Truth Magazine

By Mike Willis

The writer of the 64th psalm had been driven to the throne of God for relief from slanderous words spoken against him. The psalm is instructive in showing us how slander injures another and how victims of slander are to defend themselves.

David was the victim of wicked men in Saul’s court who spoke lies against him. This is seen from the incident when David cut off a portion of Saul’s robe at Eingedi. After revealing himself to Saul, David approached Saul saying, “Wherefore hearest thou men’s words, saying, Behold, David seeketh thy hurt?” (1 Sam. 24:9). David was the victim of slanderers whose aim was to see David’s reputation and David himself destroyed. The lies drove David to the throne of God with his complaint (Ps. 64:1). He asked God to protect him from fear of his enemy.

David faced Goliath in battle. He fought with the bear and the lion. He was no coward. Nevertheless, he asked God to deliver him from the “fear of the enemy” (Ps. 64:1). Men who are slanderers are to be feared.

What Slanderous Words Do To Another

1. Slanderous words are weapons used to destroy another. David de- scribed these words as swords and arrows. He said that his enemies “whet their tongue like a sword, and bend their bows to shoot their arrows, even bitter words: that they may shoot in secret at the perfect: suddenly do they shoot at him, and fear not” (Ps. 64:3-4). Men who would never think of taking a gun against their enemy are willing to attack those whom they consider to be their enemy with slanderous words.

2. Slanderous words are used as snares against one’s enemies. “They encourage themselves in an evil matter: they commune of laying snares privily; they say, Who shall see them?” (Ps. 64:5). Just as hunters lay traps for animals, men plot the destruction of their enemies using carefully planted words. The intentional nature of the sin is exposed in the plotting and planning of the attack.

3. Slanderers search out one’s iniquities to use them against him. “They search out iniquities; they accomplish a diligent search: both the inward thought of every one of them, and the heart, is deep” (Ps. 64:6). Men who wish to destroy another or his influence will search out everything in one’s past to find some piece of dirt that he might use to destroy the man. Whether or not the sin has been repented of and confessed to God and man makes no difference to those who wish to sling mud to destroy another’s reputation. Any misstep into sin will serve the purpose of the slanderer. Sometimes the mere charge that one was guilty of sin is enough, without regard to whether or not the charge is true.

William S. Plumer wrote, “The ingenuity of man has been wonderfully tasked and exercised in two things, destructive weapons of war, and devising various methods of ruining men by wicked words. The list of the former is found in military writings. But the various forms of evil speaking can hardly be cataloged. Evil speakers have ar- rows, sharp, barbed, dipped in poison. They have ‘swords, flaming swords, two-edged swords, drawn swords, drawn in anger, with which they cut, and wound, and kill the good name of their neighbor.’ Sins of the tongue are commonly very cruel. When slander is secret, as it commonly is, you cannot defend yourself from its assaults. Its canons are infernal. One of them is, If a lie will do better than the truth, tell a lie. Another is, Heap on reproach; some of it will stick” (Studies in the Book of Psalms 639).

Slanderous Words Are Bitter

1. They spring from a bitter source. James spoke about such sinful speech saying, “Doth a fountain send forth at the same place sweet water and bitter?” (Jas. 3:11). The fountain that issues slander is a bitter fountain. It is full of hatred toward its brother, the kind of hatred that Jesus identified as the cause of murder. Jesus rebuked this hatred in the Sermon on the Mount saying, “Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shall kill shall be in danger of the judgment: But I say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire” (Matt. 5:21-22).

2. They are bitter in the result they produce. Slanderous words injure the one against whom they are spoken. They cause pain and anguish to the innocent.

The Defense Against Slanderous Words

David knew how to fight the lion and the bear; he knew how to fight against Goliath; he knew how to lead the armies of Israel against the Philistines. He was a mighty warrior who won the respect of the nation of Israel. But David did not know how to fight against the slander of man.

The manner in which David dealt with man’s slanderous words was to take his complaint to the just God of heaven and lay out his petitions before him. He was convinced that the impartial God would rise up in his defense. “But God shall shoot at them with an arrow; suddenly shall they be wounded. So they shall make their own tongue to fall upon themselves: all that see them shall flee away” (Ps. 64:7-8).

About the only defense one has against slander is to trust himself to the providence of God. A godly man cannot win a mud-slinging contest because his opponent will stoop to things he will not do. Consequently, his best defense is his own righteous life and the providence of a just God.

Some Things That Are Not Slander

One is not guilty of slander when he replies to the preaching of another whom he believes to be teaching error. One is commanded to “try the spirits” to see whether or not they are from God (1 John 4:1). A public teacher should not think that his character has been slandered because another examines in a public manner what he has taught. If we ever lose our willingness to have what we have preached tested by the standard of God’s word, we will have lost one of those things God has given to protect us from apostasy.

One is not guilty of slander by making available to others the public writings of a man which writings demonstrate what he believes. Sending out a packet of photocopied articles containing the articles of a man as a means of documenting what that brother is teaching is not slander. If it is, then the one writing the articles is slandering himself!

