An Earnest Appeal to Preserve and Promote True Peace within the Body of Christ (Part 4)

AN EARNEST APPEAL TO PRESERVE AND PROMOTE TRUE PEACE WITHIN THE BODY OF CHRIST–PART 4

By Pastor Brian Wilbur

Date: February 4, 2024

Series: Peace in the Church

Note: Unless otherwise indicated, Scripture quotations are from The ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Introduction

Good morning,

“My Name Is Gossip. I have no respect for justice. I maim without killing. I break hearts and ruin lives. I am cunning and malicious and gather strength with age.

“The more I am quoted the more I am believed. I flourish at every level of society. My victims are helpless. They cannot protect themselves against me because I have no name and no face.

“To track me down is impossible. The harder you try, the more elusive I become. I am nobody’s friend. Once I tarnish a reputation, it is never the same. I topple governments and ruin marriages. I ruin careers and cause sleepless nights, heartache and indigestion. I spawn suspicion and generate grief.

“I make innocent people cry in their pillows. Even my name hisses. I AM CALLED GOSSIP.”[1]

We have come now to Part 4 of An Earnest Appeal to Preserve and Promote True Peace within the Body of Christ. The focus of last week’s sermon was clear: speak directly with the person with whom you are having conflict in order to resolve the conflict and make peace. The focus of this week’s sermon is the other side of the coin: do not speak negatively about the person with whom you are having conflict. No gossip! While today’s instruction applies across the board of many different circumstances, I am particularly interested in applying this instruction to circumstances involving conflict, since this sermon series is about maintaining peace within the church family.

As we begin, let’s remind ourselves that the tongue “is a restless evil, full of deadly poison” (James 3:8), and thus needs to be brought under the controlling influence of the Holy Spirit. We must discipline our tongue to not speak negatively about other people. However, when you refuse to deal with conflict God’s way, you are setting your tongue up for failure.

Leviticus 19:17-18

So, to pick things up where I left off in the previous sermon, consider what Scripture says in Leviticus 19:17-18,

“You shall not hate your brother in your heart, but you shall reason frankly with your neighbor, lest you incur sin because of him. You shall not take vengeance or bear a grudge against the sons of your own people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the LORD.” (Leviticus 19:17-18)

Remarkably, the commandment that Jesus identifies as the second most important commandment in the entire law (“you shall love your neighbor as yourself”), is given to us as part of the instruction to deal openly with your neighbor regarding the conflict that you have with him. Reason frankly with your neighbor – confront him openly – when you have a conflict with your neighbor. It is an act of love that protects you and him. In our fleshly, sin-sick hearts, we often reason that it is loving not to reason frankly with your neighbor regarding the conflict you have with him. So, you hide away your concerns in the privacy of your own heart, and you think you’re doing everyone a favor. You’re not. That stuffed-down-in-your-heart concern is going to rear its head like a legion of serpents with venomous bite.

In the context of verses 17-18, reasoning frankly with or openly rebuking your neighbor is how you “love your neighbor as yourself”. Instead of believing all the secular and sentimental distortions of love, we need to believe what God tells us about love. Love reasons frankly with the neighbor you have an issue with. Hate doesn’t. Hate remains silent. Hate stuffs it all inside, and there on the inside it goes into deep rot mode.

Also, if you refuse to confront and rebuke your sinning brother, then you are likely to incur sin because of your sinning brother. How so? Well, for one thing, instead of opposing your brother’s sin you are passively accepting it, which implicates you in your brother’s sin. But in verses 17-18, the primary way in which you would incur sin because of your sinning brother is that refusal to confront him directly is weaving together a toxic cocktail of emotions and temptations in your heart. If you refuse to love your brother by rebuking him openly, then you are hating your brother by harboring secret hate in your heart. So, instead of openly rebuking your brother in order to win him, you plot secretly how to take vengeance upon him, how to strike back at him, how to get even, how to undermine his standing or reputation in the community. This is utterly toxic to the whole believing community. Or you go around bearing a grudge. In a community where open rebuke is rare, and where secret hate and grudge-bearingis common, there you have an embittered people, distrusting, suspicious, always assuming the worst, until the light barely flickers and the lampstand is eventually removed, and then the only mercy is for the doors to finally be closed.

