In the midst of my own fight of faith, my own sanctification battle, my own seeking the Lord desperately, I was browsing the Reformed Baptist Fellowship blog and "accidentally" stumbled upon this one post. It was like the fresh water in between rounds of a heated fight. It stirred something in my soul and I did not know what else to do other than straight out steal it. Of course it was a civilized robbery, I asked them if I could copy the whole thing, and they graciously permitted me. I am deeply thankful for the post itself and also for the permission to post it. I hope it fans the flame of God in your heart as well.
Here is the post:
Saturday evening I drove out in the middle of a Michigan January blizzard to pick up my family’s evening meal at Domino’s Pizza. While waiting at the counter, I heard behind me the parlor door swing open, and in blew the Domino’s Pizza delivery man carrying his empty pouches. Our eyes locked. He looked a bit embarrassed.
It was Justin. Justin is a thirty-something father of three daughters. For years he’s been a successful construction entrepreneur, but apparently the recession has choked his business. So now, he’s delivering pizzas at night.
Before he could think to himself: “I’ll bet Pastor Chanski thinks I’m such a loser”, I shouted, “You’re a great man, Justin! When I was young like your kids, my dad used to work three jobs to keep clothes on our backs, food on our table, and a roof over our heads. And there’s no man I respect more in the whole world than my dad! He did whatever it took to take care of us. That’s what you’re doing for your girls. You’re a great man!”
Justin’s changed face told me he wasn’t embarrassed anymore.
Times are tough, not only in Michigan, but all over the country. We financially challenged fathers can keep up our courage by considering our grand roles as imaging our Heavenly Father to our little ones.
“Your Father knows what you need, before you ask Him. ‘Pray, then, in this way: ‘Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. . . Give us this day our daily bread . . .’” (Matthew 6:8-9, 11).
“Or what man is there among you, when his son shall ask him for a loaf, will give him a stone? Or if he shall ask for a fish, he will not give him a snake, will he? If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give what is good to those who ask Him” (Matthew 7:9-11).
As image bearing Fathers, we’re fundamentally to be providers - not fulfilled self actualizers, not esteemed business owners, not corporate heavy hitters, not sharp automobile drivers, not stylish clothing wearers. We’re to be providing bread winners who sweat from our brows (Genesis 3:17-19), caring for the needs of our wives and their babies.
These hard times help us get back to the basics of true manly and godly nobility. Edgar Guest hosted an cheering radio program in Detroit from 1931 to 1942, through the heart of the Great Depression. His poem provides perspective for many in 2009:
Father
Used to wonder just why Father
Never had much time to play,
Used to wonder why he’d rather
Work each minute of the day.
Boys are blind to much that’s going
On about them every day,
And I had no way of knowing
What became of Father’s pay.
Father didn’t dress in fashion,
Sort of hated clothing new;
Style with him was not a passion;
He had other things in view.
All I knew was when I needed
Shoes I got ‘em on the spot;
Everything for which I pleaded
Somehow Father always got.
Wondered season after season
Why he never took a rest,
And that I might be the reason
That I never even guessed.
Saw his cheeks were getting paler,
Didn’t understand just why;
Saw his body growing frailer,
Then at last I saw him die.
Rest had come - his task was ended,
Calm was written on his brow;
Father’s life was big and splendid,
And I understand it now.
“Greater love has no one than this, that one lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13).
You’re a great man, Justin!
Mark Chanski
Here is the original post. Don't forget to check out their website. you will, no doubt, be blessed.
