Psst...wanna know a secret ? Part two.

 In my previous posting on the vexing subject of gossip I stated that gossip arises in the fires of hell, and it's the "nuclear option" of the enemy's war on the saints.  

Gossip is a characteristic of unbelievers, just watch a few minutes of any of the plethora of gossipy TV programs such as "E!" or listen to talk-back radio and the words of Paul in Romans 1:29-30 come to life, describing the lives of unbelievers who have shunned God: “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.” Gossip and slander belong to unbelievers who have rejected God. When we gossip, we talk like people who have rejected Christ. 

There is another type of gossip that many of us unknowingly participate in. I call it "prayer gossip"... you know the sort of thing.. public prayers in church or prayer groups... "Pray for young Mary's surprise baby", or "pray for Joe in prison", or "Bill's facing bankruptcy, Lord help keep his family together", or "Jane's kids are running wild again, and her husband spends all his time away from home, help her please Lord". The motive for such prayer may not be malicious, but it's gossip none-the-less. Best avoided. Prayer for people in such situations is best in a face-to-face setting, and only if they want your prayer!   

Gossip seems to crop up whenever people get together for any reason, but most especially when the relationships grow deeper and more intimate, as they tend to do in churches, we are after all, a family. It seems that this atmosphere provides a fertile ground for discussion of those who aren’t present. Add to that the good intentions excuse of “Christian Concern” and you have the potential to kill the atmosphere of trust in a group and hurt someone deeply.

When the Apostle Paul wrote to the church at Corinth, prior to his visit he listed gossiping as one of the behaviors he hoped NOT to find among the list of known "church-killers".  "For I am fearful that somehow or other I may come and find you not as I desire to find you, and that you may find me too not as you want to find me--that perhaps there may be factions (quarreling), jealousy, temper (wrath, intrigues, rivalry, divided loyalties), selfishness, whispering, gossip, arrogance (self-assertion), and disorder among you".  2 Corinthians 12:20 Amplified Bible  

What then is the antidote to gossip?

I once got severe food poisoning from some poorly cooked chicken in a store-bought sandwich. I was very very sick for several days, and completely washed-out for many days afterward. I felt as if I had swallowed some nasty poison, and since that time the only chicken I eat now is chicken I cook myself, even BBQ chicken I "Twice-Cook", once in the microwave, then finished on the BBQ. I avoid chicken that I don't know the origin of.

We should treat gossip the same, as if it's poison.... and avoid it! Because it will make us sick! 

Proverbs 17:9 says, “He who covers over an offense promotes love, but whoever repeats the matter separates close friends.” 

Overlooking or covering an offense is an act of love and friendship, and a sign of Christian maturity.

Gossip is condemned throughout Scripture, yet it continues to be a "modern problem" plaguing many churches and church groups. The aim/result of gossip is disunity, and division. The enemy of our souls knows that he can render the church ineffective through the unbridled use of the tongue. He doesn’t have to harm us, knowing that when we gossip we are on our way to destroying the work of the church, as sure as if we had struck the match ourselves.

 

Be on guard for yourselves and for the flock, among which the Holy Spirit has made you
overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood. I know that
after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock; and from among your own selves, men will arise, speaking perverse things to draw away the disciples after them. Acts 20:28-30 NIV

Paul writes in the book of Romans that our salvation -our place in heaven- is based upon what happens in our hearts and comes out of our mouths:

If you confess with your mouth Jesus {as} Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation. Romans 10:9-10 NIV

Is gossip a sin...YES! Will gossip keep us from entering Heaven's door...YES! Is gossip worth that price...NO!

What are we doing about gossip ...  We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ. 2 Corinthians 10:5 NIV