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THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER VOLUME 5, NUMBER 46, NOVEMBER 20, 2005 GOSSIP “For we hear that there are some which walk among you disorderly, working not at all, but are busybodies. Now them that are such we command and exhort by our Lord Jesus Christ, that with quietness they work, and eat their own bread” (II Thessalonians 3:11 -12). I suppose that all of us at one time or another have been guilty of the sin of gossiping, for it has always been one of the devil’s more popular devices. It has even become the subject of polite humor, and no one regards it as one of the more “terrible sins.” Somehow we have convinced ourselves that the adulterer, the murderer, the thief, the liar, are terrible sinners, but gossip just doesn’t seem that bad. The Lord warned us of this sin, “And withal they learn to be idle, wandering about from house to house; and not only idle, but tattlers also and busybodies, speaking things which they ought not” (I Timothy 5:13). There are many things involved in the sin of gossip, which are wrong. We are all aware of one, the sin of slander. Slander is inherently involved in the sin of gossip, yet few are conscious of committing this sin, because it is not obvious to them. They do not set out to misrepresent another, and everything they say is to them the honest truth. Slander is the inevitable result of gossip though. We have all played the game of whispering to a companion at a social gathering a phrase and having it whispered throughout the room. It never came out the same as it was originally worded. The message was distorted through the process of misunderstanding and interpreting. This is the insidious nature of gossip. Though no one ever intends to, the end result is slander. Gossip is malicious from another standpoint. Any man in this country, both legally and scripturally, has the right to face his accusers. The process of gossip is such that no one knows the actual truth, and the originator of the tale can never be definitely found. Gossip insidiously serves as the cloak for other sins as well. It serves as the disguise for hatred, jealousy, envy, strife, etc. Christians should not partake of it. For some perverse reason we are prone to believe what is told us in this fashion. We resist sales pitches at our doors and over the phone. We resist the propaganda of T.V. and the newspapers. Few believe the promises of politicians. If no one believed gossip, there would be no harm in it, but a word of gossip spoken in private is invariably received as if it were gospel. This is perverse and dangerous. It is dangerous from the standpoint of contraverting God’s plan for dealing with issues between brethren. “Moreover if thy brother shall trespass against thee, go and tell him his fault between thee and him alone: if he shall hear thee thou hast gained thy brother” (Matthew 18:15). God’s plan of settling issues between brethren was for the men concerned to privately and sincerely deal with the problem themselves. This plan avoids everything that is harmful in gossip, and results in the settlement of the dispute which gossip never accomplishes and can only make worse. There is nothing funny about gossip, it is an insidious and dangerous sin which invariably destroys the accord between brethren. Let each man perform his own work with quietness and deal sincerely with problems as they arise.
J. W. (submitted by Marvin Saylor) STRANGE…..ISN’T IT? Isn’t it strange how a twenty-dollar bill seems like such a large amount when you donate it to church, but such a small amount when you go shopping? Isn’t it strange how two hours seem so long when you’re at church, and how short they seem when you’re watching a good movie? Isn’t it strange that you can’t find a word to say when you’re praying, but you have no trouble thinking what to talk about with a friend? Isn’t it strange how difficult and boring it is to read one chapter of the Bible, but how easy it is to read a hundred pages of a popular novel or a section of a favorite magazine? Isn’t it strange how everyone wants front-row-tickets to concerts and games, but they do whatever possible to sit on the last rows at church? Isn’t it strange how we need to know about an event for church two or three weeks before the day so we can include it in our agenda, but we can adjust our time for other events in the last minute? Isn’t it strange how we believe everything that magazines and newspapers say, but question the words in the Bible? Isn’t it strange? (Submitted by Vern Kern)
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