This message was given at Collegiate Reformed Fellowship in Moscow, Idaho on October 29, A.D. 2026. Note: The article graphic is inspired by a true protestor and his fun sign.
Defining Slander
Before we consider how to handle slander against your church community, we should first define what slander is. What is slander?
Slander consists of false statements or charges about a person or group that harm their reputation. To slander someone, then, is to speak and spread lies regarding them.
According to God’s Word, slander is a sin. Slander is a breaking of the ninth commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Ex. 20:16). Later on in Leviticus, we have a law directly naming slander, “You shall not go about as a talebearer (ESV: slanderer) among your people” (Lev. 19:16a).
And so it’s important to note three things regarding slander before we talk about responding to it.
First, you can participate in slander without necessarily knowing that what you are spreading is false. There are many people who go about as slanderers, speaking false statements, that truly believe what they are saying. But that does not change the fact that what they are stating is untrue.
Second, slander is not simply statements or claims that you do not like or wish were untrue. If somebody says, “Did you know that a Christ Church deacon went to prison for possessing child pornography?” Or “I heard about a sexual abuse case involving members of that church”—that is unfortunately not slander. The incidents are lamentable. They are really sad and awful and horrific. I hate even having to repeat them. But they are not untrue. What would be untrue is often what comes next: that our churches welcome such activities, defend them, shelter them, or grossly mishandle them. No, we don’t. Our ministers and elders deal with sin head on—even really bad sin.
Lastly, slander isn't simply repeating topics or items that are controversial in our current cultural climate. If someone says, “That church wants Moscow to become a Christian town!” the answer is not, “How dare you slander us,” but actually, “Yes, you’re quite right. Can I tell you what we mean by that, though?” The same goes with anything regarding homosexuality, abortion, patriarchy, or you name it—they might hate our positions. They might misrepresent them, which could lead to slander. But simply stating, “That church opposes gay marriage,” is not slanderous. And you should be willing to own any controversial position, provided that it is biblical. There are all sorts of things that both Christians and non-Christians might disagree with us about, but the fact that they might strongly disagree with does not make them guilty of slander.
So with that understanding of what we’re talking about, I’d like to now address how to respond to slander—and we will consider slander from two different directions—both unbelievers and then from fellow believers.
Slander from Unbelievers
In Romans 1:28–32 we read,
“And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s righteous decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them.”
Here the Apostle Paul is speaking regarding unbelievers, who, although surrounded by evidence of God, have suppressed the truth in unrighteousness. And he says that one of the sins that they commit is that of slander.
Slander is a mark of an unbeliever. Slander involves lying, and Satan is the father of lies. And so you should not be surprised when unbelievers, those who do not believe in God and, in a very real sense, hate God, slander His people. They do not fear God, therefore, they do not honor or respect His people.
As our Lord Jesus once taught,
“If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you” (Jn. 15:18–20a).
A servant is not greater than his Master.
Being hated by the world is part of the Christian life. It is what you have signed up for. It’s in the terms of your job description. To be a Christian is to be identified with Christ—and what did the world do with Him? They slandered Him. And they crucified Him.
So you will be slandered. And the question tonight is: how should you respond? What should you do when you see posters on campus denouncing your pastors or your church? When they call you Nazis and pedophiles and cult members? When they protest your meetings? When you are treated differently in class or at work, once they learn you’re one of “those Kirkers”?
The Apostle Peter has an answer. In 1 Peter 3:15–16 we read,
“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; having a good conscience, that when they defame [slander] you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.”
Let’s break this down.
The first thing the Apostle Peter tells you to do is to “sanctify the Lord God in your hearts.” To “sanctify” something is to set it apart, to make it “holy.” So you are to make sure that every day you are rightly ordering your heart. That you are honoring the Lord in all things. That He is preeminent in your lives—that you are actually endeavoring to love and obey Him. If you are not doing this, when troubles come, you will not have a strong footing. You will be easily shaken if you are not grounded and glad in the Lord.
The second thing he says to do is “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” and a “good conscience.” So you are to be prepared to give a response.