Vicious Assaults Still Occur

Vicious verbal assaults against the character of men are still going on among men and, unfortunately by some who are preachers. We call attention to these assaults in the hope of better conduct in the future.

Brethren do speak slanderous words against each other. I recently had breakfast with a brother whom I love and respect. He and I were discussing some of the differences that have arisen over Christianity Magazine’s series of articles advocating unity in spite of serious moral and doctrinal differences, including the position that brother Hailey had preached on divorce and remarriage. I explained that I had made four efforts to meet with the editors of Christianity Magazine face to face to discuss our differences and had been turned down on each occasion. This brother replied that one of the editors had explained their unwillingness to meet. The explanation offered attacked the moral integrity of those who were asking for the meeting. Men have spread this report from one end of the country to another. I know the moral integrity of the men who have responded to this series of articles. They are not liars. They are sincere, morally upright men who conscientiously oppose what they perceive to be false doctrine. They have given a lifetime to the propagation of the gospel, raised godly families, and conducted themselves honorably before God and the brethren. To defend one’s unwillingness to meet with one’s brethren to discuss their differences by assaulting the moral character of these men is slander! I for one take offence at the charges and, like David, will commit myself to the providence of a just God to answer such false charges against my moral character.

A man is guilty of slander when he reports the conduct of a brother who stumbled into sin many years ago as a means of destroying his reputation. One report published among us charged that one man who had stumbled into sin was being used as a preacher/writer even though he had “brought no fruits of repentance.” The report failed to mention that the man repented of his sin, confessed his sin before more than one church, and has lived many years subsequently in honorable conduct. Another brother’s sin which was committed nearly 20 years earlier was mentioned in the same article, although that brother too had repented of his sin, confessed it to God and man, and lived many years of morally upright conduct. But their sins were dug up and broadcast in an effort to destroy their reputations and the reputation of those associated with them. Like the enemies of David who slandered him, slanderers today “search out iniquity” (Ps. 64:6) and for the same reason. Slander is sometimes tolerated if the slander is against the right person. Some will not tolerate the least possible offence against their friends but have no concern for how their enemies are treated. One’s friend is sinned against when his public teachings are photocopied and sent to another, but one’s enemies are not mistreated when one digs up sins long ago repented of and confessed and reports them far and wide. It just depends upon who one slanders as to whether or not it is tolerated with some! Brother Harry Pickup, Jr. says that one of the tests of a man’s character is how he treats his enemies! Slander is slander without regard to whom its victim is and godly men will always oppose those guilty of slander, backbiting, whispering, and such like conduct.

On May 8, 1998, I will have been trying to preach the gospel for a half century. During those years I have had a diversity of experiences among my brothers and sisters in the Lord; all the way from births to marriages, to baptizing whole families, to seeing people who knew the truth turn away from it, to serious illness, to deaths of both young and old, and to coming to know the best people on earth. In our experiences as preachers we come to know some people who are extra special; who come to mean more to us than we can possibly describe. We also come to know people as nobody else knows them, and they probably come to know us as nobody else does.

I have often stated what I have never heard another gospel preacher say, namely, “preachers, don’t discount or overlook the advice of godly women.” Maybe others have not had the experience along this line that I have. As a young preacher I think I benefitted more from the advice of the good sisters than from brethren. Maybe it is the mother’s  touch on how the advice was given, or just maybe they had an insight that men seldom have. Men’s approach to preachers tends to be more antagonistic or adversarial than that of women. I know there are notable exceptions to this, but it is generally true.

In this article it is my exalted privilege and pleasure to pay tribute to a “mother in Israel” who has meant more to me than words can convey. I moved to Louisville, Kentucky in 1961 to work with what became the Expressway church. I lived there almost nine years. I came to know some of the best people on earth, and we had a very fruitful work, though it was very stormy and unpleasant at times.

Justice and Elsie Shull were members at Expressway, and had been members of the old Taylor Boulevard Church for many years. They gave me wonderful encouragement and inspiration in one of the most difficult times of my preaching life. The old Taylor Boulevard church, the largest church in the state, had divided over the institutional issues, and filed a law suit against the conservative brethren (about 200) to bar them from the building. The situation was very disturbing and one in which a preacher needs all the moral support he can get.

I received great support from the elders, and a large majority of the members, and especially from Justice and Elsie Shull. Elsie kind of adopted me as a son, and I came to look upon her as my second mother. She often refreshed my spirit and held up my hands in the battle for truth. Compromise was not a thought she ever entertained, and she loved every gospel preacher who had the courage to contend for the faith. She reminds me so much of Paul’s statements about women he had known in the Lord. He admonished Timothy to treat “the elder women as mothers . . .”(1 Tim 5:2), and he said to Philemon, “And I entreat thee also, true yokefellow, help those women which laboured with me in the gospel, with Clement also, and with other my fellow labourers, whose names are in the book of life”(Phil 4:3).

