I’ve been taking the 70 resolutions of Jonathan Edwards (a famous American preacher in the 1700s) and reflecting on one each day. We are on resolution 31 and this is one of the more challenging ones for me. It says…

Resolved, Never to say any thing at all against any body, but when it is perfectly agreeable to the highest degree of christian honour, and of love to mankind, agreeable to the lowest humility, and sense of my own faults and failings, and agreeable to the golden rule; often, when I have said any thing against any one, to bring it to, and try it strictly by, the test of this Resolution.

Edwards understood something about people. Every single person on this planet has been created by an amazing Creator. Now, not every person is obeying that Creator but there is an intrinsic value that each person has because of who made them. Edwards was saying that he was going to honor people. He wasn’t going to talk behind their back. He knew that there were times that he’d have to challenge people and speak against them but he also knew that he needed to do that in love.

This meant no gossip and no crass jokes at the expense of others. Sometimes joining in on this type of conversation is fun. I’m not going to lie and pretend that I’m totally innocent when it comes to this. We have to be careful because sometimes comments like these can be rationalized under the guise of “Prayer Requests” or “Christian Concern.” For example, “I’m just so concerned about so and so because she is really being stupid right now.” Or, “We just need to pray for so and so because I just found out…” I’m sure you get the point.

God created your coworkers. He created your family. He created you and he created me. Regardless of their/our behavior, we are called to treat each other with a high degree of honor. There are times when you need to confront people and there are times that the wrongs of others must be talked about. We must however, walk wisely as we do this understanding that they were created by God and should not be treated lightly.