A Righteous Person Always Gives The Benefit Of The Doubt To The Accused

Proverbs 11:9a, “An hypocrite with his mouth destroyeth his neighbour...”

There are many evil allegations today floating around on the internet, and in the churches, and in the Bible colleges, about preachers. The accusations are horrifying to say the least! However, I do not believe rumors, allegations or slander without proof to substantiate it. Much of the slander on the internet is mere hateful speculation. It is sinful to assume that a report is true without solid proof to back it up! It doesn't matter how circumstantial the evidence may be, that does not establish guilt of wrongdoing or a crime. We live in an ungodly culture of gossip and criticism in America, where people automatically believe what they hear without proof.

When someone is accused, I don't want to take sides or help spread the manure. The world loves to find reports of clergy sinning, to condemn and hurt the cause of Christ. Anyone can say anything about anyone, but that doesn't make it true! A righteous person always give an accused person the full benefit of the doubt until proven guilty of wrongdoing! An accused person ought never have to prove their innocence, which is utterly impossible.

The Devil's crowd fully understand that the best way to destroy a man, whether he be a politician or a minister, is to destroy his credibility. Once you destroy a man's credibility his message is also diminished. Satan has been using that M.O. (method of operation) since the beginning of time! Unfortunately, this is not that difficult to do. All you need is for anyone (and I mean literally anyone) to make an allegation, have a local newspaper print the allegation as an unsubstantiated fact, which then becomes a citable news source (as if it were a substantiated fact). I mean, after all, if it's printed in a local newspaper it must carry some merit, right? WRONG! Don't be so naïve if you think that.

Pastor Jack Hyles was right when he said that the only thing you can believe from the newspaper is the date! Thomas Jefferson said that the man who reads nothing is more educated than the man who reads nothing but newspaper! Ain't it the truth!

I have been watching the program Forensic Files, which is fascinating. I am amazed how police detectives are able to use science to catch evildoers. It is truly amazing. DNA is nothing short of a God-send for catching criminals today, and I praise God for it! In one episode, a little girl was abducted and murdered. When police questioned the girl's mother for over 9 hours, she seemed unemotional, cold and lacking the kind of passion that you'd expect to see from a grieving mother. So the mother was a prime suspect in her daughter's murder. It turned out later that the mother was completely innocent, and police had made a wrong judgment.

I've watched over 100 episodes so far of the Forensic Files, and I have learned much about people on both sides of the law. In countless cases, police jumped to erroneous conclusions based upon circumstantial evidence, and were later proven wrong! It just goes to show that you must be very careful about judging people based upon what seems to be the truth. There are numerous pastors who have been accused in recent years of horrible crimes, without proof to substantiate those allegations. Until proven guilty in a court of law, I am not going to assume anything about anyone who has been accused. What if it were you being accused?

In literally a few dozen episodes of Forensic Files (you can watch them for yourself and you'll see what I say is true), professional detectives (who do this for a living) thought they had “overwhelming evidence” of a suspect being guilty of a crime, just to be proven wrong later. Detectives were so confident that a particular young man was guilty that they repeated the DNA test, thinking that he was surely guilty, but he was proven to be 100% innocent! My point is that it is dangerous, unethical, wrong and sinful to ASSUME guilt! You listen to me carefully—“overwhelming evidence” is not the fact of guilt! No one has a right to destroy somebody's life based upon “overwhelming evidence”! That is ungodly. If you have “overwhelming evidence,” the accused has every God-given right to see it!

“When someone does something wrong, make it a point to never forget all the things they did right.” —Pastor Bob Gray Sr.

You Can Still Do What You Always Could Do
(MP3, Dr. Jack Hyles; A pastor is a position, not a calling. You can forfeit a position, but never your calling to preach!)

Here are some very helpful words from one of my favorite preachers and mentors, Pastor Bob Gray Sr. ...

Judging The Appearance Of Evil

We are to abstain from the appearance of evil as Christians. However, if someone does not abstain from the appearance of evil, we are not to make a judgment on that appearance. We may warn if we are the authority, but we must not judge. We are never to judge according to the appearance. John 7:24, “Judge not according to the appearance, but judge righteous judgment.”

We are to judge according to the facts. Never convict people because it appears that they have done something wrong. This is what causes much of the trouble in churches.

May I introduce you to the word “mercy,” which in Scripture always comes before the word “truth.” Mercy is “not judging without truth.” Truth is what you judge. Justice is when you, if the authority, punish for what you KNOW has been done not what you suspect has been done. Mercy never judges by appearance. Proverbs 20:28, “Mercy and truth preserve the king and his throne is upholden by mercy.”

Let me give you five statements that relate to this truth. 

1. We must have righteous judgment. 
2. None is righteous, as we read in Romans 3:10, “As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one.”
3. So we cannot judge the inside. I Samuel 16:7 says that God looks on the heart. Man cannot look upon the heart, so man cannot judge the heart. That means that man cannot judge motives. It is time for us too quit judging people’s motives.
4. God is the final judge.
5.  We can judge only what we KNOW, and that is not the inside or the unknown.

SOURCE: Dr. Bob Gray Sr., “Judging The Appearance of Evil”

Amen! We are living in a generation of sinful critics, who unjustly usurp the roles of judge, jury and executioner! As Brother Gray rightly said, “mercy is not judging without truth.” Mercy is withholding judgment in the absence of truth. If we don't know the truth, we ought keep our mouths shut and not judge anyone! I have read horrible accusations online against faithful men of God, based merely upon speculation and unfounded rumors. That is very sinful to do! The allegations may in fact be true, but we don't know, do we?

