A Christian’s approach to life situations part 5
Gossip
Gossip is another thing that many Christians have to battle against on daily basis. In this lesson I want to show what the Bible says about gossip and what we can do to prevent ourselves from getting caught up in gossip.
Let’s take a look at couple of different definitions of gossip.
A report (often malicious) about the behavior of other people. A person given to gossiping and divulging personal information about others (Word Web).
A person who spreads rumors or idle, fruitless tales (Nelson’s Bible Dictionary).
Slander, slanderer,
tale bearer, informer (Strong’s Hebrew
Dictonary)
For the most part, telling the secrets of other is
bad thing. However, there is also times when it is good to tell secrets or to
be an informer and this is when these secrets can be used to help save a life
or to help someone stop sinning. For example, when Paul was rescued from the
angry mob in Acts 21 who believed the false rumor that he had taken a Gentile
into the temple area. We find out that there were some Jews that were plotting
against him to take his life.
Acts 23:12 And when it was day, some of the
Jews banded together and bound themselves under an oath, saying that they would
neither eat nor drink till they had killed Paul. 13 Now there were more than forty
who had formed this conspiracy. 14
They came to the chief priests and elders, and said, "We have bound
ourselves under a great oath that we will eat nothing until we have killed
Paul. 15 "Now you, therefore,
together with the council, suggest to the commander that he be brought down to
you tomorrow, as though you were going to make further inquiries concerning
him; but we are ready to kill him before he comes near." 16 So when Paul's sister's
son heard of their ambush, he went and entered the barracks and told Paul.
Here is great example when revealing a secret is
good because it saved Paul’s life. However you need to realize that sometimes
even when you are being a informer for the right reasons the person you have
told on may hate you for what you have done.
Genesis 37:2 This is the history of Jacob. Joseph, being
seventeen years old, was feeding the flock with his brothers. And the lad was
with the sons of Bilhah and the sons of Zilpah, his father's wives; and
Joseph brought a bad report of them to his father. 3 Now
Since Joseph was quick to tell about his brothers when they were not doing what they were supposed to being doing combined with the fact that their father loved him more caused them to hate him.
With this in mind I have message for the young children. There is nothing wrong with telling on your brother or your sister when they are doing something that may harm them or someone else or if they are doing something that mom or dad told them not to do. For instance, if you see them trying to juggle the kitchen knifes you need to tell on them. Now, they may get mad at you for doing so, but it they will get over it. Now, you don’t need to tell on your brother and sister for ever little small thing they do because that is not necessary and it will drive your parents crazy.
Sometimes you might have a friend our loved one who confides in you and wants your advice. However, you may not be able to help them because you have never deal with the problem they are having. So, it certainly acceptable to ask someone that you respect that might give you some insight to the problem they are having and as far as that goes you don’t have to mention any names. In this situation, you are not slandering the person name nor or you trying to spread anything, you are just trying to find out the best way to help that person. So, this would be another good way that sharing a person’s secret can be used in positive way to help someone.
So, basically the only good kind of gossip where secrets are revealed is when it will benefit someone in a positive way or keep someone from falling away from God.
Now, let’s take a look at the bad kind of gossip. From the definitions we looked at earlier you can see that that gossip can be very destructive when used for the wrong reasons such as destroying a person reputation or value just because you want having something to talk about. It shouldn’t surprise us that a lot people have this problem because we have been trained by the media that gossip is something wonderful. That is why there are countless magazine that do nothing but gossip about the dirt on the celebrities. The worst the news, the more magazines they sell. This type of gossip is worldly and Christians should avoid it all cost.
Let take a look at some of things the Bible says motivates a person to gossip our slander another person.
Psalm 41:7 All who hate
me whisper together against me; Against me they devise my hurt.
A great example of this is those who hated John the Baptist and Jesus. Notice what false things they spread about John and Jesus.
