Here Is Some Juicy Gossip About Bert

October 3, 2022

Stella was the town gossip and self-appointed supervisor of the town’s morals. Many of the local residents didn’t appreciate her activities, but feared her enough to maintain their silence. One day she accused Bert, of being an alcoholic after she saw his pickup truck parked outside the town’s only bar one afternoon.

Bert was known to be a man of few words. After he heard the gossip he walked up to her, stared at her for a moment, and just walked away without saying a word. Later that evening, he parked his pickup truck in front of her house and left it there all night.

Gossip is a tantalizing evil that can tempt the best of us. You don’t even know who Bert is, but you were probably interested in knowing some juicy gossip. Gossip is easily defined as idle talk or rumor, especially about personal or private affairs of others. The gossip industry is quite successful making three billion dollars a year. Just because you have never bought a copy of National Enquirer do not deceive yourself into thinking you do not gossip. The same warning applies to Christians who go to church. Some of the juiciest gossip can be generated in the fellowship hall of a church.

Paul found this to be way too true when he wrote to one of the churches he started in Corinth. We read in II Corinthians 12:20, “For I am afraid that when I come I may not find you as I want you to be, and you may not find me as you want me to be. I fear that there may be discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder.”

Why is the sin of gossip so easy commit? I think it is because we like to think of ourselves as better than other people, and so we get jealous (which goes well with gossip) of those who threaten us, and are quick to draw conclusions or repeat things that put them in a bad light. We think it makes us look better if we tear someone else down.

Think about how often you look for ways to improve a weak relationship by finding and sharing that person’s strengths with others. When was the last time you told a story that shone a positive light on someone? Have you ever told a positive story about someone you don’t like very much? When was the last time you told a story about someone you weren’t quite sure was true? It doesn’t make it okay if you qualify your comments by saying “I heard,” “Don’t quote me on this,” or “Don’t repeat this until you hear it from someone else.”

A woman repeated a bit of gossip about a neighbor. Within a few days the whole community knew the story. Later the woman responsible for spreading the rumor learned that it was completely untrue. She was very sorry and went to a wise man to see if she could repair the damage.

He said, “Go to the marketplace, purchase a chicken, and have it killed. On your way home pluck its feathers and drop them one by one along the road.” Surprised by this advice, the woman did what she was told. The next day the wise man said, “Now go and collect all those feathers and bring them back to me.” The woman followed the same road, but to her dismay, the wind had blown the feathers away. After searching for hours, she returned with only three in her hand. The old sage said, “It’s easy to drop them, but it’s impossible to get them back. So it is with gossip. It doesn’t take much to spread a rumor, but once you do, you can never completely undo the wrong.”

The Bible commands us to fight with all we have to correct this terrible sin. We read in Ephesians 4:29, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen.” Notice, we are not to let “ANY” unwholesome talk come out of our mouths. Therefore, we are to “ALWAYS” use words that will build others up.

I know a few people who have a reputation of never saying anything bad about someone else. Does this describe you? What would it take for you to use words useful for building others up? Ask someone you trust if they have ever heard you gossiping. I hope you will make an oral commitment to control what you say so you can build others up and not tear them down. (To find out more about Al Earley or read previous articles, see www.lagrangepres.org).