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
Reading the Bible
If you google the frase " How to read the Bible", you'll get the staggering number of 5,860.000 results to your search. For the same search on Yahoo! Answers, the number of results is far more modest but still impressive: 31.340 results will pop up. These numbers might sound very impressive but, in talking to people, we realize that, while it's true that many have an avid desire to read the Bible and do succeed in their endeavor of improving their Bible reading skills and frequency, many have a wavering desire that surfaces every once in a while but doesn't last nearly enough time to allow any progress to actually occur. Some others do wish to read more and better always, but lack the determination and discipline necessary to do so, or just don't find enough useful tools to aid them in such a crucial spiritual discipline, progressing at a turtle speed on their own. Bible reading plans come and go, technics and tactics, legalism and fear rethoric fly around in a sea of motivations and schemes to achieve such a coveted goal: To commune with the living God as we read His self disclosure to us, the Bible. God is absolutely beautiful and one way He reveals the beauty of His holiness to us is in the fact that He has chosen His people from every tongue, tribe and nation. There is a remarkable diversity in the Body of Christ and people read their Bibles very effectively in many different ways. So we praise God for the sea of methods, tools and motivations found out there to read our Bibles. (at least for the lawful ones). Some are incredibly helped by the " read through the Bible in a year plan", some are utterly frustrated by them. The good thing about the existence of such a myriad of ideas is that every now and then a saint will share something with us that might just turn things around for the better. It is in that spirit that I want to share a couple of things I came accross recently and found very helpful. The first one is a series that Matt Chandler and Josh Patterson taught on their saturday seminars at the Village church in Texas. Chandler aims pretty high in part 1 but even when we can't do a whole hour, which we many times can if we set aside the time in advance, we can still use the tools he offers and definitely get a lot from our bible reading. Also, Don Whitney has some great stuff here. My favorites are the "emphasis reading" and the Phillippians 4:8 questions. In addition to it I am listening to the ESV podcast daily and, so far it has been a joy. The ESVSB alone has 10 reading plans and the podcast is really well done. Hopefully you'll benefit from these resources somehow.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Falling away.
I Jo 2:19: "They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would have continued with us. But they went out, that it might become plain that they all are not of us."
Scary verse! Scary letter, to be honest. Especially when the Apostle John is dealing, not with hypotheticals, but with actual people that lived with them, did life together with them, taught Sunday school, baby sat, horse pooled and gave ample evidence of what appeared to be genuine, saving faith for a period of time. My pastor has preached through I John a number of years ago and now we are going through the book of Hebrews, which seems to be even more blunt when it questions the genuineness of our faith. It is frightening to me that as we read the warnings in the pages of our Sacred literature, we see it happening in real life all around us. People that, once we had strong confidence about the estate of their souls, now live openly as unbelievers. My theology assumes wheat and tears growing together, but that makes it no less disheartening. Just this past weekend, Ray Boltz, acclaimed worship singer, went public about his homosexuality and said he plans to embrace that lifestyle. I have a dear friend, who at least wanted to be a Christian in years past, now openly rejecting the Bible and the Trinity, and the resurrection and the pursuit of holiness altogether. Another one, raised in church, good testimony for many years, now dangerously flirting with sin, cheating on Christ with somebody else.
How do we cope with this? How is a fellow Christian supposed to deal with such a crude reality? It is far too easy to play the "Holiness police" game, enumerate people's sins, point out their flaws and walk away. To go to bed at night after a whole day of pretending only others have issues, is less than fun and not a warm blanket for a cold soul. It is a clear evidence of pride when we act as if we have not fallen because we are better. Of course we, "humble" evangelicals, would never say "we are better", but that is precisely what we communicate when we are quick to talk about people's junk but slow to acknowledge that the reason we don't become Hitler is not our innate morality and goodness but the grace of Christ. If he were to remove His grace from us, we all would be gone. The beautiful thing in experiencing, realizing and cherishing Grace is that, ultimately, there is no pressure to perform, but a deep longing for this God who has redeemed, not a future, improved version of us, but who we are now, helpless sinners, and sanctifies us by His Spirit through His word daily.
To Him be all the glory and all the praise forever.
Amen.
Scary verse! Scary letter, to be honest. Especially when the Apostle John is dealing, not with hypotheticals, but with actual people that lived with them, did life together with them, taught Sunday school, baby sat, horse pooled and gave ample evidence of what appeared to be genuine, saving faith for a period of time. My pastor has preached through I John a number of years ago and now we are going through the book of Hebrews, which seems to be even more blunt when it questions the genuineness of our faith. It is frightening to me that as we read the warnings in the pages of our Sacred literature, we see it happening in real life all around us. People that, once we had strong confidence about the estate of their souls, now live openly as unbelievers. My theology assumes wheat and tears growing together, but that makes it no less disheartening. Just this past weekend, Ray Boltz, acclaimed worship singer, went public about his homosexuality and said he plans to embrace that lifestyle. I have a dear friend, who at least wanted to be a Christian in years past, now openly rejecting the Bible and the Trinity, and the resurrection and the pursuit of holiness altogether. Another one, raised in church, good testimony for many years, now dangerously flirting with sin, cheating on Christ with somebody else.
