Gossip Feathers in the Wind

by Suzanne McCarthy for TCC

The Talmud* tells a story of a woman who came to her Rabbi (teacher) and confessed that she had spoken behind someone's back and told a falsehood about them. She wanted to know what could be done about it. The wise elderly Rabbi told her to go home, take a feather pillow, go outside with it, cut a hole in it and let all the feathers out. Then refill the pillow. He told her to come back to see him after that. When she returned, he asked her what happened. She stated "Oh, Rabbi! It was awful! I couldn't catch all the feathers and put them back in the pillow. Many feathers blew away!" The wise Rabbi said "Yes and that is how it is when we speak a falsehood about another person. Just as you could not retrieve all the feathers, we can never take back all the words."

The other week I was reading a book by Rick Joyner called "Overcoming Evil in the Last Days" and in it he stated that someone published information about him in a Chrisitan magazine that was just not true. He did what Yeshua (Jesus' Hebrew name) told us to do and that is to go to the person and speak to them. The editor received him and listened to Joyner give the correct information, but the editor did nothing about it. One has to wonder why the editor did not print a correction.

Then last week I read where a popular Christian author, was criticized in a similar manner through a website. She wrote a long letter stating exactly what her beliefs are to correct the statement that was made about her in print. Writing that letter took time out of her life and time away from her family to say nothing of the upsetting situation she found herself in through no fault of her own. Imagine the shock she went through. The resulting bad publicity could negatively impact their ministries, compromising their ability to draw people to Yeshua.

Don't get me wrong. We need to be discerning and not have such open minds that our brains fly out. We need to prayerfully filter things we read. "Be careful little eyes what you see!" Remember that little Sunday School song we learned as children? Should we even be attentive to this type of journalism or reporting? Is this really even journalism? Should we not be Berean-type Christians in that we check to see if it is so before we believe what is written or said about another believer or his ministry? It would only take a few minutes to e-mail a letter of inquiry to the editor asking if the writer actually contacted the accused personally before publically exposing them. This would raise awareness on the part of editors. Responsible editors and publishers will demand accountability from their staffs.

The writers of these articles did not speak to either of these people to question them about their beliefs before printing allegations about them. This is more than sloppy journalism. This is using hearsay, which in a court of law is not admissable evidence. This is laziness in not checking to see if the writer has his "facts" straight. This is an attack on a person's ministry from behind their back. When allegations are untrue,it is bearing false witness against one's neighbor. This is sin. Believing it without checking out the facts is also sin on the part of the reader. We should not blindly believe what we read no matter how well-known the ministry or publication is that makes the allegations.

Satan uses allegations to stop the forward progress of the gospel by using Christians to damage the credibility of other Christians. In the Scripture, Satan is called "The accuser of the brethren;" and, last time I looked, he hadn't turned over his job to any body. The sin of pride is deadly, and is many times a hallmark of a false "religious spirit."

Yeshua told us to take the beam out of our own eye first before trying to take the splinter out of another person's eye and that was good advice then, and it is good advice now. Yeshua also said that he who is without sin should first cast the stone, and since nobody is without sin, should there even BE ministries or publicity devoted to exposing what they arbitrarily consider to be the truth about other ministries? This so easily can just be gossip in print.

Isn't the Holy Spirit capable of showing us the truth? Yes! If we are reading our Bibles, and praying, the Holy Spirit will give us a check or "stop" in our spirit and we would be well advised to obey that leading. "And if I be lifted up from the earth will draw all men unto Me." John 12:32 and "Howbeit when the Spirit of truth is come, He will guide you into all truth: for He shall not speak of Himself; but whatsoever He shall hear, that shall He speak: and He will shew you things to come." John 16:13

Notice that? He will show us things to come. He will show us where things do not line up with His Word that could lead us into error. God is fully capable of drawing men and teaching them the truth without expose ministries. God is not a 99-LB. Weakling who needs us to defend Him by exposing what we may erroneously think is the belief or teaching of another. He is the King of the Universe! He created it all. Our part is to be living epistles for all men to read so that they will ask us about the hope that is within us. He is the Editor-in-Chief and He will hold us accountable.

* Talmud - The Hebrew civil and canonical laws, traditions, etc. New Webster's Dictionary