A Turn from Slander – Your Turning Point
The Culture War: A Turn from Slander
Together Church | Pastor Jerry Wells
October 5, 2025 | Series: Your Turning Point
https://youtu.be/E6cgmsz4Zkg?si=BKBIwMb-XgqdLetq
Introduction
There is a cultural war being fought in our country. There has never
been a cultural war like this one since the civil war. Unfortunately,
one of the evil weapons being used in this cultural war is slander.
What is slander?
Slander is the act of making a false spoken statement about someone
that damages their reputation.
It falls under the broader category of defamation, which refers to any
false communication that harms a person’s character or standing in
the community.
We are living during a time in American cultural where the proliferation
of evil slanderous accusations is being weaponized by both political
parties to discredit the other party.
Slander is linked in the scripture with violence.
Psalms 31:13
13 For I hear the slander of many; fear is on every side; while they take
counsel together against me, they scheme to take away my life.
NKJV
Ezekiel 22:9 — “In you are slanderous men bent on shedding blood.”
Fallen unstable human beings minds have been radicalized by
slanderous accusations in the media, social media, and certain groups
on social media to believe they are doing a good deed by killing
certain people or groups of people.
Members of both the democratic and republic parties in the USA have
been killed because of slander. I have read statements by republicans
where they have called democrats communists. Charlie Kirk was
called a homophobic-transphobic-misogynist-raciest-fascist
hatemonger. Slander through social media cost him his life. And he is
still being slandered on social media by those deceived people who
justify his murder.
In American today, if you have a biblical worldview, follow Jesus, and
publicly proclaim the truth of God’s Word, being slandered is
inevitable. And if you are slandered, you are in danger. You are not
2
just risking being rejected if you share your beliefs. You are risking
your life if you publicly share your beliefs.
Because of slander, you are now risking your life by attending a public
worship service with any group that adheres to Jeduo Christian ethics.
Beginning with Columbine, we became aware that parents are risking
their child’s life by sending them to public schools. But now, you are
risking your child’s life by sending them to a religious school. 40 years
ago we did not need or have security training for security personnel for
our churches and schools. Last week, I told the chairman of our
deacons, Greg Werner, that because of this sermon series which we
are promoting on social media, our security level for our church needs
to be at it’s highest level whatever that looks like.
And if you are still living like a goose with your head in the sand, I
want to encourage you to pull your head out of the sand and become
like a navy seal with your head on a swivel, always aware of your
surroundings.
My 21-year-old granddaughter attends OU. She is an outspoken
Christian to other college students. She just got her concealed carry
license last week and I am so grateful that she understands the times
and lives with her head on a swivel.
In addition to being alert to this dangerous situation in our American
culture caused by slander, as disciples of Jesus we should be
determined that we are not being a part of the problem.
Let me be clear. We must speak the truth in love. We must call sin,
sin for those who are lost to see their need for a savior. In Matthew 23
Jesus publicly called self-righteous sinners hypocrites, fools, blind,
bind guides, extortionists, serpents, a brood of vipers, and white
washed sepulchers.
Paul said this about lost sinners.
Romans 3:10-18
10 As it is written: "There is none righteous, no, not one;
11 There is none who understands; There is none who seeks after
God.
12 They have all turned aside; They have together become
unprofitable; There is none who does good, no, not one."
13 "Their throat is an open tomb; With their tongues they have
practiced deceit"; "The poison of asps is under their lips";
14 "Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness."
15 "Their feet are swift to shed blood;
16 Destruction and misery are in their ways;
17 And the way of peace they have not known."
3
18 "There is no fear of God before their eyes."
NKJV
There is a social gospel that is being preached in many churches that
is very popular that is not the gospel of Jesus Christ. Those people in
the church that believe we can effectively preach the gospel without
using such harsh language about sin and sinners and their fallen
spiritual condition and their future destiny are deceived.
But with regards to the sin of slander, Jesus said His disciples should
be the salt of the earth and the light of the world.
Jesus fulfilled the law so that our sins could be forgiven. But He also
fulfilled the law so that the law can be fulfilled in His people. We are
not just forgiven sinners under grace. Because of His grace, we are
born again of His Spirit. We have a new spirit and a new heart. God’s
law is written on our heart. We have been given a new identity. We
are children of God. Paul said this about sin…
Romans 6:1-4
1 What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin that grace may
abound?
2 Certainly not! How shall we who died to sin live any longer in it?
3 Or do you not know that as many of us as were baptized into Christ
Jesus were baptized into His death?
4 Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into death, that
just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even
so we also should walk in newness of life.
NKJV
So if the laws of God have been written on our heart, what does God
law say about the sin of slander?
Exodus 20:16
16 "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
NKJV
Leviticus 19:16 — “Do not go about spreading slander among your
people.”
Psalm 101:5
5 Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, Him I will destroy; The one
who has a haughty look and a proud heart, Him I will not endure.
NKJV
Proverbs 10:18
18 Whoever hides hatred has lying lips, And whoever spreads slander
is a fool.
