It was brought to my attention that criminal actions, especially those that harm another, should never be covered up. They need to be reported so the person can be stopped from harming others. I totally agree with this.

There are times when it seems a fine line between warning another person and gossiping. I think we have to take a deep look at our motives and be honest with ourselves. Are we telling this story because of the excitement or satisfaction it gives us to have a juicy story to tell? Is there really is any danger to the person we're talking to. Do they really need to know about the situation? Do the police have everything under control? We also need to ask ourselves if we're harming anyone by spreading the story. The victims may be so traumatized and embarrassed that they don't want others to know and they may be further traumatized by having others know about it. The family members of the criminal are usually horrified and embarrassed. Their lives are made worse as people tend to blame them also for all that happened.

For example, many years ago, there was a man who was a member of my church and was also in the same business I was in. I naturally chatted with this man about the business we were in and sometimes talked about our church. When he talked about the church, something didn't seem right,  so I called a pastor's wife and asked if there was anyone who could visit with this man. She said she would bring it up during the staff meeting the next day. I think it was the following day when she called me back. She told me that when she mentioned the man's name and that I had called about him, they immediately had prayer for my safety. This man was being investigated for murder and he had a history of befriending women and then becoming abusive to them.  She told me not to suddenly stop talking to him or he would become suspicious and harm me. I was to be guarded, but still act friendly whenever I saw him. She gave me other advice and then had prayer with me before we hung up.

I was thankful for that warning. It was necessary and it saved me from being harmed by this man. The pastor's wife never mentioned the names of the man's victims. It wasn't necessary and they probably would not have wanted me to know. She protected them. There was no talk about the man's family either. They were not the criminal. They had already suffered from the man's actions. Love protected the victims and the family members. Love also protected me by tactfully telling only what I needed to know and nothing more. I am so thankful for the actions of that pastor's wife!