How do we cope with this? How is a fellow Christian supposed to deal with such a crude reality? It is far too easy to play the "Holiness police" game, enumerate people's sins, point out their flaws and walk away. To go to bed at night after a whole day of pretending only others have issues, is less than fun and not a warm blanket for a cold soul. It is a clear evidence of pride when we act as if we have not fallen because we are better. Of course we, "humble" evangelicals, would never say "we are better", but that is precisely what we communicate when we are quick to talk about people's junk but slow to acknowledge that the reason we don't become Hitler is not our innate morality and goodness but the grace of Christ. If he were to remove His grace from us, we all would be gone. The beautiful thing in experiencing, realizing and cherishing Grace is that, ultimately, there is no pressure to perform, but a deep longing for this God who has redeemed, not a future, improved version of us, but who we are now, helpless sinners, and sanctifies us by His Spirit through His word daily.
To Him be all the glory and all the praise forever.
Amen.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Where is Mohler's new book?
Being a brand new preacher, in need of great help, keeps me always on the look out for new, , good resources on the subject of preaching. Just in the last year alone, I was able to, either come across, or to revisit some great materials put out by those who have labored on their own preaching for decades and have much to share. One of these people is brother Al Mohler, who I normally catch at townhall.com for his daily commentary and have seen both preaching and answering questions at conferences. Let me tell you, the man is a wealth of knowledge and wisdom. He, if I remember correctly, mentioned during the T4G '08, having a book on expositional preaching coming out in the fall of 2008. I know it's still summer but I am waiting for this one with great anticipation and I thought that, by now, we would be already hearing about it. In the meantime, let me share with you a few of the resources from which I benefited in the recent past on the subject of preaching.
Steven Lawson's " the 10 how to's of expository preaching.
Steven Lawson's book " The expository genius of John Calvin".
Steven Lawson's " What is expository preaching?".
Crawford Loritts and Ligon Duncan Q&A at the Gospel Coalition workshops
John Piper's " Preaching as worship".
Sermon preparation by Mark Dever
Here is a page of mp3 resources on preaching and ministry at monergism.com where I have found many of these resources.
Hope you enjoy them.
Steven Lawson's " the 10 how to's of expository preaching.
Steven Lawson's book " The expository genius of John Calvin".
Steven Lawson's " What is expository preaching?".
Crawford Loritts and Ligon Duncan Q&A at the Gospel Coalition workshops
John Piper's " Preaching as worship".
Sermon preparation by Mark Dever
Here is a page of mp3 resources on preaching and ministry at monergism.com where I have found many of these resources.
Hope you enjoy them.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Should we ever make use of harsh language?
That seems to be a very difficult question in our days. In fact it is one on which yours truly has a less than perfect record. At one point on my journey, I realized that what what I called godliness, was in reality, very feminine traits. I was shocked with my discovery and made an heroic effort to snap out of it. Be a man! That was my daily self exhortation. What happened was that in many situations that actually called for gentleness, I started swinging for the fences at the sound of the first bell. True virtues, like meekness for example, were avoided by me like the plague, for being "signs of weakness". A few headaches and a couple of tears later, yes I did say tears, I find them to be very manly (won't ever admit to any but...) by the grace of God, I started seeing some things about being a masculine man specifically regarding the use of language. How should we communicate with people? Is there a place for shocking statements? Sarcasm perhaps? Am I allowed to make sure they feel the heat in my tone of voice? The Bible seems to present a few guys not being afraid to put the pedal to the metal on some issues. Some would say that even our Lord was harsh and at times, mocked the religious leaders. If He ever did it, it would be very hard to challenge the validity of such ways of communication. Brother Mark Driscoll seems to have an opinion about it and Dr. John Piper is willing to hear it. He has called Driscoll to preach on the subject during the DG Conference in September. With dear brothers like Sinclair Ferguson and Thabiti present, this should be a very interesting conference. I look forward to getting the audio as soon as DG Ministries releases it. Pray for the brothers as they prepare for, in my opinion, a very important conference.