Elsie was both a lovely and a lovable person. She was a woman of impeccable character, physical beauty, and of great influence in the Expressway church. God blessed her with a physical beauty that is seldom seen which she possessed until the day of her death at age 90, but she was no less beautiful on the inside. A more beautiful “mother in Israel” I have never known.

There are many words that fitly describe this very un- usual lady, such as: righteous, beautiful, generous, neat, gracious, devoted, lovely, loveable, kind, considerate, motherly, supportive of that which is good, sweet, and a lover of truth. Before the Expressway building was finished, I used to hold Bible classes in the basement of her house, and I stayed with the Shulls during a gospel meeting at Expressway, and I can safely say there never was a neater housekeeper than Elsie Shull. Nothing was ever out of place. Her basement was like a living room. Her laundry was neatly ironed and folded and put in its place as neatly as if it were on display in a department store! She was a neat person!

Elsie   lived to the ripe old age of 90 years. We corresponded throughout all the years after I left the work at Expressway in 1969. At age 90 she could write a letter as uplifting and inspiring as she ever could. She not only corresponded with me and my family, but with others she came to know through the years.

She said something to me in a letter when our precious daughter died, whom she had known since infancy, that I have never forgotten and which has been a source of com- fort to me ever since. She said, “Jim, don’t worry about Karla, she is in a better place.” It is my firm belief that the same can now be said of our dear Elsie. If our loved ones can converse with each other in that land beyond the sky, I am sure Elsie is still speaking words of comfort.

Elsie, like most people,   was not without burdens in her life, but she bore them with the grace and beauty that was so characteristic of her. Her faith was her bridge over troubled waters. Justice preceded her in death by several years. She lived alone for the rest of her life in the beautiful little  house they had shared and which Justice probably built, for he was a carpenter par excellence. Some of her children were not faithful to the Lord, which was one of the bitter realities with which she lived and for which she prayed daily. Thank God she lived long enough to see one of her sons and his wife return to the Lord with a devotion seldom seen. It was a much deserved happiness and an answer to a mother’s prayer before she crossed over.

Her only daughter, Bobbi, lost her husband to cancer, and in time she was married to Connie Adams, a well-known gospel preacher. Bobbi, like her mother, is a beautiful person within and without, and has that same devotion to the Lord exemplified by her sweet mother. Elsie greatly admired Connie and his stand for the truth. She often spoke with sadness of the milktoast preaching that characterizes many pulpits among us today, and with becoming pride of the kind of preaching done by Connie, Grover Stevens, Greg Litmer, the present preacher at Expressway, and others she had known and loved.

She is gone but not forgotten, nor will she ever be by those who knew and loved her. She is one of the many special saints I have known in my life as a gospel preacher and her sweet disposition and spiritual devotion will continue to be an inspiration as long as I am in this tabernacle.  I express my heart-felt sympathy to all her family and friends and all who were touched and influenced by this gracious and loveable “mother in Israel.” We shall all miss her sweet smile, her beautiful face, and most of all, the inspiration that she was to us all. Heaven is sweeter now!

The last time you made a decision did your hand tell you what to do? Or, the last time you took a trip was it your foot or your toe that told you where to go? Of course not! We all know that is not how it works. When it is time to make a decision, in reality when we do any thinking at all, the head is what does it. The head is the housing of our brain. The brain is our command center. I’m sure we would all agree this is so.

Jesus Christ is the head of a body. “And He put all things un- der His feet, and gave Him to be head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all” (Eph. 1:22, 23). “For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything” (Eph. 5:23, 24). “And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he may have the preeminence” (Col. 1:18). Jesus Christ’s body is the church. He is not the head of many bodies (churches, denominations) as some today would teach. Ephesians 4:4 says “there is one body.” In a body only the head does the thinking!

Paul, writing to the brethren in Corinth in 1 Corinthians 12:12-27, taught that individually, as part of Christ’s body, we are not all the same. Metaphorically, he described some as hands, some as feet, some as eyes, some as ears, and so on. Each part (individual member) has a function (in Eph. 4:16, Paul says each part is of value). Yes, every part has a function, but, that function is not to do the thinking.

At the transfiguration Moses and Elijah appeared and spoke with Jesus. Peter was prepared to build them each their own tabernacle. God the Father’s reply was, “While he (Peter) was still speaking, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them; and suddenly a voice came out of the cloud, saying, ‘This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased. Hear Him!’” (Matt. 17:5).

In John 6, many of the Lord’s disciples had turned away from him (v. 66). In verse 67 Jesus asked his disciples, “Do you also want to go away?” Notice Peter’s response in vv. 68, 69, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Also we have come to believe and to know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

We need to let Jesus do the thinking! What a difference we would see in our world if people would just do this. If instead of, “Well, what I think . . . ,” people would turn to the Lord for a “Thus saith the Lord.” What a difference it would make in our lives if we would just let Jesus, the head, do the thinking!