Refusing to handle conflict God’s way will bear bad fruit

Now I want to build a simple bridge from last week’s sermon as represented by Leviticus 19:17-18 to this week’s sermon about speech that is critical of others: if you don’t speak directly with the person with whom you have conflict, then there will be a hateful, vengeful, and grudge-bearing spirit brewing in your heart, and that hateful, vengeful, and grudge-bearing spirit will often bear the bitter fruit of speaking evil about your brother or sister. You should have spoken to your brother in love, to win him and build him up; but now frustrated and fed-up as a result of your own refusal to handle conflict God’s way, you begin to speak about your brother in hate, to tear him down and belittle him. If you show hate to your brothers and sisters by not rebuking them directly, then you will frequently go from bad to worse by showing hate to them by discrediting them in the eyes of others.

Here is the reality: if you don’t handle conflict God’s way, then you will handle it your way; if you don’t deal with your complaint, grievance, or offense God’s way, then you will deal with it your way. Let’s be honest – if you have a complaint, grievance, or offense against a brother or sister, it bothers you. You’re frustrated, concerned, and troubled. That sense of concern that you have in your heart is not going to stay in your heart. It is going to go somewhere. God has told you where that sense of concern should go – to Him in prayer, and to your brother or sister in frank conversation. But if you refuse to handle it God’s way, then you will find another release valve for your concern, and it’s going to make a mess.

So, the question is: will you do it God’s way, or your way? That’s always the question. God’s way is wisdom, love, and restoration; your way is folly, hate, and demolition. If you don’t use your tongue to restore a brother or sister who needs grace, then you will frequently use your tongue to ruin your brother or sister.

This misuse of the tongue can take different forms. Jerry Bridges defines gossip as “the spreading of unfavorable information about someone else, even if that information is true”, and he defines critical speech as “negative comments about someone that may be actually true but doesn’t need to be said.”[2] The dictionary defines backbiting as “malicious talk about someone who is not present”.[3] Gossip, critical speech, and backbiting may all involve accurate information, but you have no business sharing it. The bottom line is that we are not permitted use our tongues to tear down our fellow believers: “Do not speak evil against one another, brothers.” (James 4:11) It is a misuse of your tongue to say bad things about your brother or sister to people that God hasn’t authorized you to speak with about that matter. When you misuse your tongue in this way in the midst of conflict, you’re speaking negatively about the people with whom you have conflict, instead of speaking respectfully to the people with whom you have conflict.

God’s high standard for the use of our tongue

Now let’s take a step back for a moment and remind ourselves of God’s high standard for the use of our tongue: “Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29) If all of us governed our speech according to this simple rule, what a difference it would make! All of our words would deliver gracious and timely edification to others, and none of our words would corrupt. Corrupt or rotten talk undermines the church family: it tears down, hinders, and spoils. Corrupting talk includes speaking falsehood (v. 25), and any speaking that flows from “bitterness and wrath and anger” (v. 31). Of particular interest to our sermon is two forms of corrupt talk mentioned in verse 31: “clamor and slander”. In the context of the other attitudinal sins of verse 31 “all bitterness and wrath and anger… along with all malice”, “clamor” must mean something like an angry loud-mouth. An angry loud-mouth is likely to incite others in the same direction. But God’s way runs the other direction: “A soft answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1) No harsh words. Then “slander” refers to abusive speech that ruins the reputation of other people. Clamor stirs up, and slander tears down.

The power of the tongue

In all of this, you must realize the power of the tongue:

• “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Proverbs 18:21).

• “The tongue of the righteous is choice silver” (Proverbs 10:20).