Now, this takes wisdom. Not every situation will warrant a verbal reply. There may be times when the most God-honoring thing to do is to ignore someone. But when a moment warrants and allows a response, you want to be ready.
Which means that you should have answers. You do not need to be an expert in the faith or in local church controversies. But you also don’t want to be ignorant. So if there are things that you have heard about or have been brought up to you regarding various controversies, you should not be afraid to ask about them. We, in fact, are not a cult—and Matt and your pastors are happy to have these conversations with you.
Now, note that he says you are to be ready to give a “defense.”
It’s very important to know the difference between giving a defense and being defensive. Those who actively oppose Christ and His church want to lock you into a hostile “us-versus-them” paradigm. And in one sense, that is true. There is a black-and-white distinction in the world between believers and unbelievers.
But if you choose to mirror their anger and hatred, you are playing a losing game. What you want to be able to do, with the help of the Spirit, is to respond seriously, and yet cheerfully. With a light-heartedness. With joy on your face. You want to be emotionally moved toward compassion, not sinful anger. You want to have thick skin, but a tender heart.
Peter says in this passage that when you give a defense of the hope in you—you want it to be done in such a way that “when they slander you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed.” What this means is that as they call you haters and bigots and ugly people and all manner of evil things—you want them to walk away thinking—that person was not like what me and my friends imagined them to be. They were kind. They were happy. They were reasonable. You want to leave them unsettled, not by your stern demeanor, anger, or rhetorical abilities—but by your love and firm conviction.
Now, don’t misunderstand me. There is the seed of the serpent and the seed of the woman. There is the broad way and the narrow way. There is the sinful flesh and the Spirit. And there is the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light.
But we are Christians; we believe in the Good News of Jesus Christ, which means that we actually have hope that, by the power of the Spirit, they can leave the darkness and find freedom in the light of Christ.
Yes, they are our enemies right now, but our Lord delights in saving His enemies.
“But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us… For if when we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by His life” (Rom. 5:8, 10).
Jesus turns His enemies into His friends.
When I was young, I hated Christians. I mocked Christians. I thought they were foolish and hateful. And even as the Lord brought me to faith in high school, I was still all sorts of confused in my theology and ethics. And look at where He placed me now. What am I doing here?
God is kind.
He saved you, right? He had mercy on you. And so when you have these conversations, have them with that goal in mind. You are aiming to win the person, not just the argument. You actually want to be an instrument used by the Lord to win this person over to Christ.
Do not shrink back in fear, avoiding all conversations or confrontation. But also do not let them drag you down into the mud, where you can foolishly sling verbal trash at each other. Rather engage with humility and compassion, earnestly hoping to win over a brother or sister in Christ.
Slander from Believers
Now let’s consider how to respond to slander from fellow believers.
The principles I just mentioned apply straight across—you should be ready to give a defense, and do so with an attitude of joy and love. But there is something unique to this challenge, when the slander is coming from Christians who ought to know better.
I think one of the most helpful passages on this dynamic comes from the Apostle Paul’s epistle to the Philippians.
The Apostle Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians while under house arrest, most likely in Rome. So he is chained to a Roman guard 24/7; he cannot leave, and at the same time he is able to write letters and receive guests.
But there’s something odd going on around Paul in Rome. Some of the believers there, knowing and seeing the Apostle Paul in prison, are emboldened in their witness. It gives them confidence and courage to proclaim Christ. But others did not respond like that at all…
Hear what Paul wrote in Philippians 1:12–18,
“But I want you to know, brethren, that the things which happened to me have actually turned out for the furtherance of the gospel, so that it has become evident to the whole palace guard, and to all the rest, that my chains are in Christ; and most of the brethren in the Lord, having become confident by my chains, are much more bold to speak the word without fear.
Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from goodwill: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”
What we see here is that some believers, Paul actually says most of them, are unified behind him and are emboldened by his ministry and present suffering in prison. These Christians are preaching from goodwill and love. So they see the Apostle Paul suffering; they see him slandered and abused, and they do not shrink away or disassociate with him. Rather, they press forward with boldness.
