Gossip – Do You Hear What I Hear?

Gossip is a deadly tool. When spoken, it comes to life and travels back and forth entering every opening it can on its way to destruction. Princeton University defines gossip as “a report (often malicious) about the behavior of other people; a person given to gossiping and divulging personal information about others”

The Bible defines gossip as specifically forbidden by God. “Do not spread slanderous gossip among you people” (Leviticus 19:16). What else does the Bible say about gossip? Quite a lot, actually.

·         Gossips make poor friends. (see Proverbs 11:13)

·         Gossiping grows out of laziness. (see I Timothy 5:13)

·         God catalogs gossip with greed, hate, envy, and murder. (see Romans 1:29)

·         Gossip puts us in the place of judging others. (see Matthew 7:1)

Have you been the victim of gossip? The best action to take, in most cases, is no action at all. Refrain from feeding the fire, so to speak. In fact, the Bible instructs us to stop the chain of gossip by not responding. In Proverbs 26:20, we are told, “fire goes out for lack of fuel, and quarrels disappear when gossip stops.” So before you engage in gossip, think. Consider reading Ephesians 4:29 and Colossians 3:8-17.

Have you been told something you are not sure is true? If the news is serious, consider going to the person and asking their side (refraining from engaging in a back and forth dialogue between the gossiper and the one who is being spoken about). Moreover, in all situations, consider the source (“a good person produces good words from a good heart…” Matthew 12:35).

On the Q&A section of the Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN), someone asked, “What’s the best way to handle the situation when you’ve been a victim of gossip? I’ve talked to the people responsible for this untrue gossip and they deny their involvement. What should I do now when the gossip isn’t going away?”  CBN’s response:

The Bible says, “When a man’s ways please the Lord, he makes even his enemies to be at peace with him.” We are supposed to be dead to self, and sometimes gossip is beneficial because it lets us die to self. The thing that upsets me a great deal is that Christians are engaged in picking up a slanderous report against another. I want to say this very clearly: Slander is every bit as bad as adultery. Slander is every bit as bad as murder. There is no difference. You might not go to prison for slander, but you are killing somebody’s reputation and it is just as bad a sin. The devil is the accuser of the brethren.