It should come without saying that Christians should not engage in gossip. Telling tales about others, which is often based on second or third-hand information, lacks any real evidence, and is done purely for one’s own satisfaction, is a sin. Speculation and innuendo should have no place in our mouths. Scripture is clear that we are not to engage in lying or slandering the name of others, regardless of our personal justification (see Rom. 12:30, 1 Tim. 5:13). However, in the age of social media, where instant access to millions of posts about other people are at our fingertips, the temptation to engage in such salacious speculation is greater than ever. Especially when publicly available information seems to lend credibility to the gossip at hand. It is important, now more than ever, that Christians be reminded to guard their tongues.

The Current Landscape

On May 12, 2025, G3 Ministries had the unenviable task of publicly confessing that their founder and head, Josh Buice, was disqualified from ministry and had to step down from both G3 and his church. Buice’s disqualifying sin was that he surreptitiously engaged in slander and verbal attacks against other Christian brethren and ministries through anonymous social media accounts, a practice he denied right until irrefutable evidence was presented to him. The Christian world was rocked, and many are still processing this betrayal. As more information has come out, it has been learned that Buice even sent an anonymous email on December 16, 2024, to a known yellow journalist, Julie Roys, alleging financial misconduct by Voddie Bauchum concerning funds raised for his heart surgery. Buice provided no evidence of this misconduct, only allegations.

On May 15, 2025, only three days after the bombshell revelation by G3, Roys published an article regarding Buice’s allegation against Bauchum. On her X account, Roys admitted they had not originally acted on the email due to the anonymity of its author. Only after learning of the revelation of Buice’s sinful actions did she deem it worthy of reporting. Unfortunately, Roys did not report this as slanderous behavior on the part of Buice but used it as a reason to claim that Bauchum needed to prove he had not misused any of the funds raised for his treatment. Despite the lack of substantive evidence that Bauchum had done anything wrong with the funds, Roys and many of her readers treated Buice’s claim as if it were entirely valid and in desperate need of investigation.

To add fuel to an already burning conflagration, on May 19, 2025, former journalist Janet Mefferd raised the question of why Buice used anonymous accounts, suggesting that he could not speak freely about his opposition to the Christian Nationalism movement as the head of G3. While in subsequent posts, Mefferd did acknowledge the sinful and duplicitous behavior of Buice’s actions, she used this as an opportunity to suggest that other forces were at play behind the scenes of G3 ministries and that Buice had to act as he did to reveal the truth. The result of all these events has been Christians taking opposing sides, many of whom believe that Roys and Mefferd are perfectly correct in questioning, not the sinful acts of Buice, but in questioning the men and ministries he maligned. The argument of those in support is that, regardless of Buice’s actions, his claims must have had some level of truth, therefore, those persons now under scrutiny must prove themselves innocent of wrongdoing. Instead of holding to biblical standards for the charging of others of committing sin and seeking repentance, Christians are now seeking to justify the acts of slander and gossip.

Why This Is A Problem

Scripture provides the church with specific requirements when it comes to determining the truth of any allegation of wrongdoing. Chief among these requirements is the fact that a single witness is insufficient to determine guilt. Deuteronomy 19:15 states, “A single witness shall not suffice against a person for any crime or for any wrong in connection with any offense that he has committed. Only on the evidence of two witnesses or of three witnesses shall a charge be established.” The reason for this is that people, in their fallen state, make false accusations all the time. If the standard of mere allegation alone were sufficient to determine guilt, many innocent people would find themselves under church discipline simply because someone was angry with them and made up a story to get them in trouble. Therefore, substantive evidence, such as in the form of multiple eyewitnesses, must be employed. Lacking such evidence, the church cannot assume the guilt of anyone.

In today’s parlance, the requirement for multiple eyewitnesses can include things such as audio, video, or other forms of digital evidence. Such was the case with Buice when evidence of his online accounts was used to reveal his nefarious activities. In such an age as ours, such evidence is not hard to come by. Therefore, when allegations such as Buice’s claim of financial misconduct are made, the first reaction of any Christian should be, “show me the paper trail,” not “it must be true because he said so!” Sadly, the charge made by Roys and many of her readers was not to demand that Buice provide any substantiating documentation of his claims; it was to demand that Bauchum provide the proof that he did not misuse his funds. That is not upholding Scriptural truth, instead it actually turns the matter on its head.

When a Christian faces claims of wrongdoing, he should not be forced into a situation where he is expected to become one of the “two or three witnesses” against himself. Scripture does not permit the church to treat its members as if they are guilty until proven innocent. Yes, every Christian is a sinner and must repent of various sins on a regular basis. However, this does not mean that every claim of specific sins is accurate or that there is reason to be suspicious based on mere allegation. Therefore, Christians must be bound to the standard of Scripture when determining if or when to engage in discussion over such claims. To wrongly assume guilt or to say that the suspected party should just ease everyone’s minds by proving they are not guilty is to tacitly admit one has been influenced by unbiblical claims. It is to admit that Scripture’s demands simply do not apply in this matter, as we really want to believe something bad is going on because the gossip was juicy enough. We just want to gossip and are desperately looking for a way to sanctify doing so.

Final Thoughts

Recent events have demonstrated that there should be concerns over how parachurch ministries, conferences, and high-profile Christian leaders conduct themselves. We have seen that putting such entities up on a pedestal with little to no oversight can have disastrous results. The downfalls of prominent Christian men should urge us to be diligent stewards over our churches and ministries; no longer can we assume that teaching sound biblical doctrine means someone is less likely to fall. However, being diligent watchmen is not the same as assuming that every ministry is now guilty of wicked or nefarious behavior. Christians must find a balance between an honest concern informed by our knowledge of sin and recent events and full-blown cynicism fueled by gossip and yellow journalism. One leads us to treat our brethren with humble grace, while the other causes us to see everyone as an enemy to be exposed and thwarted. Let these recent disgraces remind us of our need to stand firm on Scripture, upholding biblical truth and employing discipline where needed, while simultaneously remembering that we are all prone to stumble in sin and need our brethren to graciously come alongside us to correct us, putting us back on the right path.

Note: This article was also published on X.com.