• “The mouth of the righteous brings forth wisdom” (Proverbs 10:31).

• “Whoever guards his mouth preserves his life; he who opens wide his lips comes to ruin.” (Proverbs 13:3)

• “There is one whose rash words are like sword thrusts, but the tongue of the wise brings healing.” (Proverbs 12:18)

• “With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor” (Proverbs 11:9).

The tongue is such a small part of the human body, and yet it has an outsized influence:

“… though they [ships] are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are guided by a very small rudder wherever the will of the pilot directs. So also the tongue is a small member, yet it boasts of great things. How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.” (James 3:4-6)

Your mouth is a battle zone between the fire of hell and the glory of heaven. With your mouth you have the capacity to bring forth life-giving words of wisdom, nourishment, and healing. And yet, with your very same mouth you have the capacity to bring words that steal, kill, and destroy – words that are like “a scorching fire” (Proverbs 16:27), words that are like sword thrusts.

All the words you ever speak will reveal the condition of your heart on the day of judgment: “I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, for by your words will be justified, and by your words will be condemned.” (Matthew 12:36) Either the record of your speech will demonstrate that you had a right relationship with the Father, or it will demonstrate that you never got a transformed heart. Your speech – its content, manner, and tone – is a reliable indicator of your heart condition: “If anyone things he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless. “(James 1:26)

The goal of this sermon

Now my goal in the rest of this sermon is to put a bad taste in your mouth for the sins of gossip, critical speech, and backbiting – for speaking about other people in such a way that you are putting them in a negative light in the minds of their neighbors, without God’s authorization to do so. Speaking negatively about other people is unauthorized speech! God’s hasn’t authorized you to do it (except in very limited circumstances), therefore you have no right to do it. It’s that simple.

Now the deck is stacked against us, however, because we live in a society that thrives on spreading bad reports about other people. Isaiah said that he dwelt among a people of unclean lips, and so do we. Gossip thrives in media, politics, and social media. The sinful human heart has a perverse delight in digging up and pondering the dirt on other people. Instead of dealing honestly with our own dirt, the wicked heart wants to scoop up and consume the dirt on other people. Why? Because we have unrighteous, calloused, and bored hearts. If our hearts were alive to the dynamic life-changing grace of God going forth to transform sinners into saints, and if we were living in and delighting in the story of redemption, the dirt on others would simply be uninteresting, a lame distraction. If our hearts were alive with tenderhearted love for other human beings, we wouldn’t tolerate their dirty laundry being paraded around in public. If our hearts were alive to the indescribably good gift of unrighteous sinners like us being clothed in the righteousness of Christ, then in brokenhearted humility we would not get perverted delight in other people’s failings. Proud, self-righteous hearts don’t give a rip about the people whose dirt is dug up and shown to the world. But the spectacle is interesting to our dull hearts. Unrighteous people gloat over other people’s unrighteousness; calloused people like to use the misfortunes of others as fodder for their own dull lives; and bored people need the spectacle of other’s failings to satisfy their sense of curiosity. Many of us really do need to turn off or at least greatly limit our exposure to news, politics, and social media, but that’s a different sermon. I only mention here in order to highlight the fact that gossip and critical speech are pervasive around us, and we have all been desensitized by it.

My concern, of course, has to do with preserving and promoting true peace within the body of Christ. When you have conflict with someone – when another person has sinned against you, when you have a grievance or offense, when you have a complaint or grumbling involving someone else, when you have a sharp disagreement with someone – if you don’t deal with it God’s way, you will often deal with it by talking to other people about the issue, thus putting the person with whom you have the conflict in a negative light. You must be resolved to deal with conflict God’s way – either by graciously forbearing so that the potential issue is a non-issue as far as you are concerned, or by speaking directly to the person with whom you have the conflict in order to repair the relationship. But if you don’t do that, and the feeling of grievance or offense or complaint or frustration is brewing in your heart, then you are likely to spill the beans to people who have no business hearing about it.

