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<span style="display: inline-block; width: 0px; overflow: hidden; line-height: 0;" data-mce-type="bookmark" class="mce_SELRES_start"></span> Before You Post Or Share A Post… Read This You don’t have to swing a fist to break a jaw anymore. These days, all it takes is a thumb and a screen. One share, one snarky comment, one “just passing this along” post… and suddenly somebody’s name is getting dragged through a digital street you helped pave. Most people never set out to destroy anyone’s character. They just join the flow. And that’s exactly how the damage multiplies. Here’s the problem: online slander rarely looks like slander when you’re in the middle of it. It looks like concern. It looks like discernment. It even looks like courage. Meanwhile, reputations get shredded in real time while thousands of decent, well-meaning people hit “like” and move on with their day. Nobody feels like the villain… but somebody still ends up crushed. So before you forward that screenshot, repost that thread, or drop a comment that feels a little too satisfying, pause for just a moment. Because once a lie… or even a half-true story… starts rolling, it doesn’t just fade away. It grows legs, picks up speed, and feeds on every new set of eyes. And by the time the truth catches up, the damage is usually already done. It Starts as a Post… and Ends as a Public Execution Some tongues don’t just talk — they cut. Slander doesn’t spill ink, it spills blood. You can feel the heat of it even through a screen. One post, one screenshot, one half-true sarcastic “prayer request,” and suddenly somebody’s reputation is on fire. What used to travel by whisper now spreads at the speed of a swipe. And in this age of online slander, “Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer” doesn’t read like an antique rule from a dusty book… it crackles like a live wire in your hands. Every day, names are dragged through comment sections, group chats, and viral threads. And most of the time, nobody stops to ask whether what they’re passing along is true, necessary, or destructive. It just feels urgent. It feels justified. It feels like justice. But more often than we want to admit, it’s just fire. When God Calls Slander Bloodshed Right out of the gate, Leviticus pulls no punches: “You must not spread false stories against other people, and you must not do anything that would put your neighbor’s life in danger.” That command sits in the same neighborhood as laws against physical harm… and that’s not accidental. In Hebrew, the word often translated “talebearer” leans closer to “slanderer”—someone who moves from person to person like a walking spark, leaving scorched reputations behind. And Scripture doesn’t treat that lightly. It says false witness stands “against the blood of your neighbor.” That’s strong language. But think about it. A ruined name can cost someone their job, their church, their friendships, even their will to go on. In ancient courts, perjury could lead to execution. Today, a viral accusation can achieve a similar end without a courtroom ever being involved. The tools change. The damage doesn’t. So when you scroll past that thread tearing someone apart, it isn’t just gossip or drama. It’s closer to a quiet digital lynching. And every like, comment, and share tightens the knot a little more. The Three People a Lie Kills For centuries, Jewish teachers described slander with a chilling image: it “kills three people with one axe”—the one who spreads it, the one targeted by it, and the one who listens. Yep, that’s in the Talmud. That picture fits modern feeds almost perfectly. First, there’s the person who posts the accusation. Maybe it’s a long thread, a video exposé, or a carefully worded “discernment” blog. In the moment, it feels powerful. Righteous, even. But over time, constantly feeding on outrage reshapes the soul. It trains the heart to enjoy destruction. Then there’s the target. They wake up to a nightmare: messages piling up, calls going silent, familiar faces turning cold. Even if parts of the story are exaggerated or flat-out wrong, the damage spreads faster than any correction ever will. Finally, there’s the audience. They’re changed too. The more they watch these public takedowns, the more normal it feels. Character assassination becomes entertainment. Compassion dulls. Suspicion sharpens. And the algorithms? They love it. Anger and controversy keep people scrolling. So the ancient “devouring tongue” now runs on Wi-Fi, racing across continents in seconds. The Subtle Lie of “Just Sharing” Modern Christians rarely think of themselves as slanderers. We use softer language. We say we’re “sharing concerns.” “She needs a mental health checkup.” On and on. We frame it as prayer, warning, or discernment. But Scripture sees through the rebranding. It warns about the whisperer, the double-tongued, the backbiting voice that tears down households and drives people from place to place. Online, that often looks like this: Vague-posting about “a certain leader” so everyone knows who you mean. Passing along accusations with, “If this is true, it’s really bad…” when you haven’t checked a single fact. Retelling someone’s failure without context so they look worse than they are. Even when there’s a sliver of truth, the overall picture can still be false. A fact twisted to destroy is still false witness. And in God’s courtroom, that counts. Idle Words