Have you ever had the experience where you find out some fascinating new thing and tell a bunch of people only to discover that you had listened to a false report? It’s a pretty sad feeling, isn’t it? You end up feeling a little bit bad because, in a sense, you have misled your friends and family. When it’s trivial, you feel a little silly, but what about if it’s something more serious? Imagine that you reported to your friends that an elder at your church had fallen into some grievous sin, only to find out that you were wrong. You would feel horrendous, but imagine the damage and pain you would have caused to the elder, his family, and the entire church. False reports can be far more than just embarrassing; they can be incredibly destructive.

I was struck recently by the damaging nature of bad reports when I was reading Numbers 13. In this passage, Moses sends forth the twelve spies to scout out the promised land. The purpose was to encourage the people before entering the promised land. On their return, they spoke of a land flowing with milk and honey, but also a land filled with giants and enemies. Caleb, in response, quiets the people and says, “Let us go up at once and occupy it, for we are well able to overcome it.” (Numbers 13:30) In response, the ten wicked spies bring a bad report that turns everything pear-shaped: “So they brought to the people of Israel a bad report of the land that they had spied out, saying, “The land through which we have gone to spy it out is a land that devours its inhabitants, and all the people that we saw in it are of great height. And there we saw the Nephilim (the sons of Anak, who come from the Nephilim), and we seemed to ourselves like grasshoppers, and so we seemed to them.” (Numbers 13:32–33)

The outcome of this bad report is absolutely disastrous. The people cry out and complain against God and Moses (Numbers 14:1-4); they threaten to stone Moses, Aaron, and Joshua (Numbers 14:5-10); and finally, the Lord rejects the generation, sends them back to the wilderness for forty years, and destroys the spies that spread the bad report (Numbers 14:20-38). Don’t miss what happens here. Ten men, because of their fear and lack of faith in God, spread a report that led to the destruction of an entire generation and their own deaths. Such is the destructive nature of the tongue that is given to slander, maligning, lying, and false testimony; it destroys others and ultimately leads to one’s own destruction.

There is an extremely important lesson for us in this. As James would say, “How great a forest is set ablaze by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire, a world of unrighteousness. The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body, setting on fire the entire course of life, and set on fire by hell.” (James 3:5–6) Though we do not find ourselves in a similar situation to the spies, are not many of us faced with the exact same temptation and spirit that were present in them?

Isn’t it true that far too often our ears tingle when we hear fellow Christian brothers and sisters say, “Did you hear about…”? Isn’t it true that deep down we delight in eating and sharing the tasty morsels of gossip that people pass on to us? Let me ask you, when someone comes and begins spreading a report in your hearing, do you truly consider the veracity of the matter? Do you stop to ask yourself whether this report gives glory to God and whether it is honest to the integrity of the person being spoken about? Sadly, if we are honest, most of us will acknowledge that we delight in the bad report more than the truth and more than the individual or group that is spoken of.

Let us learn of the destructive nature of bad reports and speak the truth by faith. How do we do this? It is actually a lot more simple than what you might think. Heed the greatest and second greatest commandment. Love the Lord your God and your neighbour as yourself.

If you love God more than all other things, why would you care for what the bad reporter has to say? His opinion on another counts for nothing. The opinion of God is what truly matters to you. The love of the Lord motivates you to love the truth, for God delights in truth and hates faleshood.

If you love your neighbour as yourself, you will never spread a false or bad report of another. Your love for your neighbour will make the report fall on deaf ears and not move beyond yourself. Yet, it will also go further; it will seek to honour your neighbour by defending him. You will think of his character and defend him. You, like Caleb and Joshua, will stand up against the ten bad reporters and declare what is true and godly. You will speak with your neighbour and test all that you hear by the word of God.

Don’t listen to the father of lies who delights in killing and destroying through lies, falsehood, and slander. Rather, listen to the Father of Lights who delights in bringing life through truth, grace, and mercy.