4
NKJV
Ephesians 4:31 — “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor
and slander be put away from you.”
1 Peter 2:1 — “Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit,
hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind.”
1 Timothy 3:11
11 Likewise, their wives must be reverent, not slanderers, temperate,
faithful in all things.
NKJV
Titus 2:3
3 the older women likewise, that they be reverent in behavior, not
slanderers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things —
NKJV
2 Timothy 3:1-5
3 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come:
2 For men will be lovers of themselves, lovers of money, boasters,
proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy,
3 unloving, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, brutal,
despisers of good,
4 traitors, headstrong, haughty, lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of
God,
5 having a form of godliness but denying its power. And from such
people turn away!
NKJV
In the bible, there are two Greek words that are commonly translated
slander in English. One is Blasphemos from which we get our word
blasphemy. Slander is blaspheming the character of another person.
The other is Diabolos from which we get our word diabolical. Diabolos
is also translated devil.
Slander is being like the devil, and it is incompatible with Christian
character. It is the opposite of loving people and it is not who we are
if we are born again of God’s Spirit.
As disciples of Jesus we should be determined that we are going to
put off the sin of slander and be salt and light in this world, a city set
on a hill.
5
Perhaps, you are thinking slander is not a major problem in Christ’s
church?
I was naïve like you when I was 22 years old. But it did not take long
to change my mind after I graduated from seminary and became a full
time staff member at a church.
I cannot believe they did not have a class to prepare me for this
problem when I was attending seminary to be a Pastor. Like I said, I
was very naive.
The vast majority of slander I have ever personally experienced in my
life has come from church members and that includes members of my
church, other pastors in my denomination, former members of my
church, church members from our community, members of my own
family, and hundreds of unknown church members or former church
members on my Facebook account. I have been publicly called anti-
American, a heretic, a cult leader, a home breaker, a liar, a terrible
parent, and a supporter of pedophiles. One man said I was responsible
for the death of my wife. It has damaged my reputation in ways that I
could never repair and cost me many opportunities to share the truth
with others.
To sanctify ourselves means to set ourselves apart with the truth. It
means to commit ourselves to put off a particular sin.
1 Peter 3:15-17
15 But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to
give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is
in you, with meekness and fear;
16 having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers,
those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.
17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than
for doing evil.
NKJV
It is interesting what the Holy Spirit of God uses to cause God’s people
to repent and sanctify themselves to the Lord.
Sometimes He just uses the preaching of the Word.
Sometimes He awakens us to our need to sanctify ourselves by
making us aware of the pain that we have caused God and others
by our sin.
Sometimes He awakens us to our need to sanctify ourselves by
making us aware of the pain that we have caused ourselves.
Sometimes He awakens us to our need to sanctify ourselves by
the pain that the sin of others has caused us.
Being slandered by members of the church has caused me more
emotional pain than any other sin I have ever experienced and more
sleepless nights than I can count.
6
After it happened to me a number of times when I was a youth Pastor
in 1982-1984, it caused me such emotional pain, I determined that I
was going to sanctify myself to the Lord by putting off slander. I also
determined that I was not going to allow other believers to slander
someone in my presence.
Body
Has the Holy Spirit awakened you to your need to put off the sin of
slander?
If He has not, I pray that He will.
If He has, I want to share with you a few truths that you must apply to
put off this particular sin.
To put off slander….
1. You must find your identity in Christ.
Galatians 2:20-21
20 I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but
Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by
faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.
21 I do not set aside the grace of God; for if righteousness comes
through the law, then Christ died in vain."
NKJV
Galatians 5:16
16 I say then: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the lust of the
flesh.
NKJV
All sin is the result of the flesh and its desires.
Paul said…
Romans 7:5
5 For when we were in the flesh, the sinful passions which were
aroused by the law were at work in our members to bear fruit to death.
NKJV
Being “in the flesh” means to find your identity in the flesh and
it’s desires.
Being “in the flesh” means to determine who you are by your
flesh and its desires.
Being “in the flesh” means to find what gives your life
significance, security, and meaning in the desires of your flesh.
If you are finding your identity in the flesh and by that I mean finding
your significance, your security, and your meaning in life in the desires
7
of your flesh, you will naturally slander others that you perceive as a
threat to your identity.
Slander is an attempt to tear other people down to validate who you
are to yourself, to a group of people, to a cause that you believe will
give your life meaning, or a person that you want to love you. Slander
is completely self-serving.
The only way to stop being self-serving is to be born again of the Spirit
of God and find your identity in Christ. To find your identity in Christ
means you find your significance, your security, and your meaning in
life from being everything that God says about you. As a result, there
is nothing that can threaten your identity and you are free to put off
slander. You are free to love others, even those who slander you.
Examples: Leroy Lay and Joe Atkinson
I assure you that if you start living by faith in your new identity in
Christ, you will be free to put off slander.
