The Tattling Rule

Have each other's back.

This is exactly, almost word-for-word, the lesson that I have taught my children to be a non-negotiable truth.

In life, the only reasons anyone should ever tattletale are if the person in question is in moral or mortal danger.

Moral danger--this particular tattle is reserved for close friends, not acquaintances or enemies. You are afraid that the person's Jesus walk is going to be damaged by the behavior (sneaking off when parents don't know, lying or covering for sin-- he/she is supposed to be with you when he/she is off doing something else--don't cover up another person's sin or aid in the sin, driving the person places you know he/she isn't allowed to go, encouraging relationships that have been banned by the parents, etc.)

Mortal danger--this tattle is for everyone. The person in question is engaged in illegal or potentially fatal/damaging activities (self harm, underage drinking/smoking, drag racing, freebase jumping at night off of skyscrapers in the city center, sticking his/her head into alligator mouths, meeting strange people on the Internet, about to Superman off of the house roof.)

Protect your people.

Any other topics should be off of the table. Your friends ought to circle the wagons and protect you from outside harm. (This might be the actual dictionary definition of 'friend'.) Because someone who tattles for no moral or mortal danger reason isn't your friend--he/she is your enemy and should be regarded accordingly.

Don't get me started on Anonymous Tattling. I wouldn't entertain that info for a single solitary eye blink. If someone won't publicly call you out on your behavior and is only willing to whisper it into someone else's ear on the sly, it isn't worth dealing with. Go away. No one likes a busy body. (You. I'm talking to you.)

I don't care if it IS true; sometimes you need to
zip it. 

And if you are the tattletale, shame on you. Mind your own business. Because people around you will eventually pay that back to you in kind. (Just FYI--If this pertains to you, this is why you have no heart friends.)

Hey adults, in case you thought this blog was for and about teens---aren't you cute? (If you think this blog is about you, you are probably spot on.)

And hey, I know this is revolutionary as an idea, but what if instead of tattling you went directly to the source and confronted him/her about his/her behavior, prayed for the person, and tried to help him/her resolve a sin problem? (I know, shocking that Christ followers should want to help each other instead of shoving each other into oncoming traffic. It's a paradigm shift for sure.)

Sorry, not sorry. The truth hurts sometimes, but it still needs to be told. Stop tattling. Your character is showing.