In order to get across the wickedness of gossip, I want to draw upon the abundance of wisdom that is in the Proverbs.

Aim to cover other people’s offenses, not to reveal them to others

In the Book of Proverbs, the desired goal in all conflict is to cover other people’s dirt. We address people’s dirt in a biblically responsible way: through patient forbearance when possible, or through confrontation, clarification, correction, repentance, confession, forgiveness, reconciliation – and thereby we gladly cover other people’s dirt with grace, mercy, and love. Covering other people’s dirt is the opposite of broadcasting other people’s dirt. Consider these passages:

• “Hatred stirs up strife, but love covers all offenses.” (Proverbs 10:12)

• “Whoever belittles his neighbor lacks sense, but a man of understanding remains silent. Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets, but he who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.” (Proverbs 11:12-13)

• “Whoever covers an offense seeks love, but he who repeats a matter separates close friends.” (Proverbs 17:9)

• “Good sense makes one slow to anger, and it is his glory to overlook an offense.” (Proverbs 19:11)

• “What your eyes have seen do not hastily bring into court, for what will you do in the end, when your neighbor puts you to shame? Argue your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another’s secret, lest he who hears you bring shame upon you, and you will repute have no end.” (Proverbs 25:7b-10)

There is much to discuss here. But to begin with, I just want you to see the simple contrast between covering and revealing. “[Love] covers all offenses.” “Whoever covers an offense seeks love”. It is an act of love and goodwill to pour out grace, mercy, and forgiveness upon another person’s failure or sinful deed. “[He] who is trustworthy in spirit keeps a thing covered.” It is also an act of faithfulness to be the sort of person who keeps another person’s shame covered. By contrast, to “reveal another’s secret” is an act of hatred: gossipers show themselves to be fools who lack good sense and are unfaithful in spirit.

Once again, the wisdom of the Proverbs directs us to speak directly to the person with whom you are having conflict: “Argue your case with your neighbor himself”.

Now there is much more to say about these things, but at this first pass I simply want it to be etched in our minds that we are not authorized to share people’s dirt, failings, weaknesses, offending actions, and shortcomings with other people. Confess your sins, not their sins. You are authorized to speak directly with the neighbor with whom you have an issue. If that fails to make headway, then you are authorized to involve one or two other trustworthy persons in the effort to resolve the issue. I would also say that just as siblings may sometimes require assistance from Dad or Mom in order to be reconciled, there are times when one Christian may need wisdom and support from a pastor or elder or from another trustworthy person in order to walk through the reconciliation process. But you are not authorized to share other people’s dirt beyond that very limited circle. Rick Warren nails it: “Gossip is passing on information when you are neither part of the problem nor part of the solution.”[4] Not your friend or co-worker. Not your Bible Study or Prayer Group. Not anyone who isn’t either part of the problem or part of the solution.

So, that’s the straightforward right and wrong aspect of the issue. But we need to dig deeper.

Sharing another person’s dirt is an act of hatred toward that person

We need to understand that sharing another person’s dirt is an act of hatred toward that person. The opposite of the love that covers, is the hate that reveals. To open your mouth and display another person in a negative light, is to belittle and despise your neighbor. Gossip is attacking another person’s character and cutting down another person’s reputation. As I have said before, the Ten Commandments isn’t just a checklist of sins to avoid, but actually invites us to reckon with the unrivaled worth of God (‘have no other gods before me’) as well as the dignity and value of our every neighbor. My neighbor has the right to enjoy his life (‘no murder’), the right to enjoy his marriage (‘no adultery’), the right to enjoy his property (‘no stealing’), and the right to enjoy an honest reputation (‘no false witness’). Therefore, my heart attitude ought to be that I want you to enjoy a good reputation in the community, and I won’t tear down your reputation. If I do have to set myself against you, it will only be through the due process of church discipline or the due process of court proceedings. Otherwise, I want other people to have the opportunity to engage with you and interact with you without being hindered by bad reports from me. I don’t want your relationship with other people to be hindered or weakened simply because I had a bad interaction with you. I want other people to have a great relationship with you, even if you and I have a difficult relationship. Therefore, not only will I not bear false witness against you, but I also won’t share negative information about you (however true the information may be) that is not my business to share. Love honors my imperfect neighbor my covering his dirt with grace. “With his mouth the godless man would destroy his neighbor, but by knowledge the righteous are delivered.” (Proverbs 11:9) A good question to ask yourself anytime you are speaking to or about any human being: Are my words aimed at my neighbor’s destruction and ruin, or are my words aimed at my neighbor’s deliverance, sanctification, and overall well-being?