To put off slander, you must find your identity in Christ and…
2. You must forgive anyone who has offended you.
Ephesians 4:29-32
29 Let no corrupt word proceed out of your mouth, but what is good for
necessary edification, that it may impart grace to the hearers.
30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed
for the day of redemption.
31 Let all bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, and evil speaking be put
away from you, with all malice.
32 And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another,
even as God in Christ forgave you.
NKJV
If you are in Christ, you still live in the flesh with its desires, but it is
your nature to forgive others.
Forgiveness is something you should do because being forgiving is
who you are!
As a Christian, you can still choose to find your identity in your flesh.
And if you do, it is natural for you to return evil for evil, slander for
slander. It is natural for you to hold onto a grudge to satisfy the lust
for vengeance in your flesh.
There is no sin that will compromise your testimony as a disciple of
Jesus more than unforgiveness and being malicious to others. The
8
moment you decide to hold a personal grudge against someone is the
moment that you have become bitter and you grieve the Holy Spirit.
Forgiveness is releasing the sin debt that someone owes you just like
God did for you. When this happens it frees you to be a blessing to
those who have hurt you, even those who slander you.
Jesus is our example of forgiveness. Listen to what Peter said.
1 Peter 2:21-25
21 For to this you were called, because Christ also suffered for us,
leaving us an example, that you should follow His steps:
22 "Who committed no sin, Nor was deceit found in His mouth";
23 who, when He was reviled, did not revile in return; when He
suffered, He did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who
judges righteously;
24 who Himself bore our sins in His own body on the tree, that we,
having died to sins, might live for righteousness — by whose stripes
you were healed.
25 For you were like sheep going astray, but have now returned to the
Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.
NKJV
Forgiveness is the most obvious characteristic of people who are born
again of the Spirit of God.
There is not another command that Jesus said would more
characterize what it means for His disciples to love others than
forgiveness.
And it is because of the forgiveness that Jesus demonstrated that
many people believed in Him.
And this is what will happen in your life if you forgive others. Others
will believe in Jesus because they see Hi forgiveness in you.
At her husband’s memorial service, Erika Kirk made an astonishing
announcement that delivered a serious blow to every principality,
power, ruler, and spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.
She said about this about the young man that killed her husband, “I
forgive him.”
Since there were millions of people watching from all over the world,
in that moment in time, she could have been the greatest single
witness in the world to the power of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Disciples of Jesus forgive those who abuse us. It is who we are and it
is what we do.
9
If you are going to put off slander, you must forgive.
To put off slander, you must find your identity in Christ, forgive others,
and…..
3. You must follow the commands of Jesus regarding conflict
resolution.
As disciples of Jesus, Jesus commands us to practice what we call
biblical conflict resolution in our small groups.
Matthew 18:15-20
15 "Moreover if your brother sins against you, go and tell him his fault
between you and him alone. If he hears you, you have gained your
brother.
16 But if he will not hear, take with you one or two more, that ‘by the
mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established.’
17 And if he refuses to hear them, tell it to the church. But if he
refuses even to hear the church, let him be to you like a heathen and a
tax collector.
18 "Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound
in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
19 "Again I say to you that if two of you agree on earth concerning
anything that they ask, it will be done for them by My Father in heaven.
20 For where two or three are gathered together in My name, I am
there in the midst of them."
NKJV
If someone in the church is sharing gossip or slander with you, you
need to remind them about who they are in Christ and direct them to
follow what Jesus says in Matthew 18:15-18. This tends to stop gossip
and slander from spreading in the church. You can even offer to go
with them to the person who has offended them after they have taken
the first step if they do not get the resolution they desire.
If someone in the church has sinned against you, before you share
their sin with anyone else, you need to do what Jesus said in Matthew
18:15-18 to resolve the conflict.
As disciples of Jesus, we should not be easily offended and there are
some sins that we can just forgive and move on without confrontation.
We are all immature in our obedience to God in specific ways. For
example, someone is late for a meeting with you. Or someone
neglects you in some way. But if that offense rises to the level of
damaging your trust in that person, you need to go to them and talk to
them about it. This would certainly be true of more egregious sins.
To put off slander, you must follow the commands of Jesus in Matthew
18:15-18.
10
Conclusion
To put off slander you must…
Find your identity in Christ
Forgive
Follow the commands of Jesus to resolve conflict
The Christian culture of our church has gotten a lot better over the last
15 years with regards to gossip and slander. But we need to keep in
mind that there is nothing that can destroy the unity of a church like
gossip and slander. The future effectiveness of our church depends
upon whether or not our church has a Christian culture that rejects
gossip and slander.
Invitation
Will you be courageous and commit yourself to take a stand for the
truth no matter what it cost you?
Will you be courageous and sanctify yourself to the Lord and
determine that you are going to put off the sin of slander? Will you put
off slander by…
Finding your identity in Christ
Forgiving
Following the commands of Jesus to resolve conflict
Will you receive the Lord Jesus for the forgiveness of sin and be born again of the Spirit of God?