What is Gossip?

"A man who lacks judgment derides his neighbor, but a man of understanding holds his tongue. A gossip betrays a confidence, but a trustworthy man keeps a secret" Proverbs 11:12-13

A perverse man stirs up dissension, and a gossip separates close friends" Proverbs 16:28

"A fool's mouth is his undoing, and his lips are a snare to his soul. The words of a gossip are like choice morsels; they go down to a man's inmost parts" Proverbs 18:7-8

The church, in my experience, has more problems with gossip that the world does.

 

Hey Joe, did I tell you what Sopranette did last week?

See, we were invited to her house for dinner that evening...well...it is just to awful for me to speak about!

Just kidding.

 

Not if it is done in a Biblical manner.

Truth and Biblical motive are two things to watch out for.

 

An Excellent Question...

Sister - I believe we can take a look at the last four or five pages of my post titled: "Major Restaurants Remove Christmas Spirit" in this Board/Forum. There were some unkind words being shared between other members [via posts] about two members who were removed from the BB.

That is as close to the sin of gossip as I have seen on a Christian forum.

Gossip is not hard to define, as it deals with saying things about another person behind their back, while the gossipers place nice to these unsuspecting victims when they are in the presence of each other.

Gossip is oral, or verbal assault, and it usually contains lies, exaggerations and character assassination. Even it the message shared about another person is the truth, it can be gossip if it is meant to defame or isolate that other person from the church clique.

Gossip is when a group of folks go out for a meal after church and order: "Roast Pastor."

I hop

 

no but it can be hard to avoid. It can be really easy to do.
I believe you can spread gossip with good intentions.
It is still wrong and we should be always careful to make SURE that when we pass along info it is the truth.
I have been guilty of this before more times that I care to remember.

 

gos-sip - \'gas-&p\ vi : to give someone the benefit of the dirt --

(Best definition I ever heard!)

Ed

 

Example, IMO.

"I'm just going to bring this up for prayer. - According to a reliable source, ..."

Ed

 

i like a definition I heard somewhere: Gossip is talking to someone a person about a problem who is not part of the solution.

I know this doesn't cover every situation, but it does with most.

 

Amen!!

Gossip in not always lies, but it IS always sin.

We are to exhort or to rebuke others and this deals specifically with the person to whom it is about NOT to every of whom you know.

 

It's gossip if it doesn't fit these categories:

Is it true?
Is it kind?
Is it necessary?

 

Surely this would depend on why the other pastor's ministry was being talked about, in what manner it was being discussed, and who with. I hope these two (fictitious an far-fetched) examples will show what I mean.

1. (talking to another Christian in the supermarket): "Have you heard the latest about Pastor So-and-so? Guess what! Last Sunday, he took his pet cat into the pulpit! He told the congregation that his cat gives him messages from God, and told them to listen to their pets instead of reading the bible! Our pastor would never say anything like that!"

2. (private conversation between a recently-converted Christian, R, and a more mature believer, M):
R: "How do I know whether my pastor is preaching a faithful sermon?"
M: "Well, you need to check that what he says agrees with the bible."
R: "Don't all pastors preach what is in the bible?"
M: "Sadly, no. When I was on holiday, I visited a church where the pastor told us that we didn't need to read the bible, and that it was better to listen to our pets. I cannot find such teaching in the bible, so I have to say that (on that matter at least) that pastor was not being faithful to God's Word."

In my opinion, the first example is gossip, and the second is not.

 

You are showing that you are British
We would use the word vacation over here.
But you probably know that.

Good examples BTW.

 

Yep, I did know that one (and I know "railroad", "sidewalk", "condo" and several others). But some of the Americanisms used on the BB mean little to me, and I'm sure that British or Australia members may (without meaning to) cause confusion to the American members. :laugh:

 

Ok, so what do you use for these terms?

 

Do you say railway?

 

Looksl ike from Wiki you guys either call a side walk a footpath or a pavement. Is that correct?

 

One More Thought on Gossip

My Mama once said, "If you can't say something nice about someone else, it's better to not say anything at all...."

Shalom,

Pastor Paul

 

Gossip is still one of those things that everyone will define differently. Someone once told me something that I find useful. He said that if you say something about a person, and you would still say it if that person were sitting next to you, it's probably not gossip.