Faithfulness Covers

As we labor to learn how to speak as Christians, we have to take care to learn our lessons from Scripture. This is because sin is always defined by God, and not by our own instincts. We must always define sins of the tongue according to the Word. Scripture says that a “talebearer revealeth secrets: but he that is of a faithful spirit concealeth the matter” (Prov. 11:13). We must take care that we do not absolutize this in a wooden manner, and there are obviously times when another course of action would be required. But at the same time note the thrust of this proverb. A faithful spirit is one which conceals things–covers them right up. It is not possible to live together in community without discovering things about others that would be injurious to their reputations if more widely known. What are we therefore to do? We are to be jealous for the reputations of those others, and this means cultivating a zeal for appropriate secrecy. How much are we to do this? Well, love covers a multitude of sins.