Here is just a little video teaser DG has put out this week I also would like to recommend to you the short video of Mark Driscoll on the "chick-i-fied"church.
Be blessed.
Here is just a little video teaser DG has put out this week I also would like to recommend to you the short video of Mark Driscoll on the "chick-i-fied"church.
Be blessed.
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
PTW Conference: Interesting bunch.
A team of heavy weights of contemporary American evangelicalism will be gathering together in November at the Preach the Word Conference in Riverside, CA. The conference is aimed at pastors and lay leaders, Sunday school teachers and anybody who is called to bring the Word of God to our generation. An emphasis on preaching the Word to BELIEVERS is readily perceived in their info material. The conference is a Harvest Ministries initiative and it seems to be an effort similar to the T4G conference but with a more theologically mixed bag. It will interesting to see brothers like McDonald and Chuck Smith interacting in the same event, or Coy and MacArthur during Q&A. Laurie will probably come up with an impression of Begg's accent and, knowing Greg, it will be pretty funny. Above all, I look forward to see the fruit this gathering will bear in our midst as the brothers get together to impart knowledge and experience to each other and us on Preaching the Word.
Check it out and please remember the Laurie family who just had their beloved son, brother, husband, daddy and brother in Christ, gone home to be with the Lord.
Check it out and please remember the Laurie family who just had their beloved son, brother, husband, daddy and brother in Christ, gone home to be with the Lord.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Passing on bad reports?
I just read this post today on one of my almost daily destinations. Theologica.blogspot.com
Much needed for the church. Much needed for my own life.
Thanks to Tim Keller and David Powlison for producing it.Thanks to Justin Taylor for posting it.
May God bless all a y'all.
Here is the post:
Keller and Powlison: Should You Pass on Bad Reports?
Tim Keller and David Powlison recently collaborated to provide some biblical wisdom and guidelines on speech and relationships. Our thinking was that perhaps bloggers would want to adopt these and spread the word about them as a way, in Keller's words, to "spiritually season Christian conversation in cyberspace."So if this perspective resonates with you (and I hope it does), I'd encourage you to pass it along or post it on your blog.May the Lord help each of us to have truth-in-love speech that is always gracious, salt-seasoned, gentle, respectful, peaceful, and edifying (Col. 4:6; Eph. 4:15; 1 Pet. 3:15; Rom. 14:19)Should You Pass on Bad Reports? by Tim Keller & David Powlison One obvious genius of the internet is that it’s “viral.” Information explodes to the whole world. The old neighborhood grapevine and the postal service seem like ox-carts in a speed-of-light universe. (Do twenty-somethings even know what those antiquities once were? In the old days, people had to talk to each other or stick a stamp on an envelope.) Instantaneous transmission produces some wonderfully good things. Truth, like joy, is infectious. A great idea feeds into a million inboxes. But it also produces some disastrous evils. Lies, rumors, and disinformation travel just as far and just as fast. So what should you do when you hear “bad reports” about a person or church or ministry? We want to offer a few thoughts on how to remain constructive. To paraphrase Ephesians 4:29, “Let no unwholesome words come out of your computer, but only what is constructive, in order to meet the need of the moment, that what you communicate will give grace to everyone who ever reads it.” That Greek word translated “unwholesome” is sapros. It means something that is inedible, either devoid of nutritional value or rotten and even poisonous. It applies to thorny briars or to fish or fruit that’s gone bad. At best, it’s of no benefit to anyone. At worst, it’s sickening and destructive. Consider three things in how to stay constructive. What Does James Say about Passing Along Bad Reports?Humble yourselves before the Lord. Brothers, don’t slander or attack one another. (James 4:10-11) The verb “slander” simply means to “speak against” (Gk. kata-lalein). It is not necessarily a false report, just an “against-report.” The intent is to belittle another. To pour out contempt. To mock. To hurt. To harm. To destroy. To rejoice in purported evil. This can’t mean simple disagreement with ideas—that would mean that we could never have a debate over a point. This