7. Those in Authority Must Exercise Extreme Caution in Their Judgments of Subordinates

Some people who hold positions of authority have the weakness of believing without discrimination everything that is said about those under their charge. Through this they frequently fall into serious errors. It happens that by their blind trust in the words of others they give malicious people occasion to grow ever more practiced in slander and defamation, while causing grief and suffering to the innocent. This must not be. Those in authority must exercise extreme caution in their judgments of subordinates, and whenever they detect falsehood and slander in the words of others, they must immediately expose and stop them, and protect and comfort those who suffer innocently on their account.

We shall confirm these last words of ours before those in authority by the following account from the life of Saint Seraphim of Sarov.

Once, as he was returning from the wilderness to his monastery cell, covered all over with blood from the bites of flies, mosquitoes, and other insects from which he never protected himself, he met the abbot Nifont, and in keeping with his customary humility he forestalled the abbot’s greeting with a prostration to the ground, and then drew near to him with the brotherly embrace of the priestly kiss.

The abbot, astonished at his suffering ascetic feat, began to praise him, and at the same time, as if speaking on behalf of the brothers, rebuked him for choosing such a manner of life which, in their view, was strange and scandalous, in that he admitted people of every kind and sex to himself, even if for the sake of saving instruction. “Above all,” he said, “everyone is scandalized, supposedly, by the fact that you show compassionate care for the Diveevo orphans.”

Having heard all this praise and all the reproaches from the abbot, who spoke as though on behalf of the brothers while keeping himself at a remove, the elder again fell at the abbot’s feet in humility and gave him so wise and edifying an answer that he completely silenced him and brought him to self-awareness. He answered him thus:

“Dear father, dear father, you know that every ship has a helmsman who steers it, preserves it, and defends it from every adverse circumstance of waves and attack. So too with every flock, there is a shepherd who guards and defends his sheep from wolves and other dangers. But when the dogs near him begin to bark without cause at some traveler, the shepherd need only stamp his foot, and they at once abandon their malice and return to their places. So too, I think, dear father, must you act. You are the helmsman of this ship and the shepherd of this rational flock: so defend it, and do not allow needless barking or disturbance of yourself and of travelers toward eternity. For a word is powerful, and a staff like a rod is dreadful to all. Then neither the visible nor the invisible dogs will dare to bark without cause.”

This profoundly wise answer from the elder brought the astonished abbot to complete silence and served as a caution to him for the future, to attend to his difficult duties with far greater care and discernment. Thus we were right to say that those in authority must exercise extreme caution in their judgments of subordinates, and whenever they detect falsehood and slander in the words of others, they must immediately expose and stop them, and protect and comfort those who suffer innocently. Yes, this is indeed what must be done without fail. For otherwise, if the person in authority were to credit without distinction every accusation against his subordinates from any passerby, if he were to maintain his own private informers, tale-bearers, and whisperers, then truly the people entrusted to his care would live as if in hell: the wicked would raise their heads, the innocent might fall into despair, and quarrels and disorder would assuredly have no end. In view of this, those in authority must not believe every rumor about their subordinates; they must bridle evil tongues, silence the mouths of the wicked, and restore the good name of those who have been slandered. Only under such conditions can they hope that good relations will be established among their subordinates, that peace and quiet will prevail, and that each person, being more at ease, will attend to his work with greater zeal. God grant that all this may be so. Amen.