Bringing Accusations

By Gene Frost

       "I believe that my antagonist is guilty as charged. I have it on reliable report that he is. My informant, whom I trust implicitly, affirms that it is so. And so I publicly accuse him so that all may know the character of those whom we oppose, and so that all may mark him."

       This is a fictitious report. But any name and any sin could be supplied. When one is charged upon the basis of a single hearsay, unsubstantiated or unestablished, the damage is done: his name is sullied, his reputation tarnished, and his influence curtailed or destroyed. It is shameful! How would you like it to be your name and a sin of which you are not guilty?

       God knows that good men are subject to false accusations, which may arise out of the fact that one is good and will not compromise the truth, or because he stands as a barrier to evil designs of ungodly men, or because the truth he courageously declares offends an impenitent heart, or for a number of other reasons. And so God has set forth a safe-guard to protect one from unwarranted charges ... that is, a safe-guard for honorable and reasonable men. (The ungodly will not be governed by it.) At the same time, men need to be reproved for evil conduct, which God commands to be done. How is it then that one is protected from rash and unreasonable accusations without also protecting the ungodly from exposure?

       Let every accusation be established:

       "One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established." (Deut. 19:15)

       This was God's will under the first covenant, but a will that is not dispensational. Jesus taught the same principle for the new covenant:

       "But if he will not hear thee, then take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established." (Matt. 18:16)

       The apostle Paul, in speaking specifically of those servants of the Lord whose faith would be most prominent and most vulnerable to criticism, says,

               ^"Against an elder receive not an accusation, but before two or three witnesses." (1 Tim. 5:19)

       This is not to say that others can be treated with less consideration.

       It should be most evident that God will not have His children falsely charged. Anything less than a word established as true (John 8:17) is to be dismissed.

       Differences will be, but let them be settled upon an honorable basis. Let issues come under attack. To resort to argumentum ad hominem on the basis of unfounded accusations in an attempt to win a disagreement by destroying the opponent is to employ carnal weapons. (2 Cor. 10:5-6) It becomes even more grievous when it becomes a weapon wielded in a party spirit.

       One is not guilty of wrong-doing on the basis that another party member passes on a suspected report.

Gospel Anchor (March 1977)