A Major Root of Slander: Projection

slan·der  [slan-der]  Show IPA noun

1.

defamation; calumny: rumors full of slander.

2.

a malicious, false, and defamatory statement or report

We don't throw around the word "slander" very often in today's language. But it shows up a bunch of times in the scripture, most often right along some of the "heinous" sins.  Just do a search for "slander" in www.biblegateway.com to start your own study. 

For years I've watched the sin of slander in fallen human beings; in myself. It's like a slimy, slippery oil spill under our feet. It doesn't matter who laid it down there anyone can slip and crack their heads open! It's beyond gossip in so many ways because it destroys character -- it's like "character assassination," as my good friend Ken puts it. But what is the root or roots of this Godless iniquity? This morning, in his blog post "The#1 Relationship Destroyer," Frank Viola offers a pretty good explanation of at least one of the main roots.  That root is "Projection."

One of the behaviors that effectively destroys relationships — if not the main one — is the tendency to impute the motives of one’s own heart onto those we find threatening or those we just don’t like. Christian leaders who have inflated egos or deep insecurities are easily threatened by others. As a result, they will unwittingly read their own heart motives into the hearts of other people. Psychologists call this “projection.” I can’t face my own shortcomings and defects so I unconsciously project them onto other people. I accuse others of the very same dark things that are lurking deep within my own heart. I’ve watched some Christians engage in projection when they came into contact with those who were just as (or more) gifted than they were. The root is often jealousy. You can call it a “Saul complex,” if you will.

I learned about "projection" in grad school in Texas. Let me tell you, it's a real thing. It's the result of a person being in unconscious unreality about themselves. Viola is right, the root of it is "I can't face my own shortcomings and defects." So what is the answer to breaking this cycle in another person, or in ourselves, or safeguarding our own heart to ensure we are not enslaved by slander? The answer is, as always, knowing who we truly are in Christ. If we do not know who we fully are in Him we are doomed to enlarge our own ego, and miss the plank in our own eye, as Viola rightly explains. 

Herein lies a great lesson: Those who judge the motives of others are simply revealing what’s in their own hearts. In Matthew 7:1–4, Jesus points out that those with defective eyesight are all too willing to perform eye surgery on others. Yet within this text, the Lord makes this chilling assessment: If you impute an evil motive onto someone else, you’re simply making known what your motives are. To put it another way, the piece of sawdust we see in our brother’s eye is simply a small chip off the two-by-four that lies within our own. And a piece of wood will always distort our vision. When people cannot face the reality of what’s in their own hearts, they project it onto others—particularly those who they find threatening to their egos.

Ego. There it is. That is a painful, sinful, fallen part of each of us. We MUST declare war on our egos. We must recognize the ego's destructive power and how it comes against our spirit; how it forces God's Holy Spirit to the corners of our mind, far enough from our conscience that we cease to hear His voice. We MUST say "enough is enough!" We will not slander. 

How do we make sure we do not "project" our own shortcomings onto others? We MUST make darn sure we are rooted and grounded in Christ alone -- what HE says about WHO we are in HIM! Only then can we fully pull up the rotten roots of gossip and judgementalism in ourselves. 

CLICK HERE TO READ WHO YOU ARE IN CHRIST! 

When we dwell on this list we don't have time to gossip and slander and judge. Nor do we ever project our shortcomings onto others. 

Because .... we are free. 

And our LIFE is in YOU LORD!