Admittedly in some cases, where allegations have been made against a certain preacher, I tend to think the accusations are true; but since I don't KNOW FOR SURE, I am commanded by God in the Scripture to assume the person's innocence. What saith the Scripture? Deuteronomy 19:15, “One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established.” In the Bible one person was not allowed to accuse another person, to protect the innocent. Think about what would happen if just one person could accuse anyone of anything, and the authorities punished the accused accordingly? Sadly, this is where America is at today.

Jesus Was Falsely Accused And Assumed Guilty

The ungodly Pharisees hated the Lord and conspired against Him. They were continually looking for ways to trap Him, to accuse Him, but could not find anything to do so. So ultimately the Pharisees falsely accused our innocent Savior, having Him crucified on a cross...

Luke 6:7, “And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him.”

John 18:29-30, “Pilate then went out unto them, and said, What accusation bring ye against this man? They answered and said unto him, If he were not a malefactor, we would not have delivered him up unto thee.”

As we just read, the Pharisees couldn't give Pilate a legitimate reason to want Jesus killed, so they made excuses and remained vague in their words. Pilate interrogated the Lord and found no fault in Him, declaring Him innocent for the sake of conscience...

John 19:4, “Pilate therefore went forth again, and saith unto them, Behold, I bring him forth to you, that ye may know that I find no fault in him.”

The Pharisees persisted to falsely accuse the Lord. There was no law of which they spoke, that condemned the Messiah to die. There were laws against idolatry, but Jesus was telling the truth as the Son of God. ...

John 19:7-8, “The Jews answered him, We have a law, and by our law he ought to die, because he made himself the Son of God. When Pilate therefore heard that saying, he was the more afraid.”

So the ungodly Pharisees stooped low and falsely accused the Lord of political sedition, as being a threat to Caesar their emperor...

John 19:12, “And from thenceforth Pilate sought to release him: but the Jews cried out, saying, If thou let this man go, thou art not Caesar's friend: whosoever maketh himself a king speaketh against Caesar.”

And so their evil false accusations succeeded, and the innocent Savior was crucified for a guilty human race. The Lamb of God was slain for the sins of the whole world, and the sins of those wicked Pharisees who lied about Him.

I am not defending anyone who sins or commits a crime, God forbid. There have been many accusations of “cover-ups” in Baptist churches today. May I truthfully say: 

• Fundamentalism has a problem with cover-ups
• Catholicism has a problem with cover-ups
• Evangelicalism has a problem with cover-ups
• Politics has a problem with cover-ups
• Hollywood has a problem with cover-ups
• Business world has a problem with cover-ups
• News media has a problem with cover-ups
• Professional Athletics has a problem with cover-ups
• Higher Education has a problem with cover-ups
• Medical profession has a problem with cover-ups

Wouldn't it just be easier to say, depraved mankind has a problem with cover-ups?

I did not write this article to defend the guilty, but to teach you dear reader the Biblical truth that we ought never ASSUME guilt for any reason, until the FACT OF GUILT has been established by the proper authority. And then, unless it is our place of jurisdiction to do something about it, we ought not condemn that person, lest we invoke the wrath of God against our self, for we are all woeful sinners. We are not the jury. We are not the judge. We are not the executioner. We are vulnerable, susceptible, guilty sinners just like the fallen. 1st Timothy 5:24, “Some men's sins are open beforehand, going before to judgment; and some men they follow after.”

Matthew 7:1-3, “Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?”

Don't judge others because they sin differently than you do! And may I say, I really hate the Fighting Fundamental Forum website, I would not want to be that ungodly website owner when I stand before God, for hosting a cesspool of iniquity—a sewer hole of hate-mongers and unjust critics, an online tavern of hatred, a casino of slander, and a whorehouse of condemnation! Shame on any idle pastor who posts gossip, wastes his time, and hangs out in that hellhole!

Revelation 12:10 calls Satan “the accuser of the brethren.” Slandering others, assuming guilt, being unjustly critical, gossiping with good intentions, and spreading hurtful rumors—are all part of the carnal flesh, which is at enmity against the Lord's Holy Spirit. Carnal people love to instigate. They love to get that hot information to someone to upset them, to cause fireworks between people, and ruin friendships, to create distrust and resentment and hatred of others. They use the foolish reasoning, “This person has a right to know,” when i reality they truly don't need to know anything.

One of my favorite preachers, Pastor J. Vernon McGee (1904-1988), tells an intriguing story in his commentary on the book of Zephaniah. The MP3 is titled: Zephaniah: The Dark Side Of God's Love—a story that at first seems surely dark, creepy and horrifying, which turns out to be a wonderful story of love. I think this is an excellent illustration of how oftentimes we can prematurely draw the wrong conclusions, and make faulty assumptions, simply because of our human frailties and lack of omniscience (as possesses our great God). Therefore, the only safe rule to live by is to always give the benefit of the doubt to others, especially when accused of a sin or crime. Let him that hath ears to hear, hear. (By the way, here is a webpage I made for the book of Zephaniah, featuring the audio commentary of Pastor J. Vernon McGee.)

What saith the Scripture? ...

Ephesians 4:30-32, “And grieve not the holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of redemption. Let all bitterness, and wrath, and anger, and clamour, and evil speaking, be put away from you, with all malice: And be ye kind one to another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ's sake hath forgiven you.”