Gossip undermines the unity of the community

Not only is gossip an act of hatred toward the person I am gossiping about, but gossip also undermines the ability of other people to have good relationships with the person I am gossiping about. Therefore, gossip sours relationships and undermines the integrity of the whole community. Consider:

“A worthless man plots evil, and his speech is like a scorching fire. A dishonest man spreads strife, and a whisperer separates close friends.” (Proverbs 16:27-28)

“There are six things that the LORD hates, seven that are an abomination to him: haughty eyes, a lying tongue, and hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that make haste to run to evil, a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord [strife] among brothers.” (Proverbs 16:16-19)

When you gossip or speak critically about other people, you do so with the expectation that the people you’re talking to will sympathize with your frustrations, grievances, and complaints – and, being the weak sinners that we are, we will typically side with the gossiper and develop a negative view of the individual who is being gossiped about. Every hearer of the gossiper’s gossip is therefore hindered in his or her ability to have a warmhearted, unprejudiced love for the individual being gossiped about. Instead of keeping your mouth shut, and seeking and finding reconciliation with the person with whom you had conflict, and covering that person’s fault with grace, now you are publicizing your grievance against the other person and publicizing that person’s fault. It is difficult for a community of believers to preserve and promote true peace when those with quarrels among them speak freely about their quarrels with other members of the community. Furthermore, keep in mind that when you are in the midst of a conflict or quarrel with another believer, it is difficult for you yourself to be clearheaded and objective. This is yet another reason why it is so important for you to get with the person with whom you are having conflict, and work it out! But if you refuse, and decide to engage in negative talk about that person, you are likely – in your fog headed and subjective pain – to perpetuate a personal bias against that person. At such times, you are aiming to honor yourself at the other person’s expense, but the truth itself is being dishonored.

Gossip hurts the person who is hearing it

Gossip, critical speech, and backbiting are not only acts of hatred against the person you are speaking negatively about, and not only acts that undermine the ability of other people to have good relationships with the person you are speaking about, but also your negative talk is an act that corrupts the person you are speaking to.

For one thing, it is not good for you to be drawn into somebody else’s quarrel: “Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.” (Proverbs 26:17) This is not cute. By a passing dog, think a fierce wild dog with a powerful bite who doesn’t want your foolish hands on his ears. For all kinds of reasons, it is dangerous for you to meddle in someone else’s quarrel. How foolish, then, for me to tempt you and lure you to do what is not good for you. But when I gossip to you about someone else I’m not happy with, that’s what I’m doing – I’m putting your hand in the path of a fierce wild dog with a powerful bite.

If I may pass along a tidbit of wisdom, one of the most foolish things you can do is to take upon yourself somebody else’s offense. If Bob has an issue with Rick, and Bob tells Michael about it, and now Michael has an issue with Rick, then Michael has taken upon himself Bob’s offense. Now how in the world is Michael going to get reconciled to Rick? Of course, Bob should have never spilled the beans to Michael in the first place. And frankly, this is why Charlotta wants to know little to nothing about any conflict I have with someone else in the church family, because it's my conflict, not hers. Since it’s my conflict, I have a way of addressing it: by speaking directly to the person with whom I have conflict. But if I put my conflict on her, and then she sympathetically takes my offense upon herself, how does she ever have the opportunity to get reconciled to the person with whom I have conflict? She doesn’t, and yet she may feel at odds with that person. Far better for her to know nothing about the conflict in the first place, and to let me work out my issue with the relevant person. Meddling in someone else’s quarrel, or getting drawn into someone else’s conflict, is a bitter trap. Don’t go there.

