Dr. Couch, our church recently went through a split. Slander and gossip
destroyed the peace and contentment. A lot of people got hurt and left. I
understand this is going on all over. I just found Proverbs 26:19-22.
Do these verses apply to what is going on today?
Absolutely! Here are some excellent thoughts
about these verses from the Proverbs commentary volumes of Dr. Bruce
Waltke. He not only exegetes the verses, and their meaning, but puts the
right interpretation on what the passages are all about. Christians can
be terribly destructive and go about without guilt destroying other
people and institutions. Waltke writes:
"The slanderer is a contentious person. He uses
inflammatory speech that will burn down the community of believers. His
words are so destructive, and he is so cunning, the church body will
swallow his inflammatory calumnies like testy tidbits. The group that
tolerates the gossip is also culpable for the conflicts that tear it
apart.
"By attacking others, or authority, the gossip
secures his own will. He is labeled perverse, the one who turns a
community upside down. His tools of trade are half-truths, facts
distorted and exaggerated beyond recognition. As a storm whips up the
sea, the slandering rebel whips up strife so strong that it divides even
the closest friends. A contentious person must be driven from the
community.
"The gossip’s yeast will work through the whole
batch of dough. His audience greedily swallow his inflammatory speech,
they delight in his words. The words now in their hearts will inevitably
be on their lips. The community will ultimately lose its own peace and
character by tolerating agitators against all that is right."
Waltke is right on target in his thoughts coming from
these verses. This destruction is happening in church after church
across America!
Thanks for asking.
Dr. Mal Couch
