Spell It Out

When he got home, he took a knife and cut his concubine’s body into twelve pieces. Then he sent one piece to each tribe throughout all the territory of Israel. Everyone who saw it said, “Such a horrible crime has not been committed in all the time since Israel left Egypt.” Judges 19:29-30

We don’t know the man’s name, but his actions teach us a lesson about “being nice.”

The unnamed Levite’s concubine had been raped and murdered by the men of Gibeah, and he wanted the entire nation to know about this vile crime. This was not the time to gloss over a problem to protect sensitivities.

He could have sent servants to tell what happened. He could have written a letter to all the tribal leaders. Any number of actions would have been less extreme.

But anything short of what he did would have downplayed the truth of the situation and would thus have been dishonest.

When there’s a problem, leaders need to spell it out clearly. State the situation and work toward a solution.

Are you facing a situation in which you need to be less polite and more truthful?