isn’t respectful disagreement with ideas. James warns against attacking a person’s motives and character, so that the listeners’ respect and love for the person is undermined. “As the north wind brings rain, so slander brings angry looks” (Prov. 25:23). Everybody gets upset at somebody else: slanderer, slanderee, slander-hearer. The link of slander to pride in James 4:10 shows that slander is not the humble evaluation of error or fault, which we must constantly be doing. Rather, in slander the speaker speaks as if he never would do the same thing himself. It acts self-righteous and superior toward one’s obviously idiotic inferiors. Non-slanderous evaluation is fair-minded, constructive, gentle, guarded, and always demonstrates that speakers sense how much they share the same frailty, humanity, and sinful nature with the one being criticized. It shows a profound awareness of your own sin. It is never “against-speaking.” James 5:9 adds a nuance: "Don’t grumble against one another." Literally, it means don’t moan and groan and roll your eyes. This refers to a kind of against-speaking that is not as specific as a focused slander or attack. It hints at others flaws, not only with words, but by body language and tone. In print, such attitudes are communicated by innuendo, guilt by association, sneering, pejorative vocabulary. In person, it means shaking your head, rolling your eyes, and re-enforcing the erosion of love and respect for someone else. For example, “You know how they do things around here. Yadda, yadda. What do you expect?” Such a “groan” accomplishes the same thing as outright slander. It brings “angry looks” to all concerned. Passing on negative stuff always undermines love and respect. It’s never nourishing, never constructive, never timely, never grace-giving. What Does the Book of Proverbs Say about Receiving Bad Reports? He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. (Proverbs 17:9) The first thing to do when hearing or seeing something negative is to seek to “cover” the offense rather than speak about it to others. That is, rather than let a bad report “pass in” to your heart as truth, and then get “passed along” to others, you should seek to keep the matter from destroying your love and regard for a person. How? Start by remembering your own sinfulness. "All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord" (Prov. 16:2). To know this automatically keeps you from being too sure of your position and of speaking too strongly against people that you hear about or people on the other side of a conflict. You intuitively realize that you may not be seeing things right. Your motives are never as pure as you think they are. To know this acts to keep you from being too sure of the facts, too sure of your position, and of speaking too quickly and too negatively about other people. Knowing your own sinfulness helps you not make snap judgments that take what you hear too seriously. When you remember your sinfulness, remember God’s mercies. "Love covers all offenses" (Prov. 10:12). The God who is love has covered all your offenses. He knows everything about you (and the whole story about that other person). He has chosen to forgive you, and life-saving mercy cost Jesus his life. He could write you up with a 100% True Bad Report, but he has chosen to bury your sins in the depths of the ocean. That makes the life and death difference. If your sins are not buried in the ocean of his mercy, then you will be justly exposed and will justly perish. But when you’ve known mercy, then even when you hear report of grievous evil, an instinct toward mercy should arise within you. To savor the tasty morsels of gossip and bad reports is very different from grieving, caring, and wishing nothing less than the mercies of Christ upon all involved. And most bad reports are much more trivial. They are the stuff of busybodies and gossips going “tut-tut-tut.” Then remember that there is always another side. "The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him" (Prov. 18:17). You never have all the facts. And you never have all the facts you need all at once. You are never in a position to see the whole picture, and therefore when you hear the first report, you should assume you have far too little information to draw an immediate conclusion. What you’ve heard from someone else is only “hear-say” evidence. It has no standing or validity unless it is confirmed in other ways. So when you hear a negative report about another, you must keep it from passing into your heart as though it were true. If you pass judgment based on hear-say, you are a fool. