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About Community Gossip: One of Life's Deadly Poisons and What To Do About It
About Community Gossip: One of Life's Deadly Poisons and What To Do About It
| Gossip: One of Life's Deadly Poisons and What To Do About It |
| Written by David Zook |
| Wednesday, 21 October 2009 22:34 |
|
Lips moving Tongues wagging Stories forming Gossip, Gossip, Gossip Rumors playing Comments in the making Really…what are you saying? Gossip, Gossip, Gossip -Anonymous The destructiveness of gossip should come as no surprise. The Bible tells us that man can tame wild beasts, but can’t tame the tongue. It is a restless evil and full of deadly poison. (James 3:7-8) No doubt, our tongues are used to bless, uplift, and encourage, but they are also used to curse, run down, and discourage. Gossip entices us because our hearts want to know the “dirt” as it pleases our innermost being. (Proverbs 18:8) Nothing good comes from gossip. It betrays friendships and if done enough will prevent new friendships. (Proverbs 20:19) It damages the reputation of the person and makes you look foolish. If confronted, the gossiper usually denies and covers-up his or her part because of guilt, shame, and embarrassment. So the gossip in order to maintain his or her reputation now becomes a liar and deceiver enmeshed in sin. Gossip also damages communities. In your workplace think how moral goes out the window when the rumor mill goes into high gear. The same is true in churches. When the rumors and gossip get going it can cause a lot of unneeded strife and hurt people including the leadership in unnecessary ways. There have been many cases in which a rumor starts and before the facts can be established, many people have formed their opinion of a church leader and try to ride him out on a rail. As the first century church was getting its foot on the ground, Paul instructs his friend Timothy on how people ought to relate to one another with very specific instructions for female widows. He exhorts the younger female widows not be idle, busybodies or gossips saying things they should not say. (1 Timothy 5:13) As funny as it is at times, the hit show Desperate Housewives personifies this type of behavior that can be so destructive. Gossip is seductively easy for some of us to get sucked into participating … it is the Achilles heel that hamstrings us. So how do we break this juicy habit that thrills our hearts? Remember the resurrection. Odd advice, but hang with me for a moment. The Bible declares gossip as sin. Jesus rose from the dead to defeat death … the ultimate result of sin. It is through his accomplished work that we now have the power to say no the sins that ensnares us. We are conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:37) We now can confidently say no things that bind us and yes to the things that free us. With the resurrection as the foundation here are a few other tips to help you from gossiping: 1) Always remember to love others as you would want to be loved. 2) Avoid giving any speculative information to a known gossiper. 3) Do not pass on any information that if you don’t know if it is true. 4) When you hear something sounding like gossip ask: Have you talked (to the person you are gossiping about) regarding this? I would love to know what has worked for you. What other tips have worked for you? How have you beaten back the habit? |
Comments (1)
Deadly Poisons
1
Monday, 26 October 2009 16:29
Marcellino Porcello
Thank you for this article. I serve as an Elder and Governing Board member at my church. As a Board, we have completed a seminar on these types of issues and concerns in the church. One interesting comment made during one of our seminars was that we are either a bucket of water or a bucket of gasoline. We can make the decision to either quench the sin of gossip or fuel the flames of this sin. We all have the choice to stop this by simply stating that we will not participate in the conversation because it is gossip, thus using our bucket of water, or we can participate, thus using our bucket of gas. I do believe that gossip is one of the most destructive things a church can experience and must be stopped immediately. Amazing how a simple, "I will not participate in this discussion because it is wrong" works. Try it and be amazed how the gossip stops.
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