Another common technique is to “ask for wisdom” from someone about someone else. The best “Christian backstabbers” don’t only “ask for wisdom” from one person, they methodically bounce around to many people to build alliances or tear someone down. This completely disregards Jesus’ teaching about resolving conflict.

Jesus said that the world would know that we are His disciples by the love we have for one another. According to the Scriptures, if we don’t love one another, we cannot claim to love God.

Good news: Historically Christians have been known and marked for their love for one another. For example, Aristides, a 2^nd century Greek philosopher, observed how Christians in the early church cared for one another, “If they hear of any of their number who are imprisoned or oppressed for the name of the Messiah, they all provide for his needs, and if it is possible to redeem him, they set him free.”

Bad news: We struggle to live out our faith, and professing Christians can fail to love one another well. People who have been around the Christian faith a long time can even learn how to backstab each other in a way that appears Christian. Of course, it is not. It is deceitful and disingenuous.

Manipulative people familiar with the Christian faith can actually use Christian language to embolden their backstabbing. They can call someone friend and brother while manipulating and dividing. They can disguise their sinful behavior with the language of the people of God. It is pretty nauseating when you think on it. Backstabbing among the people of God is a deep violation of our faith and a horrible representation of our faith to the world.

With that in mind, here are three ways you can spot “Christian backstabbing” (I put “Christian backstabbing” in quotes because there is nothing Christian about it):

1. Backstabbers frame gossip as prayer requests.
2. Backstabbers talk about the person rather than to the person.
3. Backstabbers know lots of information on lots of people.

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