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t check out the facts. Go to the person. Hear other witnesses. If you’re far away from the scene, wait for more of the story to come out. Suspend judgment. Don’t get panicked or stampeded by mob-psychology and rumors. Be content not to know many things. You don’t need to have an opinion about everything and everyone. Third, what should you do if you are close enough to the situation to be involved AND you think the injustice or matter is too great or grievous for you to ignore? For starters, notice that you only really need to know something if it touches your sphere of life and relationships. In that case, you should do what will help you to express God’s call upon you to speak Ephesians 4:29 words of wise love. In Derek Kidner’s commentary on Prov. 25:7–10, he writes that when you think someone has done wrong you should remember, “One seldom knows the full facts (v.8) and one’s motives in spreading a story are seldom as pure as one pretends (v.10). To run to the law or to the neighbors is usually to run away from the duty of personal relationship.” See Christ’s clinching comment in Matthew 18:15: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother." In short, if you feel the problem is too great and you can’t keep it from destroying your regard for the person, you must go personally before you go to anyone else. When Should You Go?Galatians 6:1 says we are to go when a person is caught in a trespass. That means there should be some kind of "pattern" or the unmistakeable exposure of a wrong. Don’t go the first time you hear a bad report about someone doing wrong. As we said above, there’s another side to most stories, and our motives are never totally pure when we get indignant. Go if the person seems caught—that is, trapped or stuck in a habit pattern of wrong behavior or falsehood. How Should You Go?Galatians 6:1 says we are to restore gently and in humility, bearing all the fruit of the Spirit. Beware of your own tendencies to be tempted—perhaps to the same sin, perhaps to reactive sins of self-righteousness or judgmentalism, perhaps to avoidance sins of cover-up and pretending. Galatians 6:2 goes on to say that we actually fulfill the law of Christ by bearing each other’s burdens. We become nothing less than lesser redeemers in the pattern of our Great Redeemer. Jesus in Matthew 18:15ff says we should also go persistently, and not give up in the process. Patience is one fruit of the Spirit because problems don’t always clear up quickly. There is a progression in efforts to get to the bottom of a bad report, to confirm the facts, and to work at bringing restoration. Who Should Go? Galatians 6 says you—plural—who are spiritual should go to the straying one. That both defines how you should go and it calls for multiple people to get involved. Similarly Matthew 18:15ff says to bring in other people if matters don’t resolve one to one. The right kind of checking out a bad report is always done in person and often will be done by involving multiple wise persons. Why Should You Go?In both Galatians 6 and Matthew 18 the goal is to restore the person and to re-establish sin-broken relationships. You are working to restore people both to God and to others. ConclusionIn summary, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, the principle is this. If you hear bad reports about other Christians you must either cover it with love or go to them personally before speaking of it to any others. • The first thing to do is to simply suspend judgment. Don’t pass on bad reports. • The second thing to do is “cover” it in love, reminding yourself that you don’t know all about the heart of the person who may have done evil—and you know your own frailty. Don’t allow bad reports to pass into your own heart. • The final thing to do is go and speak to them personally. What you should never do is rush to judgment, or withdraw from loving another, or pass on the negative report to others. This is challenge enough when you’re dealing with the local grapevine or slow-moving postal service. In a world of instant world-wide communication of information it’s an even bigger challenge, because you can do bigger damage more quickly. Whether the bad report offers true information, or partial information, or disinformation, or false information—it is even more important that you exercise great discretion, and that you take pains to maximize boots-on-the-ground interpersonal relationships.
Much needed for the church. Much needed for my own life.
Thanks to Tim Keller and David Powlison for producing it.Thanks to Justin Taylor for posting it.
May God bless all a y'all.
Here is the post:
Keller and Powlison: Should You Pass on Bad Reports?
