Jeremiah 20:10, commentary and pictures

Jeremiah was surrounded by widespread slander and danger while delivering God's message, with people urging one another to denounce him. Even his close companions watched for any misstep or weakness, hoping to lure him into error so they could overcome him and take revenge. The cry to report and repeat exposes the sin of talebearing, eagerly passing along damaging reports to create a sensation and feed a corrupt appetite that deadens spiritual discernment. Its method is to catch every trifling incident and exaggerate it until character is injured, driven by a hostile eagerness to gain advantage and discredit, which does Satan's work, poisons minds, separates friends and destroys unity and courage. Instead believers are to test conversation by whether it gives spiritual help, speaking less and praying more, closing the mind to hearsay, going directly to the person concerned, and kindly restoring in meekness and love.

Jeremiah Surrounded By Hostility

Jeremiah spoke God's message in the midst of widespread defaming from many, with fear on every side, in an atmosphere of mockery, slander and real danger. Those opposed to him called upon one another to denounce him, saying in effect report him and the report will be repeated. Spreading reports about him became the common hostile work against him.

Even his familiars, his close companions, watched for his halting, for any stumble, mistake or weakness. They watched with intent to entice him or lure him into error. Their aim in watching was to prevail against him, to overcome and defeat him, and to take revenge upon him.

The pressure of defamation and hostile watching did not silence him, because the word of God within him compelled him to speak. The same opposition still meets God's servants when they reprove wrongdoing, expose corrupt principles, and speak against injustice and perverted judgment. David in adversity was confronted by the same kind of hostile talk, when adversaries spread reports and accusations and watched to exploit his weakness for revenge, adding to his suffering with charges beyond what he was guilty of.

Talebearing Condemned And Corrected

The cry to report and have it reported again lays bare the sin of tale-bearing, when people urge one another to spread reports and eagerly pass along damaging matter. It is repeating what is heard in order to create a sensation, feeding a corrupt appetite for scandal that harms religious experience. Such eagerness marks lack of spiritual discernment and distance from God.

Its method is to watch with open mind and ears to catch flying scandal, gathering up little incidents that may be trifling in themselves. Those trifles are then repeated and exaggerated until character is damaged and a man is made an offender for a word. Repeated reports in this cycle become distorted and lead to wrong conclusions.

Its motive is watching for another's halting or failure in order to gain power and advantage, to prevail and take revenge. What is pure and good in others is ignored while what is objectionable is collected and published. This is done with suspicious, hostile eagerness to discredit, stirring up fault-finding and envious criticism as seen against Battle Creek and its workers, and gathering and circulating false reports to stir suspicion against others.

This work destroys unity among believers and does Satan's work with surprising fidelity, and it is offensive to God. Whispered hints poison unsuspecting minds and separate close friends, while mischievous gossip sows suspicion, disaffection and division in the church. Evil spreads like leaven from such malicious gossip, as from a mother and daughter.

It injures the innocent and destroys courage and usefulness through gossip, slander and vindictive scrutiny. The eager tongue defames even when it knows it may destroy the hope and courage of people already burdened. When church members talk and complain against burdened workers and those carrying heavy responsibilities in institutions, it adds to their discouragement and workload and creates distrust and jealousy.

The verse therefore tests conversation by whether it gives spiritual help and strengthens spiritual life. Those who gossip more than they pray show they have not been sanctified through the truth, and remembering that an angel records words should lead to speaking less and praying more. The door of the mind should be closed against hearsay in the form of they say or I have heard, and against jealousy and evil surmising. Instead of nurturing suspicion, one should examine his own heart, go directly to the person to learn if a charge is true, and after frankly but kindly setting before brethren the things heard detrimental to their character and influence, pray with and for them in the spirit of meekness and love that thinks no evil and is not easily provoked. Parents must not allow gossip to be repeated at home nor permit disparaging remarks about church members.

The same position appears when conference presidents, ministers and workers join in questioning and criticizing the testimonies, using influence to unsettle the faith of the churches. It appears in circulating false reports to unsettle faith and turn people against God's work and messengers, and in collecting remarks from disaffected people to discredit faithful messengers with false or scandalous claims. It appeared in jealous faultfinding about Battle Creek and its workers, and when one family watched another for wrongs unworthy of notice, as Brother Wheeler's family watched Brother Abbey's family and treated them as offenders over a word, in contrast to the early years when little of this work was done. To stand crying report means watching for halting, relating reports and stories calculated to distract and unsettle minds, speaking against God's instruments and against revealed light, and by false reports presenting truth in a wrong light to prejudice minds against the third angel's message. Those who do this are not sent by God and do not know whom they serve; Satan uses them to throw minds into confusion and to scatter and divide, and unless they change course and cherish the light they will be left to follow their own imperfect judgment until they make shipwreck of faith and become a warning to those who go independent of the body.