Don't Bear False Report

One of my pet-peeves lately is people posting or forwarding things to me without checking out the validity of them first.  It looks like something they want to share, and so they share it and they don’t really care if it is accurate or not.  Putting things out into the world about politics, religion, the army, the church, and the list goes on and on.  So often, we hear something that we are shocked with and then don’t go and check out the validity of the statement. 

I remember in high school the facts got skewed and I was ultimately threatened to be “beat down” because of something that I never said.  One of the “snob squad” was dating someone or another and approached me and said that I had no right to call her a “slut”.  I hadn’t called her one!  Somehow, somewhere, someone said something about me and it grew and grew without my knowledge and ultimately, I almost go beaten up about it.  After being shoved down to the ground my heroic big senior class sister (who was the only one allowed to be mean to me apparently) stepped in with her friends and came to my rescue.  They didn’t defend my honor, instead, they just threatened to make her life terrible if she ever spoke to me again.  For you men out there, this is the way girls fight.  Ironically, 2 years later, this girl and I were quite cordial. 

Have you ever been part of a rumor mill?  Have you ever watched the Veggie Tales about the Rumor Weed?  It is actually a great lesson!  So often, we take one little fact and stretch it to become our reality- we take one small thing someone does or says and stretch it to be something that they didn’t say, didn’t mean and didn’t intend.  The media is extremely guilty of this! 

Whatever happened to a concept of people thinking for themselves instead of taking one good or bad thing and running with it to either sanctify or vilify one person or position?  The Bible tells us in Exodus 23: 1-2 “ 1“You shall not bear a false report; do not join your hand with a wicked man to be a malicious witness.2“You shall not follow the masses in doing evil, nor shall you testify in a dispute so as to turn aside after a multitude in order to pervert justice;” 

Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like most of the politicians out there, and I don’t support the negative things happening in the world, but I also check out the different things before I repeat them.  A great site to do this on is snopes.com it allows you to type in what you are looking for and get the history behind the statement.  I also try to find the validity of the good things that are re-posted too. 

With that said, check into things before you spread them.  Make sure that you are not bearing false repots and joining your hand in wicked just to be malicious.  Just do good!  That is easy – just do what God is called you to do.  Love your neighbor as yourself, lean not on your own understanding, acknowledge God…  (Proverbs 3:5).