There have been instances when one received just a minor scrape or wound but due to infection gangrene developed and the result was amputation of an arm or leg. Gossip too, is a tiny thing that can end in disaster. Its damage can be likened to a lighted match thrown into a dry forest. Gossip shatters friendships, breaks hearts and disrupts churches. Many of us may have been victims of it and perhaps more of us have been a party to it.
Gossip can be cultivated into a fine art. There is the blunt approach. It is stated we don’t like a person and here are the reasons why. We might even add, “I’d say it to his face, too”. The fact is we are hiding behind our gossip rather than facing the one that has irritated us. Then there is the subtle approach. We say, “Yes she is a nice person but it’s too bad about her habit of....” We then spend twenty minutes or more running her down.
Christians ought to frequently review James 3:1-6. Special notice should be taken of some phrases in verses 5 and 6. “So also the tongue is a smalipart of the body...how great a forest is set aflame by such a small fire! And the tongue is a fire...” Few scriptures apply more on a daily basis. Did you know the Bible places a gossip on the equality with a drunk? At Titus 2:3 older women are told “not to be malicious gossips nor enslaved to much wine”. In the mind of the Holy Spirit one is as bad as the other.
Putting others down hurts us in at least two ways. First, others lose confidence in us. Second, we become abnormally conscious of how others are critical of us and extra sensitive to the opinions, of others. The result is mutual distrust.
There are reasons why people indulge in gossip. Some find a degree of enjoyment in discussing the faults of other people. Proverbs 26:22 suggests, “the words of a whisperer are like delicious morsels”. Newscasters have long known that “scandal makes news”. Why is it pleasurable to them? It brings about an unconsciousness of our faults. Pulling others to pieces make them feel better about themselves.
Some folks just love to create a sensation. “Small minds love to bring large news and failing a load will make one”. One can momentarily be a center of attention with gossip. Likely there are other psychological mechanisms for gossip but he basic reason is a lack of love. When we love people, we do not constantly pick flaws. “Love covers all transgressions”(Prov. 10:12). We don’t advertise sins of people we love any more than we would advertise our own. If we love someone we are slow to believe wrong about them.
Gossiping can be overcome. “For lack of wood fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down” (Prov. 26:20). If one comes bringing a “dainty tidbit”, simply tell them, “Since it is so important to you, let’s go and talk to that person”. If there are no gossipy ears, there will be few gossipy tongues.
---Leon Cole