For another thing, the dirt on other people is like chocolate-covered poison: “The words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.” (Proverbs 26:22) Like junk food. Like those sugary drinks. It gives a cheap and temporary satisfaction, but then it takes root in the depths of your soul, and the toxins will diminish you, diminish your capacity to love, diminish your capacity to make peace, diminish your capacity to give thanks.

Gossip is bad for the gossiper

So, gossip endangers the person who is hearing the gossip, damages the reputation of the person being gossiped about, and undermines relationships involving the person being gossiped about and other members of the community. Then, to state the obvious, gossip is injurious to the person who is gossiping. Bottom line: gossip is bad for everyone in the community – so why do it?

Scripture says, “Whoever keeps his mouth and his tongue keeps himself out of trouble.” (Proverbs 20:23) So the gossiper, the critic-in-chief, the backbiter is walking into a world of trouble – and, as is so often the case in terms of how God deals with our sin, the gossiper will ultimately get a taste of his own medicine:

“Argue your case with your neighbor himself, and do not reveal another’s secret, lest he who hears you bring shame upon you, and your ill repute have no end.” (Proverbs 25:9-10)

Those who tear down the reputation of others, will have their own reputation torn down. God is not mocked, and He will see to it.

An Anti-Gossip Community

With all that in mind, Scripture calls us to be an anti-gossip community. Honest discussion about people in conflict should be limited to those who are part of the problem or part of the solution. Outside of that small number, it’s none of your business. Expect that small number to tell you nothing, and keep your ears closed. Get in the habit of telling people who are about to tell you what they shouldn’t: that information isn’t for me, friend; I encourage you to go and speak directly to the person with whom you are having conflict. Graciously redirect people! An anti-gossip community is a community that is constantly encouraging one another to deal with conflict God’s way. If someone is proving to be a habitual gossip, you should actually distance yourself from that person: “Whoever goes about slandering reveals secrets; therefore do not associate with a simple babbler.” (Proverbs 20:19) “Leave the presence of a fool, for there you do not meet words of knowledge.” (Proverbs 14:7) “Make no friendship with a man given to anger, nor go with a wrathful man, lest you learn his ways and entangle yourself in a snare.” (Proverbs 22:24-25)

A good rule of thumb is: if you don’t have something good to say about someone, don’t say anything at all. Another good rule of thumb is: if you wouldn’t say what you’re about to say about someone in that person’s presence, then don’t say it in their absence. Although if you want to praise people behind their back, go right ahead!

Of course, any self-respecting community that wants to maintain good morale would strive to be an anti-gossip community. But our reasons for being an anti-gossip community go way beyond any common sense or secular wisdom. So, for us Christians what is really at stake in the matter of gossip, critical speech, and backbiting, is whether we truly understand the gospel and whether we see one another in light of the gospel and in light of all that the Bible teaches.

Gossip and Our Neighbor’s Dignity and Destiny

To begin with, the dignity of your neighbor must weigh heavily upon you: “With [the tongue] we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God. From the same mouth come blessing and cursing. My brothers, these things ought not to be so.” (James 3:9-10) Human beings are not annoyances; they are image bearers of Almighty God. In his brilliant conclusion to his brilliant essay “The Weight of Glory”, C. S. Lewis urges us to remember that every human being with whom we interact is destined for either everlasting glory or everlasting horror, and then he urges us to conduct all our dealings with other people in light of these awesome realities:

“All day long we are, in some degree, helping each other to one or other of these destinations. It is in the light of these overwhelming possibilities, it is with the awe and the circumspection proper to them, that we should conduct all our dealings with one another, all friendships, all loves, all play, all politics. There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal. Nations, cultures, arts, civilisations–these are mortal, and their life is to ours as the life of a gnat. But it is immortals whom we joke with, work with, marry, snub, and exploit–immortal horrors or everlasting splendours.”[5]

Shall we so casually and cruelly cut other people down in the minds of other men?