Matthew 11:18
"For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, 'He has a
demon.' 19 "The Son of
Man came eating and drinking, and they say, 'Look, a glutton and a winebibber,
a friend of tax collectors and sinners!' But wisdom is justified by her
children."
Proverbs 16:28 A
perverse man sows strife, And a whisperer separates the best of friends.
Proverbs 10:18 Whoever hides hatred has lying lips,
And whoever spreads slander is a fool.
Acts 17:21 For all
the Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing
else but either to tell or to hear some new thing.
The Athenians are
described well by,
Proverbs 26:22 The words of a whisperer are like
delicious morsels; they go down into the inner parts of the body.
Some are motivated by
jealousy. When a person is jealous of someone because of who they are or
because of what they have they will spread as many false rumors as they can to
try and destroy their reputation, so they won’t have anything to be jealous of
anymore.
Others are motivated by
low self esteem. When they see someone that is confident in themselves and
seems to always do the right thing, they will find any bad news they can about
the person and they will drive into the ground. The reason they do this is
because in their mind when they slander someone else it makes them feel better
about themselves. This is same thing a bully does as school. Usually you will find
that they have a low self esteem and they have been bullied by an older sibling
or even a parent and so they bully other people to make themselves feel bigger
and better even though they hate it when it is done to them.
Finally some are
motivated by self-righteousness. They think so highly of themselves that if
they find someone they don’t like
perhaps because that person is more righteous than they are they will do
everything in the power to find a way to put that person below them in their
eyes even it means lying about that person.
These are some of the
ways that motive some people to gossip, which doesn’t do anything but hurt
another person. This is why the Bible doesn’t have anything good to say about
this type of gossip.
Proverbs 20:19 He who goes about as a
talebearer reveals secrets; Therefore do not associate with one who flatters
with his lips.
Not only are we not to be a gossiper we are stay
away from those who are.
Leviticus 19:16 'You shall not go about as a
talebearer among your people; nor shall you take a stand against the life of
your neighbor: I am the LORD.
God did not tolerate gossip under Moses Law and He
doesn’t tolerate it under Christ’s Law. In fact those who continue to gossip
can lose their soul.
Romans 1:28 And even as they did not like to
retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to
do those things which are not fitting; 29
being filled with all unrighteousness, sexual immorality, wickedness,
covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit,
evil-mindedness; they are whisperers, 30 backbiters, haters of God,
violent, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to
parents, 31 undiscerning,
untrustworthy, unloving, unforgiving, unmerciful; 32 who, knowing the righteous
judgment of God, that those who practice such things are deserving of death,
not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them.
Since gossip is sinful and falls in line with all
these other sinful acts, Paul was concerned about some churches getting
involved in gossip.
2 Corinthians 12:20 For I fear lest, when I come, I
shall not find you such as I wish, and that I shall be found by you such
as you do not wish; lest there be contentions, jealousies, outbursts of
wrath, selfish ambitions, backbitings, whisperings, conceits,
tumults; 21 lest, when I come
again, my God will humble me among you, and I shall mourn for many who have
sinned before and have not repented of the uncleanness, fornication, and
lewdness which they have practiced.
Sometimes we can become so nosey and so willing to
spread information about others that we can cause all kinds of problems for a
congregation. When we start focusing in on what someone did, which is non of
business in the fist place, we become distracted and it will effect our worship
to God.
Now I want you to think about the eldership. The
Elder and his wife should be the greatest example of what a Christian is
supposed to be like. The Elders have to discuss very sensitive information
about the flock sometimes and you certainly wouldn’t want them going around
spreading everything they know about person when it supposed to be kept secret.
Did you know that a gossiping wife can keep a qualified man from becoming an
elder and it can cause a elder to have to step down.
1 Timothy 3:11 Likewise their wives must be reverent,
not slanderers, temperate, faithful in all things.
