"Snitches get stitches", this is a mentality that we have heard a lot about. Even if there is no threat of violence, this moral code is held by people living in sin who want to continue justifying their destructive lifestyles. Snitching is a worldly concept that suggests that what is done in the dark ought to prevail, that evil should triumph over good. That is an anti-Christ mentality. The concept of “no snitching” is also a fear-based mentality that enslaves its believer into a life of hiding from consequences and reactions. The person who believes they shouldn’t tell on people who are on a destructive path must compromise their own peace and joy, and that of those around them, in many ways. Here are just 3 of those compromises:
1. They must embrace being a liar: whether by commission or omission, they have to accept that they are willing to flagrantly lie to other people in order to secretly promote destruction. This could happen outright, or by telling half-truths, or white lies that don’t make them feel as guilty as they really are. But there is no deceiving God, He is the witness and the one who knows. Luke12:2-3 teaches that all things done in the dark will eventually be brought into the light… “Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops.”
2. They must embrace living in fear: choosing this immoral code of honor means that they will always be living in fear of getting caught, told on, or harmed. That weight will either drive them deeper into darker sin, or it will goad them into confession, which is their freedom. In 2 Timothy 1:7, we are reminded that in Christ, we are given the tools to evict fear from our spirit. It says “ for God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control.”
3. They must embrace guilt and shame: if you are living in fear, then you must also be carrying around guilt and shame, for they are inseparably linked. So, either you have to repress it or deceive yourself into believing that you are not doing anything wrong. You may do this by surrounding yourself with others who approve of your sin, or by comparing yourself to people doing ‘worse’ things, or by blaming someone who caused you suffering. Regardless, the weight is there and you have to choose to either carry it around or crucify it with Jesus. In Hebrews 12:1-2, we are told to let go of the weight, and run toward our prize of Christ. It reads, “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”
The reality is, a person can only get stitched on if they’re doing something they aren’t supposed to do. The fact that they don’t want anyone to find out or tell reveals that they know it is a morally wrong choice. They go further by drawing others in to keeping their secrets too, putting their ‘friend’ in a no-win situation, because keeping your secret piles both of your guilt onto their shoulders. If a brother is stumbling and you don’t encourage that to be brought into the light, you don’t care about them. If you love someone, you will drag their destruction into the light, in hopes of liberating them from guilt and shame. There is no fear in lighting up the darkness: the truth will set us free.