we think we are. The Lord brings to light every hidden thing at its' proper time. But if we judge others, we'll be judged with the way we've judged them. If we don't forgive the accused, we won't be forgiven. This is all Bible, friends. We can't afford to make it our mission to obsess over finding evil and calling it out. That's pride. You weren't given that commission and you never will be either!
You are not the Judge. You are NOT the Alpha. Let Him deal with people according to their sins. Your job is to love them. Love your enemies. Pray for those who persecute you. Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who do wrong to you. I know it doesn't always feel easy or look appealing, but trust me, once you do, you'll realize that this is in fact, the higher, better way! You will be free from their hold on you, when you can just let them go, and let God. Let Him convict them. Let Him change them. But pray and love them in the process.
And by all means, if He tells you to share a word with them, do it! If He tells you, they are living in sin and He compels you to say something to them about it, do it! But don't go tell the whole world how rotten and awful that person is. We have ALL fallen short of the glory of God but His forgiveness is not too far away to reach any one of us. His grace IS sufficient. He is full of mercy, and He welcomes every Prodigal that returns back to Him! He won't turn us away or leave us as poor orphans. He welcomes rebels, criminals, hypocrites, sinners...
If God accepts every person that turns to Him and puts their trust in Him, no matter their past or their demons, then who are we to think we shouldn't do the same? No, don't entertain the sin. Don't take part in it. Don't compromise and lower your Godly standards. Don't make them believe it's okay for them to continue to do whatever sin they want because of God's grace. Of course not! But love them well. Be there for them. Help them understand through patience and goodness. Continue to lift them up in prayer and respond to the Lord in obedience.
If He says, "Walk away," walk away. If He says, "Stay and be a light," stay and be a light. It's important to ask Him though. No two situations will look the same, but just remember, it's not okay and it's not appropriate to slander another, just because of what you believe they may or may not be doing. Gossip, slander, malice, arrogance, jealousy, selfish-ambition, envy, etc., put ALL these things away. These things hurt other people who Jesus died for.
He gave His life for EVERY sinner; don't re-crucify Him, as if He did that for nothing. You are NOT a Pharisee or Sadducee, or Religious Teacher of the Law, so stop acting like it. You are not the Christian police. You are NOT commissioned to carry out the justice of God through your policing efforts to correct everyone you don't think is doing right. Not your job. Your job, in case you missed it before, is the Great Commission. Go make disciples. Go baptize people. And teach them to obey the teachings of Jesus (heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, preach the Gospel, etc.). There's NO OTHER MISSION given to us Church.
You have an individual calling, personal spiritual gifts, and a unique mantle to carry out the mission, but still don't deviate from the mission. Again, your mission IS NOT TO TELL EVERYONE ABOUT OTHER CHRISTIANS YOU DON'T LIKE BECAUSE OF THINGS YOU'VE HEARD ABOUT THEM. Just wait, because if you live like that, it will come back around to you. You reap what you sow and if you sow discord, beware it doesn't produce discord in your own life, friend. If you've done that, repent, give it to God, and be changed.
In conclusion, we can never expect to be unified, as the Church body of Christ, His beautiful Bride, if we are being ugly and spreading all kinds of nastiness behind closed doors about our brothers and sisters. How can the love of Christ be in us, if we constantly have to bash other believers because of what we've heard? No, it's not alright for them to continue in sin but gossip and slander are NEVER the solution either. Damaging that person's reputation, whether or not they are guilty, could destroy their lives. That's a pretty big mistake.
The Lord will deal with them as fit, even if they are handed over to Satan for a bit, so that they might be humbled and turn back to Jesus. A little leaven does leaven the whole lump, so we must remove them from our congregations if they are, in fact, causing darkness to run rampant. Hear me, yes, we must remove the problem but only for a little while, so that they don't become depressed. Forgive them, pray for them in the process and then reevaluate.