Tim Keller and David Powlison recently collaborated to provide some biblical wisdom and guidelines on speech and relationships. Our thinking was that perhaps bloggers would want to adopt these and spread the word about them as a way, in Keller's words, to "spiritually season Christian conversation in cyberspace."So if this perspective resonates with you (and I hope it does), I'd encourage you to pass it along or post it on your blog.May the Lord help each of us to have truth-in-love speech that is always gracious, salt-seasoned, gentle, respectful, peaceful, and edifying (Col. 4:6; Eph. 4:15; 1 Pet. 3:15; Rom. 14:19)Should You Pass on Bad Reports? by Tim Keller & David Powlison One obvious genius of the internet is that it’s “viral.” Information explodes to the whole world. The old neighborhood grapevine and the postal service seem like ox-carts in a speed-of-light universe. (Do twenty-somethings even know what those antiquities once were? In the old days, people had to talk to each other or stick a stamp on an envelope.) Instantaneous transmission produces some wonderfully good things. Truth, like joy, is infectious. A great idea feeds into a million inboxes. But it also produces some disastrous evils. Lies, rumors, and disinformation travel just as far and just as fast. So what should you do when you hear “bad reports” about a person or church or ministry? We want to offer a few thoughts on how to remain constructive. To paraphrase Ephesians 4:29, “Let no unwholesome words come out of your computer, but only what is constructive, in order to meet the need of the moment, that what you communicate will give grace to everyone who ever reads it.” That Greek word translated “unwholesome” is sapros. It means something that is inedible, either devoid of nutritional value or rotten and even poisonous. It applies to thorny briars or to fish or fruit that’s gone bad. At best, it’s of no benefit to anyone. At worst, it’s sickening and destructive. Consider three things in how to stay constructive. What Does James Say about Passing Along Bad Reports?Humble yourselves before the Lord. Brothers, don’t slander or attack one another. (James 4:10-11) The verb “slander” simply means to “speak against” (Gk. kata-lalein). It is not necessarily a false report, just an “against-report.” The intent is to belittle another. To pour out contempt. To mock. To hurt. To harm. To destroy. To rejoice in purported evil. This can’t mean simple disagreement with ideas—that would mean that we could never have a debate over a point. This isn’t respectful disagreement with ideas. James warns against attacking a person’s motives and character, so that the listeners’ respect and love for the person is undermined. “As the north wind brings rain, so slander brings angry looks” (Prov. 25:23). Everybody gets upset at somebody else: slanderer, slanderee, slander-hearer. The link of slander to pride in James 4:10 shows that slander is not the humble evaluation of error or fault, which we must constantly be doing. Rather, in slander the speaker speaks as if he never would do the same thing himself. It acts self-righteous and superior toward one’s obviously idiotic inferiors. Non-slanderous evaluation is fair-minded, constructive, gentle, guarded, and always demonstrates that speakers sense how much they share the same frailty, humanity, and sinful nature with the one being criticized. It shows a profound awareness of your own sin. It is never “against-speaking.” James 5:9 adds a nuance: "Don’t grumble against one another." Literally, it means don’t moan and groan and roll your eyes. This refers to a kind of against-speaking that is not as specific as a focused slander or attack. It hints at others flaws, not only with words, but by body language and tone. In print, such attitudes are communicated by innuendo, guilt by association, sneering, pejorative vocabulary. In person, it means shaking your head, rolling your eyes, and re-enforcing the erosion of love and respect for someone else. For example, “You know how they do things around here. Yadda, yadda. What do you expect?” Such a “groan” accomplishes the same thing as outright slander. It brings “angry looks” to all concerned. Passing on negative stuff always undermines love and respect. It’s never nourishing, never constructive, never timely, never grace-giving. What Does the Book of Proverbs Say about Receiving Bad Reports? He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends. (Proverbs 17:9) The first thing to do when hearing or seeing something negative is to seek to “cover” the offense rather than speak about it to others. That is, rather than let a bad report “pass in” to your heart as truth, and then get “passed along” to others, you should seek to keep the matter from destroying your love and regard for a person. How? Start by remembering your own sinfulness. "All a man’s ways seem innocent to him, but motives are weighed by the Lord" (Prov. 16:2). To know this automatically keeps you from being too sure of your position and of speaking too strongly against people that you hear about or people on the other side of a conflict. You intuitively realize that you may not be seeing things right. Your motives are never as pure as you think they are. To know this acts to keep you from being too sure of the facts, too sure of your position, and of speaking too quickly and too negatively about other people. Knowing your own sinfulness helps you not make snap judgments that take what you hear too seriously. When you remember your sinfulness, remember God’s mercies. "Love covers all offenses" (Prov. 10:12). The God who is love has covered all your offenses. He knows everything about you (and the whole story about that other person). He has chosen to forgive you, and life-saving mercy cost Jesus his life. He could write you up with a 100% True Bad Report, but he has chosen to bury your sins in the depths of the