Taming the Tongue: Slander

We all stumble in many ways. If anyone is never at fault in what he says, he is a perfect man, able to keep his whole body in check. When we put bits into the mouths of horses to make them obey us, we can turn the whole animal. Or take ships as an example. Although they are so large and are driven by strong winds, they are steered by a very small rudder wherever the pilot wants to go. Likewise the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole person, sets the whole course of his life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell. (James 3:2-6)

Ever seen a forest fire? Every year, right across the globe, fires rage across forests, burning everything for miles and miles as they last for days, sometimes weeks. By the time they are spent whole acres are land are nothing by cinders. In many instances, these huge fires are caused by a smouldering matchstick or a cigarette butt that's been carelessly tossed away.

The tongue is like that match stick or cigarette butt. Tossed carelessly, it causes havoc that is often as bad as what we see after a forest fire, leaving reputations, honor and, very often, lives in ruins. Unfortunately, many of us don't realize that even as it destroys others, loose talk endangers our very salvation, as Jesus Himself warns. One day, speaking to the Pharisees (whose hypocrisy constantly kept his blood on the boil), he rasped:

You brood of vipers, how can you who are evil say anything good? For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in him, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in him. But I tell you that men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken. For by your words you will be acquitted, and by your words you will be condemned." (Matthew 12:34-37)

The advice to them holds good to us: We will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word we have spoken. For by our words we will be aquitted, and by our words we will be condemned.

Think about the last conversation you had with someone. What did you say? Did you, either out of anger and malice, or for sheer entertainment, slander somebody? Did you, for a moment, think about the consequences your words might have on that person? Did you think about the consequences they might have on yourself? Chances are you didn't, otherwise you probably would have been very judicious about the things you said. And because you didn't think about any of this, it might be good to do so now and ponder about the ramifications of your words. They could be deadly. Does this sound a little over dramatic? Let me tell you a little story. It's a true story that took place recently.

Caroline D'Souza is a member of the HSI Community in Borivili. She went for a seminar by Catholic apologist Steve Ray when he was in Bombay last month. While there she met a young man who, in conversation, asked her if she belonged to any prayer group. She said that she didn't belong to any prayer group as such, but was part of Holy Spirit Interactive. "Aneel Aranha's ministry?" he asked. She nodded, pleased that he seemed to know me, but in a few moments her pleasure turned to shock as he told her that I was a rebel preacher who worked in total disobedience to the Church, and other assorted nonsense. Caroline is an intelligent girl but such is the power of slander, especially persuasive slander, that it can really rattle people.

Fortunately, she shared this with me, asking if there was any substance to these allegations. Bemused, I asked her where the HSI meetings were held. She said they were held in a Church. I asked her if she thought it was possible for me to have my meetings in a Church without the permission of a parish priest and she agreed that it wasn't. I then asked her if it was possible for the parish priest to invite me to start a full fledged community in his parish without the blessings of the Bishop and, again, she agreed that it wasn't. I didn't need to say anymore. As I said earlier, Caroline is an intelligent girl.

Frankly, I don't care what this bloke, who doesn't know me from Adam, says about me. I never cared what people said about me when I was a bad guy; I care even less now that I'm a good guy. But I shudder when I think of the damage these people—mostly Christians—are doing to the Church that we are trying to grow. I could get to Caroline and explain things to her, but what about the thousands of people I will never have a chance to meet and explain. They will simply believe the lies being fed to them and feed them to others in turn, not even attempting to find out if this is the truth! Think of the destruction caused by the slander!

There was once a man who hated a rival so much, he decided to destroy him, and slander was the easiest, most effective way. He accused his nemesis of loose sexual morals, and as the slanderer doesn't have to prove anything—the burden of proof falls on the accused—he succeeded in destroying the poor fellow's reputation, along with his marriage and much else, completely.

Some time later this man was overcome by remorse (I figure he must have really discovered Christ) and made his way to the confessional. There he poured out his sins, promising that he would never repeat his mistake. The priest listened to him patiently, absolved him, but then instead of giving him a few Our Father's or Hail Mary's to say as his penance, told the penitent to go to the market and get him a chicken. "On the way back, I want you to pluck the chicken," the priest told the man as he left the confessional.

Notwithstanding this rather strange penance, the man went to the market as instructed where be picked up the plumpest bird he could lay his hands on. As he returned to the church, he plucked the features off the bird and tossed them away one by one. By the time he got to the priest, the chicken was plucked clean. "Here's your chicken," he told the man of the cloth.

"I want you to go back to the market," the priest told him, "and stick the features back on the bird."

"But that is impossible," the man cried. "They would all be swept away by the wind!"

"Yes," the priest said. "Just like your words. Nothing you do will ever bring them back."

This is a story we would all do well not to forget, understanding that once we have spoken ill about somebody there is nothing we can do to get our words back. I'm not going to beat you on the head with more about this, though I would like to leave you with something that Paul warned the Corinthians about:

... nor thieves nor the greedy nor drunkards nor slanderers nor swindlers will inherit the kingdom of God. (1 Corinthians 6:10)

And as a final note, do read the previous post on the Triple Filter Test. It offers some invaluable advice on how to deal with slanderers—and how to make sure that we don't become slanderers ourselves.