I read a fascinating passage in Isaiah this morning:

If you get rid of unfair practices,

quit blaming victims,

quit gossiping about other people’s sins…

Your lives will begin to glow in the darkness,

your shadowed lives will be bathed in sunlight.

I will always show you where to go.

I’ll give you a full life in the emptiest of places—

firm muscles, strong bones.

You’ll be like a well-watered garden,

a gurgling spring that never runs dry.

You’ll use the old rubble of past lives to build anew,

rebuild the foundations from out of your past.

You’ll be known as those who can fix anything,

restore old ruins, rebuild and renovate,

make the community livable again.

Isaiah 58:9b-12

I’d like to discuss the beginning of this passage, given the current conditions surrounding the scandals that are still rocking the church.

In some circles, a message has been preached that says, “You must not gossip about a leader’s sin. In fact, if you talk about a leader’s sin, even mentioning it, you are sinning, and God will judge you.” It’s Jesus-loving preachers and teachers who are saying you’re in sin if you speak of a leader’s sin, not an abusive leader trying to keep their scandals under the rug (at least, we don’t know of any scandal, and I’ll happily give them the benefit of the doubt).

The problem with this teaching is that it’s easily rebutted in the Bible. If we’re not allowed to talk about a leader’s sin, then why did the Bible include stories like David and Bathsheba? Jezebel and Ahab? Manasseh’s idols? Paul’s persecution of the believers? Peter being cowardly enough to not stand up for his faith? I want to point out that all of these individuals who sinned were leaders. The Bible goes into some pretty good detail about their sins, too. Apparently, the Bible doesn’t consider talking about a leader’s sin as “sinful.”

With that being said, let’s go back to the verses I shared above. It says, in essence, “If you’ll stop gossiping about other people’s sins (among other things), I’ll bless you abundantly.” First, this verse is about anyone’s sins – it could be your parent’s sin, your neighbor’s sin, another churchgoer’s sin, the president’s sin, the pastor’s sin, or the sin of the adulterer who has a platform because she or he is a movie star. There is no limit on whose sin – we’re not supposed to be gossiping about anyone’s sin.

Second, we have to separate speaking about something that happened vs. gossip. I wrote another post about defining gossip, but here I’ll just say that a fact becomes gossip when either 1) you’re speaking about negative things and sin as a form of entertainment, or 2) you’re trying to shift or reinforce the listener’s opinions by speaking about another person (usually negatively, though not always). To gossip is to sin. To admit that someone has hurt you or has the potential to hurt others is the truth (assuming it is truth and not just hearsay).

Proverbs says, “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are his delight.” (12:22). If you refuse to speak about a negative thing a leader did to you, especially when you have to lie to not talk about it, this verse applies to you. Or Proverbs 12:19, “Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue is but for a moment.” Or Proverbs 28:13, “Whoever conceals his transgressions will not prosper.”

As hard as this is to believe, staying silent simply because the person is a leader is just as much sin as gossiping about another churchgoer’s sin. Should you be blabbing the sin to everyone, all the time? Of course not! There is time and place to speak of such things, and sadly, in our church culture, those times and places are rare. But it still needs to be said. There doesn’t need to be accusation (defining the perpetrator as a sinner) but there should be facts (the specific sins/actions that were part of sinning against you).

Speak truth. Don’t gossip. Accept that people are wrong sometimes. Ask God how and where to speak. Don’t allow yourself to become so bitter before speaking that you twist the truth of the sin. Don’t allow others to gossip to you. Listen when people are telling you non-gossip sin – if there is a serious accusation involved, please dig deeper. Do not blow it off just because you “know” the person involved – many perpetrators are experts at relationships where they look so good. Do not believe everything simply because you’re good friends with the victim. Make yourself a safe space where they can talk, even if they’re just bitter and angry and the leader didn’t sin at all. Pray about what to do with the information imparted to you. These issues are rarely clear, and it takes the discernment of the Holy Spirit to know the course of action that will protect the victims and still keep the perpetrator from hurting anyone else.