ocean. That makes the life and death difference. If your sins are not buried in the ocean of his mercy, then you will be justly exposed and will justly perish. But when you’ve known mercy, then even when you hear report of grievous evil, an instinct toward mercy should arise within you. To savor the tasty morsels of gossip and bad reports is very different from grieving, caring, and wishing nothing less than the mercies of Christ upon all involved. And most bad reports are much more trivial. They are the stuff of busybodies and gossips going “tut-tut-tut.” Then remember that there is always another side. "The first to present his case seems right, till another comes forward and questions him" (Prov. 18:17). You never have all the facts. And you never have all the facts you need all at once. You are never in a position to see the whole picture, and therefore when you hear the first report, you should assume you have far too little information to draw an immediate conclusion. What you’ve heard from someone else is only “hear-say” evidence. It has no standing or validity unless it is confirmed in other ways. So when you hear a negative report about another, you must keep it from passing into your heart as though it were true. If you pass judgment based on hear-say, you are a fool. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t check out the facts. Go to the person. Hear other witnesses. If you’re far away from the scene, wait for more of the story to come out. Suspend judgment. Don’t get panicked or stampeded by mob-psychology and rumors. Be content not to know many things. You don’t need to have an opinion about everything and everyone. Third, what should you do if you are close enough to the situation to be involved AND you think the injustice or matter is too great or grievous for you to ignore? For starters, notice that you only really need to know something if it touches your sphere of life and relationships. In that case, you should do what will help you to express God’s call upon you to speak Ephesians 4:29 words of wise love. In Derek Kidner’s commentary on Prov. 25:7–10, he writes that when you think someone has done wrong you should remember, “One seldom knows the full facts (v.8) and one’s motives in spreading a story are seldom as pure as one pretends (v.10). To run to the law or to the neighbors is usually to run away from the duty of personal relationship.” See Christ’s clinching comment in Matthew 18:15: "If your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault, between you and him alone. If he listens to you, you have gained your brother." In short, if you feel the problem is too great and you can’t keep it from destroying your regard for the person, you must go personally before you go to anyone else. When Should You Go?Galatians 6:1 says we are to go when a person is caught in a trespass. That means there should be some kind of "pattern" or the unmistakeable exposure of a wrong. Don’t go the first time you hear a bad report about someone doing wrong. As we said above, there’s another side to most stories, and our motives are never totally pure when we get indignant. Go if the person seems caught—that is, trapped or stuck in a habit pattern of wrong behavior or falsehood. How Should You Go?Galatians 6:1 says we are to restore gently and in humility, bearing all the fruit of the Spirit. Beware of your own tendencies to be tempted—perhaps to the same sin, perhaps to reactive sins of self-righteousness or judgmentalism, perhaps to avoidance sins of cover-up and pretending. Galatians 6:2 goes on to say that we actually fulfill the law of Christ by bearing each other’s burdens. We become nothing less than lesser redeemers in the pattern of our Great Redeemer. Jesus in Matthew 18:15ff says we should also go persistently, and not give up in the process. Patience is one fruit of the Spirit because problems don’t always clear up quickly. There is a progression in efforts to get to the bottom of a bad report, to confirm the facts, and to work at bringing restoration. Who Should Go? Galatians 6 says you—plural—who are spiritual should go to the straying one. That both defines how you should go and it calls for multiple people to get involved. Similarly Matthew 18:15ff says to bring in other people if matters don’t resolve one to one. The right kind of checking out a bad report is always done in person and often will be done by involving multiple wise persons. Why Should You Go?In both Galatians 6 and Matthew 18 the goal is to restore the person and to re-establish sin-broken relationships. You are working to restore people both to God and to others. ConclusionIn summary, from the Old Testament to the New Testament, the principle is this. If you hear bad reports about other Christians you must either cover it with love or go to them personally before speaking of it to any others. • The first thing to do is to simply suspend judgment. Don’t pass on bad reports. • The second thing to do is “cover” it in love, reminding yourself that you don’t know all about the heart of the person who may have done evil—and you know your own frailty. Don’t allow bad reports to pass into your own heart. • The final thing to do is go and speak to them personally. What you should never do is rush to judgment, or withdraw from loving another, or pass on the negative report to others. This is challenge enough when you’re dealing with the local grapevine or slow-moving postal service. In a world of instant world-wide communication of information it’s an even bigger challenge, because you can do bigger damage more quickly. Whether the bad report offers true information, or partial information, or disinformation, or false information—it is even more important that you exercise great discretion, and that you take pains to maximize boots-on-the-ground interpersonal relationships.
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