“A lie makes it halfway around the world before the truth puts its shoes on.” Have you heard that? Some variation of that is often (mis)attributed to Mark Twain. Because bad news travels quickly, we may assume that people believe the worst about us.
Paul gathered the Jewish leaders in Rome because he was concerned that they had heard a false narrative about his arrest and his trial before Caesar. Thankfully, they had not heard. No letter impugning Paul had arrived before him. More than that, these Jewish leaders wanted to do their own research. They remind us of the noble-minded people in the synagogue at Berea who wanted to study what the Apostles said and decide for themselves.
What can we learn from this part of Paul’s story? We should not assume the worst about others or think that they assume the worst about us. Noble minded leaders do their own research to discern the truth. Lies may travel quickly but they often die on the vine if we don’t repeat them. We have no record that Mark Twain actually said that lies travel fast. But he did say, “Few slanders can stand the wear of silence.” When we repeat slander, we may unintentionally give it life. We can always trust the truth, because sooner or later, it will come out.