Forgiveness, grace, mercy, and compassion are the answers here guys. Malice, gossip, arrogance, and slander are NOT. Again, that doesn't mean we live ignorantly and allow sin. Of course not! Hopefully, that still goes without saying. But the truth is that every time we put down another person, usually with lies in secret, we hurt the heart of the Father. He sent His Son, Jesus, to give up His own life for that person. You are saying what He did wasn't good enough when you accuse you that person of being too far from God's grace!
So, we pray for the hurting, because the love of God lives in our hearts, and if that is not our go-to response to injustice, then we must take a long-hard look in the mirror and check ourselves. For the love of Christ must live inside of us, or He will spit us out as lukewarm hypocrites. Love IS THE ULTIMATE ANSWER. You can NOT show God's grace and mercy, through compassionate forgiveness, to someone truly without His love. Does His love live within you? Has your heart been softened and purified by the Hand of Love (God), or have you hardened your heart in fear and pride, towards others, and thus, towards Him too?
Be honest. If you want to focus constantly on "warning" others about so-called "wolves," or "false prophets," and that seems to take up most of your time, that's a red flag. Of course, don't let people be carried away by false doctrines or taken advantage of by wolves in sheep's clothing. But your method of doing this is so important, if you've missed it by now. Your initial response is to pray for that person and talk to God about them, THEN go from there. Don't do anything based off of questionable reports, not confirmed by the Father.
Ask Holy Spirit. He wants you to. You need His answers, His words, His heart, and make sure you know His voice. Even the devil comes disguised as an angel of light, so learn to recognize the Good Shepherd's voice, because demons talk too. But if you belong to Jesus, you'll get to know Him, and therefore, begin to recognize Him. He doesn't want to trick you, so you'll be surprised to find how close He really is. He's not mad. He doesn't condemn you. He doesn't yell in anger at you personally. His voice is kind and sometimes quiet. It's the still, small voice Elijah encountered, not in the earthquakes or hurricanes or storms. (1 Kings 19)
He is gentle and patient, not giving to us what we deserve. So find Him in others, find Him in nature, find Him in the perfect song on the radio, or the "random" thought that pops in your mind and inspires you. Find Him in the words that that "stranger" on the street just so happens to say loudly as you walk by. Find Him in the pages of the prophetic books you're reading. Find Him in your neighbor's "supernatural advice," and find Him in a child. He is all around us and most of all, if you're born again, He is in you. He will talk to you. You just have to listen. Because we can't actually help others, until we know how to help them specifically.
If you really want to help someone struggling, listen to God. That is one-half (maybe more), of prayer. If you have to stay up all night and cry out on their behalf, it's important to do so. You might just be the one that saves their life. At the end of the day, remember we cannot attain to the unity of the fullness of God, if we are hell-bent on sowing discord and dividing people through our divisive words and unfair accusations. It's not time to partner with the Accuser of the Brethren (Satan) who accuses day and night. Too many are listening to him.
Shut him up with the Word of God. Because if you don't know what God has to say, a good place to start IS the written word of God, which IS alive and active and sharper than any two-edged sword with power to cut and divide. Cut up darkness with God's words, not man's. Not Satan's, but what the Lord has to say about the matter. Period. This is it, no other way around it. God has a lot to say, and I pray we can learn to listen. But what He does say, which is a good place to begin and end, is that love covers a multitude of sins (1 Peter 4:8). Love never fails (1 Corinthians 13:8). And love surpasses all understanding (Ephesians 3:19).
Today, choose love. And love doesn't slander. Because unity in Christ is the goal and causing division will not make it possible. Gossip, slander, and malice only separate us farther from each other. We need to be closer and stronger, as His body, now more than ever. Let's start today. Let's start loving, EVERYONE, with the love of Christ that triumphs over ALL.
*If you have been guilty of spreading nasty rumors and constantly talking trash about others behind their backs, instead of praying for them and talking to them directly, take some time right now to pray. Thank God for His forgiveness of your sins and His help empowering you to be free of this bad way of living. He wants the best for you and this is not it. If you continue to sin in this way, you'll bring hell into your life. He doesn't want that for you. Say sorry, seek Him, wait for His response, and move on. Don't beat yourself up either. Learn your lesson and He'll help you do better next time. Believe that. He loves you and He wants good for you!
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