I wish that over my lifetime I had kept a journal of all the rumors about me that finally made it all the way to me. As with most of us, there have been some doozies. A few years ago I told my daughters that you cannot stand up for what you believe without making enemies, creating jealousies, and just plain old ticking people off.
Remember the lies the “witnesses” told to have Jesus crucified? Even He had to deal with people claiming He did or said things He never said or did. That’s what happens when people don’t like what you do. If they can’t find real dirt — easy enough with most of us, though not for Jesus — they make up their own. Just this past week a minister told me of another minister who flagrantly lied about him and justified it because he felt my minister friend was a detriment to the kingdom as the liar viewed it.
It takes nothing to start a tale and give it impetus. It seems that people love gossip, even if it hasn’t the slightest possibility of reality. Dish dirt and it takes off in every direction. With the Internet, it can become international in minutes.
Like the Jane Fonda story from the Vietnam War days. It claims that a POW gave her a note to bring back to the USA and she promptly turned it over to the Vietnamese. Pure bunk. Check it out — actually you should check LOTS of stuff out — on www.snopes.com. Or the alleged scholar comments comparing Obama to Hitler. The alleged commencement speech by Yogi Berra. On and on it goes. No matter what the politics, religion, or year lived, no one is immune to the rumor mill. For example, look at the quotes section of Snopes and see how Bush, Gore, and even Lincoln get skewered for things they never said.
So what do you do when you hear things about you that shock or sadden you because they are so terribly untrue? Ignore it. I recall one of my Bible professors back in 1967 give credence to a terrible rumor about one of the ministers in town by saying, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.” Though a young, inexperienced college student at the time, I approached the minister in question and asked about it. He laughed. When I asked if he were going to defend himself, he said, “Against whom? Against what? I can’t control what those people say — especially when no one ‘fesses up to being the one doing the talking. I’ll just do my ministry. Otherwise, I’ll drive myself nuts, lose focus, and the devil wins.”
Quite simply the old adage, “If you can’t beat them, join them,” doesn’t work in the rumor world. Don’t get involved in either telling, tracking, or responding. If asked by reputable people, tell the truth. Otherwise, just keep on doing what you are supposed to do in the kingdom. It drives the devil mad…as well as those who love to dish dirt.