The Messenger
Our Weekly Bulletin
Our Weekly Bulletin
“Hey, did you hear about…” That’s usually how it begins, and our ears are pricked, and we listen intently as someone begins to spread some good juicy gossip about something or someone and we can’t wait to hear it and then tell someone else what we now have heard, often not even caring if it is true or not. All of us at times I think could say we have fallen into the trap of engaging in gossip. Maybe not realizing the harm it may cause.
An old proverb relates the story of a person who repeated gossip – some rumor about a neighbor. Soon, the whole community had heard the rumor. Later, the person who spread the gossip learned that the rumor was untrue. The person was very sorry and went to a leader in the community who had a reputation for great wisdom to seek advice. The man told the person, “Go to your home and take a feather pillow outside. Rip it open and scatter the feathers, then return to me tomorrow.” The person did as the man had instructed. The next day, the person visited the man. The man said, “Go and collect all the feathers you scattered yesterday and bring them back to me.” The person went home and searched for the feathers, but the wind had carried them all away. The person returned to the man and said, “I could find none of the feathers I scattered yesterday.” The man said, see, “it’s easy to scatter the feathers but impossible to get them back.” So it is with gossip; it doesn’t take much to spread hurtful words, but once you do, you can never completely undo the damage.
The Bible labels gossips as untrustworthy and meddlesome (Pro. 11:13; 20:19; 26:20; 1 Tim. 5:13) and even worthy of death. In the New Testament, the condemnation of gossip is harsh. “Furthermore, just as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, so God gave them over to a depraved mind, so that they do what ought not to be done. They have become filled with every kind of wickedness, evil, greed and depravity. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit and malice. They are gossips, slanderers, God-haters, insolent, arrogant and boastful; they invent ways of doing evil; they disobey their parents” (Rom. 1:28-30). At our best in Christ, we do not want to be a gossip. Nothing is more deadly to relationships than spreading false rumors and gossip. Time and space prevent me from listing all the verses in the Bible that warn and condemn the sin of gossip. Oh, and don’t forget what someone once said, “If they spread gossip to you, they will spread gossip about you”. The wise person keeps their tongue in check. The next time you are tempted to gossip, remember the proverb of the feathers, and how your words, once they do damage, may never be completely undone. Ask God to give you the wisdom and strength you need to resist the urge to gossip. Paul would write in Philippians 4:8 that we are to avoid idle talk and instead focus on things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, and commendable. And may we never forget “And above all things have a fervent love for one another…(1 Peter 4:8). God Bless -Todd
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