When I was growing up in church, I can remember hearing some Christians making this statement in their testimony, “Brethren, if I have done or said anything to harm you, please tell me.” Whenever I heard this statement, I would hold back myself from rolling my eyes and screaming, “You can’t handle the truth.”

What bothered me about this statement is the fact that these Christians knew that they may have said or done something to harm others, yet they were testifying as if they were clueless. But more likely than not, if they had to include this statement in their testimony, they must have had some inclination that they had done something harmful to others.

Now, this is what Jesus has to say to those Christians, “So if you are presenting a sacrifice at the altar in the Temple and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there at the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God” (Matthew 5:23-25). Notice, Jesus wants the person making the statement— “Brethren, if I have done or said anything to harm you, please tell me”— to take the first step toward reconciliation and not the other way around. Jesus wants that person who caused the offense to go to the one they offended instead of making a public announcement because it solves nothing, and it is in essence a cop-out.

If you are one of those Christians who are still using this statement in your testimony, you need to stop because very few people will come forward and tell you how you have harmed them. Like me, they probably know you cannot handle the truth. So, if in fact, you know that you have harmed others or if you sense that you have harmed others, go to them, make it right, and stop using this statement as an excuse to not do the right thing.