Gossip and the Gospel

Brothers and sisters, you are a royal priesthood, priestly princes and princesses in the family of King Jesus. You have a responsibility to love one another sincerely, from the heart, and with your mouth. You are not enemies to each other! And even if you were enemies – which you’re not – then this rule would apply: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who abuse you.” (Luke 6:27-28) I hope that no one among us will be found treating their enemies better than they treat their own brothers and sisters!

Never forget how your dear brother or sister – the very one with whom you may be having conflict with at the moment – never forget how your dear brother or sister entered into the royal priesthood: “To him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by his blood and made us a kingdom, priests to his God and Father, to him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.” (Revelation 1:5b-6) We have a blessed Savior, the Lamb of God, who delights to cover all the iniquities of His people, to hide them behind His back, to bury them in the sea of forgetfulness, to remember your sins no more. Your dear brother or sister is precious to the Lord – not because he or she has attained a certain level of practical righteousness, but because he or she is beloved, purchased by the blood, reclaimed by grace, and indwelt by the Spirit. As the hymn says,

“Before the throne of God above
I have a strong and perfect plea
A great High Priest whose name is love
Who ever lives and pleads for me
My name is graven on His hands
My name is written on His heart
I know that while in heav'n He stands
No tongue can bid me thence depart”[6]

You should understand that all of your speech takes place before the throne of God above. The Lord is a party to every transaction, every interaction, every careless word. Would you dare to use your tongue to tear down a brother or sister whose “name is graven on [the Savior’s] hands” and whose “name is written on [the Savior’s] heart”? You see, since we are a royal priesthood, our way of speaking to and about one another must reflect the attitude of our great High Priest-King, Jesus Christ. He is the great sin-coverer, the great heart-healer, the great dirt-remover, the great grace-giver who takes joy in treating us far better than we deserve to be treated. That reality must govern your heart and your tongue.

When Christians are eager to find fault, dig up dirt, cast the first stone, cast aspersions on another’s character, and use your words to diminish a brother or sister, they are demonstrating the very simple fact that they do not understand the gospel of God’s grace.

But when we Christians stand before the Lord and say –

“When Satan tempts me to despair
And tells me of the guilt within
Upward I look and see Him there
Who made an end to all my sin
Because the sinless Savior died
My sinful soul is counted free
For God the Just is satisfied
To look on Him and pardon me”[7] – 

then we will be glad that all of our imperfect and flawed brothers and sisters have the same gospel privilege that we do. Then, with humble adoration for the Savior’s sin-removing sacrifice, we will gladly shut our mouths to gossip, critical speech, backbiting, and cursing others, and we will open their mouths to prayer and blessing others. Scripture says, “The end of all things is at hand; therefore be self-controlled and sober-minded for the sake of your prayers. Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since lover covers a multitude of sins.” (1 Peter 4:7-8)

ENDNOTES

[1] Author unknown

[2] Jerry Bridges, Respectable Sins: Confronting the Sins We Tolerate. Colorado Springs: NavPress, 2007: p. 160, 161.

[3] Google’s English dictionary provided by Oxford Languages.

[4] Rick Warren, The Purpose Drive Life: What on Earth Am I Here for? Quotation found on goodreads dot com.

[5] C. S. Lewis, “The Weight of Glory,” in The Weight of Glory: And Other Addresses. New York: HarperSanFrancisco, n.d. (copyright 1980, 1976, 1949): p. 45-46.

[6] From the hymn “Before the Throne of God Above” by Charitie Lees Bancroft

[7] From the hymn “Before the Throne of God Above” by Charitie Lees Bancroft