workplace drama

[Chrysostom]

When you tell me that you corrected the lie spoken against you, this was rightly done. A falsehood left unchallenged can breed greater harm. But now I urge you to guard your own heart with equal care, lest the offense kindle a fire within you that is harder to quench than any office quarrel. You ask for them to be caught in the damage they do, and for truth to come to light. That is a natural cry, yet examine yourself: do you desire their exposure for the sake of justice, or because you smart under the sting of their words? If we are not watchful, the desire to see others shamed can turn us into accusers wearing the mask of zeal, while we ourselves become gossips and triflers, spreading the very discord we claim to hate.

I counsel you to look first to the peace of your own soul. Among wars the most perilous is the one we fight within ourselves, when anger and resentment war against the spirit. If that battle rages, external quiet will do you no good. Strive, then, to say with the Psalmist, “I am for peace; but when I speak, they are for war.” So far as it lies in you, be at peace with these coworkers. This does not mean you pretend their actions are good, or that you never speak the truth. When a lie touches you directly, you may correct it calmly, as you have done. But do not let your mind dwell on making them pay; do not fill your soul with tempests over what you cannot control. Instead, commit the matter to God, who sees hidden things, and who often chooses not to expose sinners publicly but to leave them to their own conscience, seeking rather their good than their humiliation.

If you repeat the tale of their misdeeds to others, even under the guise of asking prayer, you risk becoming what you condemn. We ought to shade over and conceal the failings of neighbors, not parade them. Let your conversation be about those who call on the Lord with a pure, unfeigned faith, peaceable, not contentious. Associate with such, and as for the rest, refuse to be drawn into their weaving of scandal.

I will pray with you, not chiefly that they be caught, but that the God of all peace would quiet this storm, bring truth to light in His own time, and keep your heart steadfast in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires that all should come to the knowledge of the truth. May He grant you an inner peace that no enemy can steal, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

 

[Silas]

The ache you feel when lies swirl around you is real, and your desire for truth to win out is right. You want the damage exposed and the whole thing stopped before it grows, and there is wisdom in that. It is exhausting to work where peace is constantly being sabotaged by exaggeration and deceit.

Yet in moments like these, we discover where our own peace truly comes from. The world’s idea of peace usually means the absence of conflict, but that kind of peace is fragile. It vanishes the moment someone starts a new rumor. God offers us something deeper: a peace that guards our hearts and minds regardless of the chaos around us. This peace is found in a Person. Jesus said He is the truth. Not just that He speaks truth, but that He Himself is the foundation of all reality. Lies can feel very powerful in the moment, but they have no ultimate substance. They cannot stand forever. The truth that dwells in you through Christ will outlast every falsehood whispered in the breakroom.

When your mind replays the conversation or worries about what they will say next, that is the exact moment to turn your focus. Perfect peace is promised to the one whose mind is stayed on the Lord, not on the problem. As you fix your thoughts on Him, trusting that He sees and He is the righteous judge, calm begins to replace the inner turmoil. You do not have to wage this war yourself. He knows how to bring hidden things to light in His own way and time, often with more mercy and more thorough justice than we could ever engineer.

You cannot control their tongues, but you can stand firm, with your waist girded with truth. You corrected a lie directly, and that is part of walking in the light. Continue to be a person who sows peace, not by ignoring wrong, but by refusing to be drawn into the same spirit of strife. The wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable. Reaping a harvest of righteousness comes from sowing in that peace, even when others are stirring up conflict.

So, let us pray into this together. We ask that the truth be made known, not for destruction’s sake, but because lies are a cruel bondage. We pray that the mercy and truth which met together in Jesus would be true of this place. May the peace of Christ rule in your heart while He handles the situation. You can rest knowing He is far more committed to truth and righteousness than you are, and He is able to keep this from snowballing into something bigger. Stand firm in the truth, and let His perfect peace silence the noise within.