Leviticus 5:1
“And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing, and is a witness, whether he hath seen or known of it; if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.”
Every school has one; they have that child who thinks they must police everyone in the class or on the playground. They are the tattletale. They are the one who runs to the teacher to tell what they perceived that others did wrong. Most of the time, nobody likes the tattletale or want to be one.
According to the verse above, there are times when a person should be a tattletale. The verse above says, “And if a soul sin, and hear the voice of swearing…if he do not utter it, then he shall bear his iniquity.” There are times when God expects you to tell authorities when someone does wrong. In fact, God holds that person accountable who knows someone did wrong and never tells the authorities about it. When should a person be a tattletale?
First, you should be a tattletale when someone is not telling the whole truth. The verse above appears to be talking about a person who has sworn under oath to tell the whole truth, but they purposely withheld part of the truth. When this happens, it is your responsibility to be sure that authorities know the whole truth. When you don’t allow the whole truth to come out, you hurt those who hear the lies because they believe the lie is the truth. You may feel that you don’t want to get involved, but because you know the truth, you are responsible for telling the truth. Whether or not people will listen to what you have to say is not the issue. God holds you responsible for any hurt that is caused by your unwillingness to reveal the truth.
Second, verse 2 shows that you should be a tattletale when someone’s actions bring reproach on others. You may recall that God punished Israel because Achan touched the unclean thing. His family should have told on him, but they didn’t to their own detriment. When someone’s actions bring a reproach on another person or the name of an institution, you have a responsibility to tell authorities. You should not hold your peace and let the name of an institution or person be damaged because you don’t want to get involved.
Third, verse 3 shows that you should be a tattletale when someone is immoral. Touching the “uncleanness of man” is immorality. When you know someone has been immoral and you don’t tell authorities, you are as responsible as the person who is immoral. You are as wrong as the individual who harms a child when you don’t tell authorities. God holds you accountable when someone in church leadership is living in immorality and you don’t tell anyone. Immorality of any type is never to be swept under the carpet. If you know about it, you are responsible for telling the proper authorities.
Fourth, verse 4 shows that you should be a tattletale when you know someone wants to hurt another person. To be silent when you know someone is going to get hurt is evil. It is the right thing to do to be sure that another person is not hurt by the evil intent of others; this includes hearing that someone plans to remove authority by any means.
As much as being a tattletale brings a negative connotation to mind, there are times when you must tell authorities what is happening. God holds you responsible for what you know. No, you don’t have to be the spiritual police, but you are responsible for telling the authorities when one of these four circumstances have happened.