Getting to the Truth

Proverbs 18:17 ~ "The one who states his case first seems right, until the other comes and examines him."

How often do people embrace the quick accusations of wrongdoing without ever investigating into the matter? One of the greatest (perhaps one of the most damaging) dangers in the fellowship of the church is gossip. Without gaining both sides of a situation, lines are drawn against another because of an imagined wrongdoing. And thus, as our text for today states: "The one who states his case first seems right."

Years ago, with no evidence and surreptitious accusations, men and women were tried and convicted of the ghastly crime of being—you guessed it—a witch. In the same vein, “drumhead courts” were conducted with swift collaboration and often harsh, if not brutal, judgments. These ancient forms of jurisprudence have managed to find their way into the modern vernacular, and now most everyone knows what is meant by a “witch-hunt.”

Perhaps you've been wronged. I would venture a guess that all believers have experienced some form of affront from another. The church of our LORD is a family, drawn together in mutual love for Christ and one another. But that does not immediately negate the still-present condition of our sinful nature. And, like a family, there are times when the challenge of personalities, the difficulty of communication and the friction from a moment of immaturity comes crashing against us and ruffles our emotional feathers. There is a Biblical, Christ-honoring response to such situations: "Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you" (Ephesians 4:31-32).

But I have found, as I am sure you have as well, that the actual first response to such an injury is to "state their case first," rather than taking the Biblical route of 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." So, in stating their case first, the hope is to gain a valued set of allies who will embrace them with sympathy and pity. Whispers of gossip begin to flow like a breeze through the fellowship and then, without the other party knowing why, a bevy of hatred and mistrust has stirred up against them.

Beloved, if you have been given such intriguing information about another, step into the second half of our text today and do some diligent research. Examine the matter. With only half the story, there will be no means of proper discernment and understanding. Paul was concerned about this for the church in Corinth. "For I fear that perhaps when I come I may find you not as I wish, and that you may find me not as you wish—that perhaps there may be quarreling, jealousy, anger, hostility, slander, gossip, conceit, and disorder" (2 Corinthians 12:20). Do not become a party to an accusation against another without actually examining the matter.

1 Peter 4:8 gives us clear instruction, "Above all, keep loving one another earnestly, since love covers a multitude of sins." If you have been wronged, if you were on the receiving end of another person's malice, then do as Christ did and love them. Cover over their sin with the love of Christ. Do not let your heart be overburdened with the bitterness that comes with unforgiveness. Release it unto Christ and trust that as you willingly love the person who wronged you, the LORD will use that love to heal the rift in your fellowship.

And, dear ones, if you are a willing vessel for receiving gossip, then repent of such a hunger. Be, rather, as the LORD instructs, a peacemaker. Jesus told us in Matthew 5:9, "Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called sons of God." What a blessing it will be for you and for the parties involved if God should use you to bridge the rift between two of His children.

In His Grace,
Pastor Michael

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