But he says there was a second group—a minority—who were filled with envy and strife. They preached the gospel for their own gain, with self-ambition, and they even attempted to inflict further harm on the Apostle Paul. Now, we are not given details regarding who these men were or what exactly they were up to beyond this. But there are some important details in this passage that at least give us some insight.
First, notice that the Apostle Paul says they preach the “gospel.” And this is a gospel that he actually rejoices in. So it is the true gospel. One of the Apostle Paul’s chief concerns in his ministry is that the gospel be kept pure. In his letters, he does not hesitate to hit hard at those who would subtract from or add to the gospel of Jesus Christ. We see this in Galatians 1:6–9,
“I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.”
These men were teaching that in order to be justified, Gentiles had to be circumcised. And so later in the letter Paul says he wished these false teachers would just go all the way and mutilate themselves!
This is not how Paul speaks of these brothers with sinful motivations around him in Rome. He seems to acknowledge that their message is the same message he preaches, despite their sins of envy and self-ambition. That is very important to understand. ///
We are also not given a clear picture of how they are attempting to add affliction to Paul’s chains. If they are envious of his ministry, perhaps they are simply seeking to take advantage of his imprisonment to bolster their own positions of leadership. Maybe they are hoping that he would become jealous of their freedom and despair. Or perhaps, in some twisted way, they are hoping that by continuing to preach, Paul would somehow be treated more poorly by the guards.
All of this seems very odd to us, but we must remember that we have a unique position, being able to look back on the Apostle Paul’s office and ministry through the lens of inspired Scripture. But if you put yourselves in the shoes of a Christian in the early church, although Paul ought to have been received as a true apostle, he may have appeared to some as just another traveling preacher or missionary, one encroaching on their “territory,” leading to jealousy.
We are not the Apostle Paul, but we can use this moment in his ministry to give us categories for what we experience. From Paul, we can learn that genuine and true believers, fellow Christians, can and will slander you and your church. Paul says they preach the gospel, although he questions their motives.
Some Christians who oppose your church or repeat slander they have heard are sincere and sweet Christians, who simply have different convictions, are ignorant, have believed false reports, or sometimes are even just cautious and do not want to associate with others that seem to be causing trouble or have issues.
Other Christians who slander are like the ones the Apostle Paul is dealing with while writing Philippians—they are genuine brothers and sisters with serious sin and bad motives.
So how do you respond when it’s not an unbeliever slandering you, but a believer? How should you deal with this reality? And how should you treat them?
The Apostle Paul demonstrates here in Philippians 1 that the proper response is to forget yourselves, with humility, and rejoice that the true gospel is preached in their lives and in their ministries anyway.
Does that shock you?
Hear again what Paul wrote, they “preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains… What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice” (Phil. 1:15, 18). Note that he does not necessarily commend their character or manner of living, but he can commend Christ in their message.
When it comes to opposition to the men, ministries, and churches here in Moscow—the Moscow project that has been sometimes called the “Moscow Mood”—we are very often dealing not simply with unbelievers, but with believers who are willing to slander—whether knowingly or unknowingly.
This applies both locally in town and on campus, and also nationally. There are genuine Christians who have a strong dislike—perhaps even hatred—for our pastors and teaching (for you), and in a very real way they wish us harm. Some of them are not generous or slow to listen, but rather appear to be rather envious and self-promoting. And then you have others, who are well-meaning believers who are simply misinformed or have different doctrinal convictions at the end of the day.
And so you might wonder – what are you to think of their broader ministry? How do you interact with other churches or campus groups that you know want nothing to do with you? On the one hand, they might take occasional swipes at your own pastors and community, and on the other hand, they preach the true gospel, have wonderful ministries, and are doing good work.
I believe Paul’s example here is what you should desire to imitate.
You should praise God—not for anything that you believe and see as sinful or wrongheaded—but you praise Him that Christ is still preached. That the gospel is going forth through the work of these men and women. That people are being saved through the work of their ministries. And that they have churches and student groups filled with fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, who we will spend eternity with.
“What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice.”
