Dealing With Slander 101

"I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked. For the LORD God is a sun and shield; the LORD bestows favor and honor; no good thing does he withhold from those whose walk is blameless. O LORD Almighty, blessed is the man [or woman] who trusts in you."
-- Psalm 84:10-12


I love the internet. It's a great way to see the world without leaving your desk.

But, there are some things about the net that aren't good. Predators and folk not being kind to one another, to name two.

A couple of things I have on my mind and heart here: one, is that people who aren't Christians will do evil to us. Second, is that as Christians, we should be careful to not blog anything slanderous about someone else. Let's face it--we deal with human beings, and those humans are sinners like you and me. They're going to sin against you and me, just like we will sin against them. (Hopefully on our part it's not intentional.... :) )

It's very easy to lash back when someone does evil to us, and then slanders us. Haven't experienced this? Live a while as a Christian--it'll happen. One reason I became a monk is a need to settle and be still before God--and let the world do and say what it will. And allow myself to put Him, and my relationship with Him, above all else. And to learn to live in that daily, in a way I was never really fully able to do before. I allowed distractions of the world to damage that relationship with God often over the years.

The attitude we need to have as believers is that our relationship with God is the most important thing of all. If I'm rightly related to Him, if I've confessed my sins to Him and received forgiveness from Him, and I'm walking with Him the best I can, that's what matters. What others may say does not matter. Paul said he would not allow himself to be judged by anyone. The thing that is next on the important list is to be rightly related to our spouses. That person comes next after God. No one in this world is to come before our husband or wife, not even our children. The children come next. You see, I made a covenant with my wife and God, to love and honor her above all people and things; that would include my children. I didn't make a covenant with God and my child. So Shirley comes first.

The world can be a cold, hard place. It's not supportive of us having a relationship with God, being faithful to our spouses, or being honest with ourselves and other people. The world wants us to "get what's mine" and "do what makes me happy." It doesn't encourage us to be faithful to God, our spouses and children. On the contrary, the world encourages us to do what we want in the moment, and then justify it, even if we have to lie. In fact, the world teaches us that "personal happiness" is a justification for unfaithfulness and lying. And on top of that, the world teaches us to repeat the lie often enough that those around us believe it, and then we may even get to believe it ourselves. We must resist this, in ourselves and in others.

I've resisted sharing any detail here, on purpose. But I pray this is of help to you. As Christians, we will be attacked. We will be preyed upon by those who don't know Christ, and by those who know Him, but are away from Him. They will attempt (and may succeed!) to do evil to us. They will slander us, personally to other people, and on the net. Jesus told us to expect this if we are serving Him. Peter asked us why we're surprised at the trial they are used to put us through (yes, USED, because that is what is happening--they are being used by the evil one). Have you and I sinned against others? Yes, of course we have. I have. And I've repented, and where I've had opportunity, I've admitted it and asked the person I sinned against to forgive me. But I (and probably you) have been slandered, and accused of things we did NOT do.

Again, as Christians we must hold out Christ to them and to all, and His forgiveness. And not slander back, either personally or in a setting like this. We may be tempted to do that (I am!), but we must not. Job's wife asked him, "Why do you hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die."

A good answer from him could have been: "No. You've already done that, even though you're still breathing. And I see what it's done to you."

I chose to bless God and live. And I strongly encourage everyone who reads this to do the same. This means to confess our sins and receive forgiveness from Him, and to walk with Him--which means that above everything else, to read the Bible and do our best to obey it. And let the false tongues wag--our concern is only what our Lord, our spouse, and our close Christian brothers and sisters say about us. God will take care of us, and whatever situation. He is Almighty. We must continue to be His hands and feet to the world.



blessings,
fr francis