Every faithful servant of God in every generation must endure the slanders of men. Moses was accused of serving his own interests. Elijah was slandered as the troubler of Israel. Jeremiah was maligned as a false prophet. Our Lord Jesus was accused of being a horribly wicked man. The apostle Paul was condemned as a vile antinomian.
Nothing has changed. I have never known a faithful gospel preacher who was not maligned and falsely accused of evil things by those who oppose the message we declare. The gospel we preach cannot be repudiated. The Word of God plainly declares that salvation is by the free grace of God alone, in Christ alone. The Scriptures assert the believer’s total freedom from the law as emphatically as they do the holy character of God. When unbelieving religious rebels are confronted with the irrefutable revelation of the gospel, the only defense they have is to assault the character of God’s messenger. Seldom do they do so face to face. Liars are rarely courageous. Rather, under the guise of defending the truth of God, they suggest this or that, and invent gossip.
I know a good many faithful brethren who are enduring these difficulties at this time. I am often asked, “What should I do? How should I respond?” I always counsel my friends to follow the example of our Master and his servants of old. Ignore such people. Totally ignore them. Do nothing. Do not respond. We are God’s servants; and God always takes care of his own. We do not have to defend ourselves. I learned a long, long time ago that if you get into a spitting contest with a skunk you always come out smelling like a skunk.
Sometimes I get letters or calls from friends who want to tell me what some little imp (or a bunch of little imps) has said about me. I am often asked, “Why don’t you answer them?” My reasons are these:
1. I really am not concerned about what the opinions of God’s enemies about me are (1 Cor. 4:3-5). Such men and their opinions are totally irrelevant.
2.
If a man falsely accuses me of moral evil, I am far
more guilty of worse crimes inwardly than any can imagine of accusing me of
committing outwardly.
3. If any accuse me of doctrinal evil, what I preach and write suffice to demonstrate my doctrine with clarity for anyone who wishes to investigate for himself.
4.
Above all, if I am indeed God's servant, I will be
content to await whatever he is pleased to do to vindicate my worthless name
before men, or not, in time and eternity. It is not my name that I seek to
honor and defend, but his.
Rarely do these fleas bite me directly and even more rarely do they slander the names of God's servants to me. While I feel it my duty (and certainly know it my best course of action) to never speak a word in defense of myself, I am equally convinced that friendship, faithfulness, and honor demand that I defend assaults against other faithful men, particularly men whom I claim as friends.