There’s a popular analogy often used when explaining the destructive nature of gossip and slander. It goes like this: Imagine taking a feather pillow to the top of a tall building, cutting it open, and shaking it in the wind. Feathers fly everywhere—scattered far and wide. And try as you might, you could never recover them all. That’s how gossip works. Once it’s released, there’s no gathering it back.
It’s a powerful picture. Words, once spoken, especially those aimed at someone’s character, take on a life of their own. They float through conversations, drift into judgments, and settle into minds that may never question where they came from or whether they were true. The damage is real—and often irreversible.
But let me offer you a practical response to that analogy.
I don’t chase feathers.
I used to think I had to. I used to feel the weight of trying to explain myself, correct misunderstandings, and defend my name to anyone who had caught wind of a stray feather. But over time, I’ve learned the futility of that pursuit. It’s exhausting. It’s frustrating. And most of all—it’s not my job.
Here’s what I do instead: I let God handle it.
If He chooses to send a feather back my way—a relationship, a conversation, a moment of reconciliation—I’ll receive it, not for my own sake, but for the sake of the one holding it. Maybe that person needs healing. Maybe they need clarity. Maybe they just need to see that God still uses broken people. But I don’t chase the feathers. I simply wait for the ones God sends back on the wind.
My reputation is not my concern. My responsibility is not to convince others to think better of me. My calling is not to campaign for my character. My role is to walk humbly, stay faithful, and let God determine which relationships matter and when they’re ready to be restored.
That’s where peace lives.
Too many people are wasting precious energy trying to fix every misperception, recover every scattered word, and salvage every shattered opinion. But if you’re constantly running around trying to regather feathers, you’ll miss the ones God is gently bringing back to your feet.
Let Him decide which hearts need mending. Let Him determine who comes back across your path. And when they do, be a blessing—not a defense attorney. Show them grace, not argument. Offer healing, not explanation. That one feather matters—not because it proves anything about you, but because it gives you a chance to be used by God in someone else’s life.
Stop trying to fix your reputation. Let your character speak. Let your life preach. And let God bring you the feathers He chooses—in His time, and for His purpose.
That’s enough. That’s freedom.
And that’s faith.
There's an old adage which says: “Your friends won't care if the accusations against you are true, and your enemies won't care if they're false.” I have found that adage to be very true in life. Pastor Jack Hyles was so right, “The Christian army is the only army in the world that kills its wounded.”
David in the Old Testament knew the pain of being shunned, ostracized and condemned for his sins. Psalms 31:11, “I was a reproach among all mine enemies, but especially among my neighbours, and a fear to mine acquaintance: they that did see me without fled from me.” David's neighbours had heard about his adultery with another man's wife, Bathsheba. She became pregnant with David's child. The neighbours had heard that David conspired to send her husband Uriah into the hottest part of the battle to be killed. In a wicked attempt to keep his dark sins a secret, the whole thing blew up in David's face!
Another popular adage comes to mind: “The stigma sticks!” People by nature go by what they hear. All it takes is one wicked person to start a rumor about you and thousands of people may believe it. That is wrong of course, but it is sinful human nature nonetheless. David's neighbours saw him and were afraid to talk with him, because of the bad news they'd heard about him, so they avoided him like Bubonic Plague.
I have had people do that to me in the past, when they heard slanderous gossip about me, and my pain was greater than I can express in words. If you've ever lived in a small town or an island, where everybody knows everything about each other, then you know how things work. Also, if you are a famous person, negative news spreads quickly like fire. It hurts inexplicably when friends, family and even strangers shun you. It shouldn't be that way in life, but it often is true. We should always see beyond people's faults and see their need instead. Dear reader, take your burden to the Lord and leave it there (1st Peter 5:7-10). God is faithful.
I have been shunned in every church I have attended for the past 10 years because of my website ministry. When I attended Pensacola Christian College's Campus Church in 2021, their incompetent senior pastor Jeff Redlin told me that he and the other pastors examined my ministry websites and saw that I find weakness in preachers. I have 11,000 webpages on eight different ministry websites, but they only saw the 1% of pages where I justly expose corrupt pastors who butcher the Gospel, promote corruptible seed (false bibles) and mistreat people who tell THE TRUTH. Sadly, I have since added the ungodly pastors at PCC to my list of infidels that I expose.
You cannot repair your bad reputation dear friend. Reputation is what people think about you; Character is what God knows about you. My goal over the years has been to be a better Christian in private, than what people think I am in public. God sees my heart. My enemies say some horrible things about me, and in so doing slander the Lord since I am His child (Matthew 25:40, 45). It is not my place to defend myself against critics. I saw Pastor Jack Hyles attempt to defend himself and his ministry, but his enemies twisted his words around (as they always do) and made things even worse. I have never tried (nor will I ever try) to defend myself from my hateful critics who seek to destroy my name, ministry and influence for Christ.
Jesus was the sinless only begotten Son of almighty God. Yet, Jesus' enemies called Him a deceiver, a bastard born of fornication, a lunatic and demon possessed. If the world will say such evil things about the very Christ, then what will they say about you and me dear saint of God? They will crucify us, just as they crucified the Lord of glory.
Satan loves critics! The accuser of the brethren loves the accuser of the brethren. I want no part of it. I faithfully expose false prophets, fake churches, counterfeit gospels and corrupt Bible revisions, but I won't waste my time hatefully tearing down people like they do on social media. It is right to expose false teachers (Titus 1:9-14) and evil (Psalms 94:16), but it is wrong to condemn sinners (John 3:17; Matthew 7:1-5). The Old Testament law of God already condemns all of humanity as guilty sinners (Romans 3:10-23).
Whatever mistakes, sins or failures exist in your past, place them into God's hands dear reader. Leave them at the foot of Calvary's cross where Jesus died for your sins and mine. If you've wronged someone, go make it right and reconcile if possible. You might need to make some restitution, or even go to prison, which is proper and right if you've broken laws to hurt someone. You can never be right with God, until you have first reconciled and made proper restitution to your victims from the past. When Zacchaeus got saved in the Bible, he vowed to repay fourfold whatever money he had bilked from others. That is a wise man.
Every once in a while someone will email me and say they have done something terribly evil. I always quickly reply by telling them not to tell me, because I don't need or want to know what they have done. Pastor Jack Hyles wisely taught not to be reluctant to admit to others you have feet of clay, but don't ever show them your feet. Your sins are none of anyone's business except God's, unless you are trying to reconcile with the victim. If you would never do anything terribly wicked, then don't do anything slightly wicked. That is godly advice!
There is a sweet peace in knowing that you have made peace with those from your past whom you've hurt. If nothing else, an apology is at least a start. In some cases you may not be able to reconcile or even apologize, if you don't know who your victims were, or they have moved on. God knows all the details. We cannot pull one over on our Creator (Proverbs 24:12). God is omniscient (all knowing). Proverbs 15:3, “The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.”
Lord help me live from day to day, in such a way that I can look up to Heaven each evening, and know that I have not defrauded, hurt or wronged any human being. That is loving thy neighbour as one's self, and loving God with all thy heart, mind and soul. These are the two greatest commandments from God, which are really just one—to LOVE.
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