Unfounded Accusations and Murder By Tongue

I know that some could be angered by the post I am about to make, but there comes a time when things need to be exposed and dealt with accordingly, and for me, that time has come. Over the past month I have been attacked from various places and people, accused of being someone with no love, with a prideful spirit, of being rude, of not preaching the Word of God, of destroying my church, of chasing out "our people" and filling the church with "people who do not belong" and the list goes on and on.
In the past six weeks, I have received two unsigned letters basically telling me that "nobody" wants me to stay here as pastor and that I was destroying my church. Just last night I was told that I am always rude to people in the pulpit and that I was chasing off the entire church and that there would be no church left in a matter of months. I could go on and on with the names I have been called and the things I have been accused of, but that is not the point of this post. My post is not so much to deal directly with these accusations, but rather the spirit behind them.

First, let me say that when I receive an unsigned letter, I give it very little consideration. I figure of someone lacks the guts or integrity to sign their name to such accusations, then it is not worth my time or consideration.
Second, let me respond to the accusation thrown at me last night, that I am always rude in the pulpit and I was chasing off family after family after family with my rudeness.

1 Timothy 5:19 (from The Message Translation) says:
19) Don't listen to a complaint against a leader that isn't backed up by two or three responsible witnesses.

I ask the person leveling these accusations at me to name one family who had left the church because I was rude. They could not name one, but insisted, "I have been told by others that there have been people who left because you are so rude in the pulpit."
Again I asked for the name of one person or family who left the church in the two years I have been here because I was rude. They could not name one.
According to the scripture listed above, then I am not supposed to listen to such a complaint, and I told the accusing person that they were blantantly going against scripture with such accusations. They retorted, "But people don't like you. You have to change!"
I won't even entertain this further, other than to say that if someone is leveling complaints or charges against pastor or any other person for that matter and cannot come up with two or three reliable witnesses... reject such criticism!

The same person told me last night, "Our church is dwindling away. We only have 26 or so people left." I asked this person what church they had been attending! I told them that this past Sunday we had 60 for morning worship and that we had not been under 40 anytime since I had come here, with the exception of days of bad weather. Then I was accused of falsifying numbers to make myself look good.
To who?
Really, outside of our church, who really cares how many attend our church?

My point in all this is not to make people feel sorry for the pastor. I have dealt with garbage like this for the past 16 years, and the sad truth is, it will always go on.
But I wonder, do people realize the damage they do to the Body of Christ with their gossiping, slandering tongues?
Do people really believe that anything constructive can come from sitting for hours on the phone spreading such venom?
Is murder ever a good thing?
Murder?
Yes murder; because that is exactly what is being done when such junk is propogated in the Body. It has to stop.

I decided to share this openly today because there is one thing I have learned to be true. When the light is turned on and gossip exposed, darkness has to flee.
Darkness and light cannot co-exist.
So, I have turned the light on, and now I ask for the church to begin to stand with me to stop this type vicious attack dead in it's tracks.