Then the royal officials at the king’s gate asked Mordecai, “Why do you disobey the king’s command?” Day after day they spoke to him but he refused to comply. Therefore they told Haman about it to see whether Mordecai’s behavior would be tolerated, for he had told them he was a Jew.
- Esther 3:3-4

We all know people who revel in drama and darkness. They love to pass along ill reports. They’re true stormcrows, bearing bad news everywhere they go.

In today’s passage, the whole situation with Mordecai and Haman gets complicated by the royal officials who act like royal pains. Haman hadn’t even noticed that Mordecai wasn’t bowing down to him. But the royal officials couldn’t let a good opportunity for drama to slip through the cracks.

Why couldn’t they just let it go? Perhaps they wanted to test the boundaries. If Mordecai didn’t have to bow down and honor Haman, why should they? Or maybe they harbored a racial / ethnic hatred for Mordecai. The passage does point out how Mordecai shared with them about his Jewish heritage.

Somewhere, buried in each of us, on our worst days, we look like these royal officials. We can all delight in passing along reports that will lead to reprimands. It drives us crazy for people to get away with what we wish we could get away with. We want to pull people back into line. If we already have issues with someone (or with their ethnic group, gender, etc.), we use situations like these to reinforce why we don’t respect them and to justify our trouble-causing behavior.

When situations like this arise, we need to be aware of what buttons they are pushing in us. What does this reveal about us?

And we need to develop the discipline of silence. There are times when we need to hold our tongues. Sure, there are times to speak up. But there are also times when we know that speaking up will only hurt, wound, and fan the flames of conflict.

Where are you struggling to maintain a helpful silence? Where are you struggling to discern whether silence is the proper response? Where have you blessed someone by maintaining your silence?