and Weaponized Posts Jesus pushes the standard even deeper. He says people will give account for “every idle word.” That doesn’t just mean obvious lies. It includes careless, useless, unproductive speech… the kind that bears no good fruit. Now bring that into the social media age. Every sarcastic subtweet. Every flippant comment in a pile-on. Every thoughtless share of something you never verified. Legally speaking, defamation laws… especially in the United States… set a pretty high bar. Falsehood, fault, and provable harm all have to be demonstrated. Plenty of destructive speech slips through that net untouched. But God’s standard isn’t limited to what can be prosecuted. He doesn’t just ask, “Could they sue you?” He asks, “Did that word bear good fruit? Did it reflect truth, love of neighbor, and reverence for Me?” Something can be legally safe and still be spiritually deadly. Earthly courts might shrug. Heaven doesn’t. A Culture That Thrives on Lies Look around and you’ll notice something unsettling: our age doesn’t just tolerate falsehood… it often rewards it. Entire platforms run on outrage and narrative. An influencer’s influence grows faster when controversy is stirred. Reputation becomes a tool to manipulate rather than a trust to protect. History offers plenty of examples of powerful people or institutions destroying inconvenient voices through smear campaigns. Today, that same instinct plays out in real time online. Deplatforming, coordinated pile-ons, fake reviews, anonymous hit jobs… they’ve become standard tactics. And when you feel like you’re swimming in a sea of distortion and accusation, you’re not imagining it. You’re living in a culture where false witness is a strategy. Christians and the Digital Mob Here’s where things get tricky. Civil law sometimes recognizes online defamation, but proving it can be expensive and exhausting. Anonymous accounts vanish. Platforms hide behind legal protections. Many believers wonder whether to fight back or quietly endure. Scripture offers a balanced view. On one hand, God’s law treated false witness as a serious offense deserving real consequences. Public justice mattered. On the other hand, Jesus warned His followers not to expect fairness from corrupt systems, and Paul cautioned against dragging disputes into hostile courts when nothing good would come of it. So there are moments to pursue justice… especially when others are being harmed and truth can be clearly established. And there are moments to step back, refuse to feed the spectacle, and entrust your name to the One who sees everything. What’s never an option is getting paid to slander. Or in joining the attack squad. Christians don’t get to throw stones just because everyone else is. When Truth Isn’t Slander Of course, not all negative speech is sinful. Scripture itself contains strong warnings and sharp rebukes. Prophets confronted kings. Apostles exposed false teachers. Jesus called out hypocrisy. Truth sometimes requires uncomfortable words. The difference lies in motive and method. Slander twists facts to harm; truthful warning sticks to reality and aims to protect. Slander delights in destruction; godly speech grieves over wrongdoing. Slander strips away context; righteous correction insists on the full picture. Sometimes (not always) the wisest path is private conversation with responsible people rather than public spectacle. And sometimes the audience online isn’t interested in truth at all… they just want drama. In those moments, speaking less can actually honor truth more. Yep, speak when protection or clarity demands it. When the true story needs to be told. But don’t confuse a love of drama with a love of truth. Escaping the Prison of Falsehood False witness doesn’t only trap its victims; it traps its creators. When someone builds a life on exaggerations, half-truths, or weaponized narratives, they end up living inside their own distorted world. At first, it feels powerful. They get to shape the story, decide who’s good and who’s evil. But over time, that world becomes a prison. Admitting truth would mean admitting wrong. Pride resists. So the story gets reinforced with more distortion. Freedom slips further away. That’s why Scripture ties freedom so closely to truth. A life anchored in reality doesn’t need spin to survive. It doesn’t need to tear others down to feel secure. It produces words that build rather than break. Online, that looks surprisingly simple: Pausing before sharing something “juicy.” Stepping out of a dogpile instead of joining it. Owning your mistakes when you’ve repeated something false. It’s quiet obedience in a loud world. But every non-idle word matters. Choosing a Different Kind of Witness Every time you log on, you step into a kind of courtroom. Your posts, comments, and messages all go on record somewhere deeper than any platform’s server. In that light, the ancient warning against being a talebearer sounds startlingly modern. You can join the current of digital slander, where accusation becomes conviction and suspicion passes for proof. Or you can take the harder road… checking facts, weighing words, guarding someone’s name even when it costs you attention or approval. In a culture that feeds on lies, careful truthfulness has become almost revolutionary. And every time you choose words that reveal truth instead of falsehood or words that heal instead of harm, you push back… quietly but powerfully… against the wildfire.