Now this verse is the section about the deacons,
but most commentators and I believe this is referring to both the deacon’s wife
and the elder’s wife. Notice they are not to be slanders, which is associated
with gossip. The last thing anyone would want is for what they told the
eldership in private being spread throughout the congregation. Obviously that
would not be good.
Another thing that causes some to gossip is having
to much time on their hands. This is why Paul makes the following suggestion in
regards to widows
1 Timothy 5:11 But refuse the younger
widows; for when they have begun to grow wanton against Christ, they desire to
marry, 12 having condemnation
because they have cast off their first faith.
13 And besides they learn to be idle, wandering about
from house to house, and not only idle but also gossips and busybodies, saying
things which they ought not. 14
Therefore I desire that the younger widows marry, bear children,
manage the house, give no opportunity to the adversary to speak
reproachfully. 15 For some
have already turned aside after Satan..
Notice, those who have allowed themselves to have too
much time on their hands and have became gossips and busybodies have turned
themselves over to Satan. So, as you can see there is nothing good about this
kind of gossip and as Christians we must learn to stay away from it, so we
don’t lose our soul.
Now that we have looked at the evils of gossip I
know want to give you some good advice on how to avoid gossip.
First, you need to remind yourself how powerful
and destructive your words can be.
James 3:5 Even so the tongue is a little member and
boasts great things. See how great a forest a little fire kindles!
This is great illustration of what gossip can do.
It may start out innocent enough, but it can grow into a forest fire that is
out of control. What does a person do to keep a camp fire in control? They
watch it closely and if a ember jumps out of the fire and lands on the nearby
grass you will stomp it out. Well, in the same way we must watch our tongue
very carefully and if we find ourselves about to gossip we need to stop those
words from every leaving our mouth so we can prevent destruction from
occurring.
Second, we need to recognize how gossip can be
disguised. If someone says, “Don’t quote me on this” or “I probably shouldn’t
say this” or “I don’t like to talk about people but”. These are phrases that
should set off an alarm in our head not to continue listening or to continue
what we were about to say. A good rule to follow that will help you not to say
things that you will regret is simply rhyme and it goes like this, “When in
doubt, leave it out.” I also like the one that our parents have told us over
and over again, “If you don’t have anything good to say then don’t say anything
at all.”
Third, we need to remind ourselves that even
though we may love to hear gossip and that it may bring us some pleasure it
always temporary and it is not worth jeopardizing our relationship with God. Of
course this applies to any sin that we may engage in.
Fourth, if we struggle with this sin, we need to
pray to God everyday for the strength to overcome the temptation to gossip and
He will help us in this area.
Fifth, I want to give you several questions you
should ask yourself before you tell somebody some gossip that will help you
determine if what you are about to say is helpful are harmful.
What is my attitude in this situation?
Are my words being said because of anger,
jealousy, pride or some other selfish motive?
Would I say this even if the person involved were
listening?
Will my words improve the situation in anyway?
Will my words be hurtful or harmful in someway?
If the roles were reversed, would I want someone
to repeat these words that I told them?
Questions like these will help us to determine if
what we are about to say will be helpful or harmful. So, if we will remind
ourselves of these things and ask ourselves these questions we can gain control
of gossip and make sure it doesn’t cause any unnecessary harm to others and so
it doesn’t cause us to lose our soul to the devil.
In this lesson we have learned what the Bible says
about gossip. There are times when gossip can be good when it used to save a
life or to help someone overcome sin in their life. However, gossip can also be
used in a sinful way when it is done with the wrong attitude and all it does is
causes unnecessary harm to another. This kind of gossip is a sin and can cause
you to lose your soul. Finally we looked at several ways that that we make sure
that we don’t get caught up in this sinful type of gossip.
The last thing I want to share with you is verse
and picture by Norman Rockwell that goes along with it.
Ecclesiastes 10:20 Do not curse the king, even in your thought;
Do not curse the rich, even in your bedroom; For a bird of the air may carry
your voice, And a bird in flight may tell the matter.