You rejoice that Christ is in them and that Christ is preached in their church. You should seek to bless them and encourage them in the Lord, as God gives opportunities. Even if you yourself would not become a member of their church or student ministry for various reasons—you can praise God for His people and the diversity of gifts among us.
One thing that attracted me to Moscow nearly a decade ago was that while I could tell the pastors here had strong convictions and lived them out—there was a true catholic spirit here. There is a true, joyful willingness to work with others, despite any differences. There is a real sense that we’re happy to get along with genuine believers of all kinds. Regardless of what they might think of us, we want to have love and affection toward them as fellow Christians.
So I would encourage you as you’re out and about, as you’re in class and on campus, to not shy away from connecting with students who go to other churches and participate in other student ministries. The most effective way to combat slander from fellow Christians is to be known by them.
Put yourselves in their shoes. You grow up in a fairly normal American evangelical church. You move to town. You start going to one of the evangelical churches or you get involved in one of the larger campus ministries. And then a few weeks or months in, you begin to hear crazy stuff about some guy named Doug Wilson and some people called “Kirkers” (whatever that is). They are a cult buying up all the buildings all over town. They want to make America a theocracy. They don’t let their wives speak and all have dozens of children. They protect pedophiles. They smoke and drink and cuss all the time… I don’t know… whatever it is that people are saying out there.
But you can understand how a well-meaning Christian, with no first-hand knowledge of these people are these churches, could hear that and say, “Doesn’t sound good.” Or, could hear that and say, “That sounds awful. I will warn all my friends and oppose them, because that is not Christ-like.”
But how different would this scenario be if they met you. If they knew who you were. And you were kind, slow to speak, willing to engage, encouraging, and cheerful. It would at the very least cause them to say, “Well, some might be like that, but that’s not how my classmate acts or what they believe.” Or even better, “I’ve heard those things, but after learning more, that is slander. I don’t agree with everything they teach, but they’re Christians who are trying to be faithful…”
My encouragement to you on this front then is to cultivate these relationships with other Christians outside of your circle as the Lord gives you opportunity. And in those conversations and relationships, don’t be defensive, closed off, or proud. Don’t act like you are better than them or know everything. But instead be an open book. Give an answer for why you believe what you believe. Correct them with gentleness and humility when they repeat slander and false accusations.
And be thankful for them.
Whether their slander is ignorant or malicious, you can be like the Apostle Paul, and rejoice that the gospel is still preached. There is enough work to do here in this town and on these campuses that there is no place for envy or rivalry. We want to see Christ and His gospel proclaimed. And so despite any very real differences or disagreements, we can be thankful to God that the gospel is preached by multiple evangelical churches in our otwn every Lord’s Day, and from multiple student groups throughout the week.
Conclusion: Rejoice
In conclusion, I want you to remember this again. Disciples of Jesus have always been reviled and slandered. So when it happens to you, or to your church, or to your student ministry—you should not be surprised. “Indeed, and all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will suffer persecution” (2 Tim. 3:12).
Therefore, our Lord Jesus gave direct instructions to His disciples, and to you, on what to do when it happens. He said, “Blessed are you when they revile and persecute you, and say all kinds of evil against you falsely for My sake. Rejoice and be exceedingly glad, for great is your reward in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Mt. 5:11–12).
When it comes to both unbelievers and believers speaking all sorts of lies regarding you, you need to purpose in your heart to rejoice and be glad—exceedingly glad. Why? Because you have been counted worthy to be identified with Christ, your slandered-Savior. And because your reward in heaven will be great, if you persevere through such opposition with joy.
The Apostle Peter wrote similarly, saying that when a fiery trial comes upon you, you are to “rejoice to the extent that you partake of Christ’s sufferings, that when His glory is revealed, you may also be glad with exceeding joy. If you are reproached for the name of Christ, blessed are you, for the Spirit and glory of God rests upon you” (1 Pet. 4:12–13).
When you are slandered, the Spirit and glory of God rests on you. You might not understand how the Lord will use their wicked lies for good. But you know your God, you know the truth, and that no one can stand against Him and His purposes in this town.