Be Careful Bad News Delivery Can Kill

1 Samuel 4:18
When he mentioned the ark of God, Eli fell backward off his chair by the side of the gate. His neck was broken and he died, for he was an old man, and he was heavy. He had led Israel forty years.

Eli was an old man with children who troubled him. Eli was a high priest in Israel. Eli loved his job so much. The Bible tells us he served Israel for forty years and died at age ninety-eight. Eli was a huge person with a big body.

A war between Israel and the Philistines broke out. Israel lost the battle on the first day. The elders did a postmortem of the events and concluded that God was angry and therefore allowed the loss. The next day of battle, on the recommendation of elders, they took the Ark of God to war.

Israel did not repent of the sin that caused God to bring losses. The Ark was the presence of God. The presence of God in the life of a person who hasn’t repented sin is useless. The presence of God in a war would not force God to grant you victory if you have not repented the sins. Therefore, they lost the second day of battle with very high casualties!

Beginning meetings with prayer and reading scripture will not change anything if we have unrepented sins. Our misery will continue multiplying until we repent or perish. Church attendance and participation in worship doesn’t replace the need for you to repent. If you don’t repent things will get worse after worship and even after leading out in worship. That is why the Ark of God at war was of no consequence to Israelites. They lost the battle.

Israelites did not inquire from God what to do. When Israel lost the Ai battle, Joshua the leader went to God and pleaded for mercy. God told him what to do. But in our story today, Israelites arrived at their own conclusion without consulting God. If we don’t consult God and we arrive at our own conclusions, we fail. Our best conclusion without God is utter nonsense that will lead to unprecedented loss. Israel should have inquired from God.

When the leaders decided that the Ark should go to war, they did it against the advice of Eli the high priest. Eli sent the Ark escorted by his wicked sons. Eli remained worried and concerned. The sons of Eli were killed at war and the Ark was taken by the Philistines. This is the news that Eli dreaded.

How you deliver bad news is critical. The man who delivered the bad news was careless and the Bible says, Eli fell down upon receiving the news, broke his neck, and died. The bad news killed him. The one who carelessly delivers bad news can rightly be considered a murderer.

When an individual is overwhelmed by bad news they lose control. Therefore bad news is delivered to a safely seated person. The bad news is not delivered to one who is driving. The bad news is delivered in the presence of others who can assist the overwhelmed individual.

The bad news is delivered gradually to allow the individual to figure out something is wrong, then what could be wrong, and then the real problem. The mind must be allowed to get into self-defense mode. Then when the news is broken, the person has imagined, denied, and now receives the news with activated shock absorbers. It’s taking a sharp bump in a slowed-down vehicle as opposed to taking a bump at high normal speed. Allow the individual to slow down in order to take this bump of bad news.

Do not be too slow until the recipient of bad news is over-anxious and irritated. That can create another problem. Breaking bad news is an art that should be rehearsed and delivered carefully to avoid killing the recipient.

This is the reason why we should not rush to post bad news on social media until all close relatives are informed. It is a witchcraft mentality to want to be the first one to break the bad news to the world. What fun is in it? What pleasure do you get? Repent your diabolic appetite for attention-seeking through the announcement of bad news. Why are you rushing to post gory pictures? Why are you rushing to announce it? The best rule is to wait until the close family members themselves announce the bad news or they allow you to do it. Otherwise, that rush to share the news could kill somebody and you will be a murderer.

It is terrible if close-concerned people read the news from your social media page and go into shock. Then you will claim that you didn’t know that they don’t know. You have acted foolishly. Bad news poorly delivered can cause death.

We should also be careful about the bad news we send to old people. Your parents are advanced in age and you keep updating them on the negative aspects of your life. You are killing them slowly. You are of age, fight your battles. Visit pastors and counselors. Only tell your parents good news about your life. Play down the rumors they hear and show that you are ok and in control.

We kill parents if we keep telling them of marriage troubles. Workplace problems. Business problems. Problems with neighbors. Health problems. Bad news slowly by slowly drives the aged weak person to death then you will come and mourn loudest. Eli was aged and it’s part of the reason why the bad news killed him. Protect the aged from bad news. Grow up and deal with it. Get sympathy elsewhere not from an aged weak and sickly parent or relative.

Our bad behavior can also kill people. If an aged loved one keeps hearing that you are not okay it kills them. They keep learning about your drug abuse habits. They keep learning of your school failures. They keep learning of your arrests and fights. They keep learning of your failed life. Eventually, you will kill them indirectly or even directly. Put your life together!

We live in a sinful world and we can’t avoid bad news. May God help us to manage it well so that it doesn’t harm others. Amen!

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