Hitchhiker’s Guide (27)
Whoever secretly slanders his neighbor, him I will destroy; No one who has a haughty look and an arrogant heart will I endure. Psalm 101:5 NASB 1995
Slanders – Many years ago I had what appeared to be the fully-satisfied life. Long before a crisis started me on the path of writing Today’s Word, I had three Ferraris in the garage, a full gym on my property and a tennis court of my own. When the workers were building the court, one of the day laborers said to the construction manager, “This guy has everything. He must have inherited all that money.” The site manager immediately reprimanded him. “What makes you think he didn’t earn it? He worked hard for all this, a lot harder than you. Just because you don’t have what he has doesn’t mean he didn’t work for it.” I overheard this conversation. I thought, “That man will never amount to anything. He thinks everyone who has what he wants came by it without effort.” But things changed, and the change made me reconsider what I call “Tennis Court Assumptions.”
A few years later, after God called in His loan to me, the Ferraris were gone, the gym equipment sold, and the tennis court left without repair. Rosanne and I struggled to just make ends meet, eventually selling the house and setting off on what has become a very different direction. The “Tennis Court Assumptions” that I just inherited a fortune were completely wrong, but so were my beliefs that I deserved it because I had earned it. God simply reminded me that He was behind it all, and it was time to pay attention to His calling, not my accumulation.
The worker’s comment (innocently enough) reminded me of this verse in Psalms. Here it is in various translations:
The one who slandereth ba’seter (in secret) his neighbor, him will I destroy; him that hath haughty einayim (eyes) and a proud levav will I not endure. Orthodox Jewish Bible
I will not tolerate people who slander their neighbors. I will not endure conceit and pride. NLT
Whoever slanders their neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; whoever has haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not tolerate. NIV
The key is lāšan (to slander—literally “misuse the tongue”). Stone comments on Luzzatto’s warning: “To refrain from the natural penchant for talebearing and slander requires a level of sensitivity that serves as a border, if you will, between the tzadik and the hasid. The ubiquity of hurtful speech turns out to be the most difficult hurdle for the spiritual seeker to overcome, yet the true work of love can begin only after this is accomplished.”[1] The worker assumed something about me that diminished my character and my work ethic. But I was just as guilty when I assumed that I deserved the rewards of my efforts. His comment showed a lack of love for another. My assumptions showed a lack of gratefulness to God. I’m pretty sure Psalm 101:5 applied to both of us. If I want to follow in the path of righteousness, I will have to learn not to make “Tennis Court Assumptions,” especially about myself. Maybe you have a tennis court somewhere inside that needs correction. Because they are assumptions, they’re hidden from you. You’ll never know until someone else takes a look.
Step 27: Let someone else examine your assumptions thoroughly in light of the other.
Topical Index: slander, lāšan, Psalm 101:5
[1] Ira F. Stone, in Moses Hayyim Luzzatto, Mesillat Yesharim: The Path of the Upright, p. 132.
