A perverse man spreads strife, and a slanderer separates intimate friends.
–Proverbs 16:28
Putting Christ first in your life means transforming your actions, attitudes, and affections to those of Jesus Christ–and that includes learning to speak like Jesus would speak. Paul gave us some insights on how to do that. In Colossians 3:8, he said we are to lay aside slander.
What is slander? To slander is to openly speak negatively about another person. In the Bible, slander is not about the truthfulness of the statement but the intent of the statement. For example, in the Old Testament, one of the Hebrew words translated as “slander” sometimes means a bad report. Joseph gave his father a “bad report” about his brothers in Genesis 37:2. He was telling the truth, but it was with the intent of hurting his brothers.
Why does the Bible warn against slander? First of all, slander is divisive. Proverbs 16:28 says, “A perverse man spreads strife, and a slanderer separates intimate friends.” Nothing will divide friends, families, and churches more than public, negative communication.
Second, slander requires making judgments about other people that we are not qualified to make. When you openly criticize another person, you are saying, “I am the judge, jury, and executioner of this person’s reputation. They deserve to have their reputation destroyed.” But no human can make that judgment. James 4:11–12 says, “Do not speak against one another, brethren. . . . There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the One who is able to save and to destroy; but who are you who judge your neighbor?” The kind of judgment James was talking about here is a pharisaical judgment, meant to elevate your own righteousness and denigrate another person’s reputation. It’s a final condemnation against that person, saying they are beyond redemption. But only God can make that kind of judgment.
Third, slander causes irreparable damage. There’s an old folktale about a young man who went to a monk and said, “I have sinned by telling slanderous tales. What should I do?” The monk said, “Go and place a feather on every doorstep in town.” The young man did so; then he returned and asked what he should do next. The monk said, “Retrieve all the feathers.” The young man said, “That’s impossible! The wind has blown them away.” The monk replied, “So it is with slanderous words–they are impossible to retrieve.” That’s the main problem with slander: it is impossible to take back the damage that is done. If we’re going to become like Christ, we have to lay aside slander.
