Thought for Thursday
Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people, neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him. Leviticus 19:16
A disturbingly ominous poster from 1941 in the Soviet Union shows a frowning woman with her finger to her lips, and a caption reading ‘Don’t gossip; gossip leads to treason’. Gossipers are rarely spoken well of anywhere in the world at any time in human history. Gossiping, or talebearing, is condemned in Jewish tradition and teaching, and gossipers are regarded as very serious offenders. Clarke’s Commentary on the Bible says of a talebearer: A more despicable character exists not: such a person is a pest to society, and should be exiled from the habitations of men. Our text makes it plain that God does not like gossiping, either. And neither should we.
What is wrong with gossiping? To answer a question with a question, what is right about gossiping? Does gossiping do any good, other than feed the ego of the gossiper? Who receives any benefit from gossip, which is essentially the passing on of personal information about others without regard to its truth, its harm to reputations, or its impact on privacy considerations? Most gossipers get an unholy joy from passing on information that they think nobody else has access to. But God says gossipping is wrong. And we should agree. We should appreciate that gossip is nothing but selfishness often clad in mean-spiritness, envy, and cruelty. Gossip can often be true, but in its truth are barbs that hurt people unnecessarily.
Gossip has no place in God’s Assembly, and gossipers need to realize that. We need to consider the old rule that, if we are to speak about someone, we should run it past three tests: Is it true? Is it kind? Is it necessary? If it fails any one of those tests, it is wrong for us to utter. It is also wrong for us to listen to. If the Lord Jesus was visiting you, would you tell him everything that you have said in the past day about everyone else in the Assembly? Generally speaking, the only part of a gossiper that is not lazy is his or her tongue. In addition to the harm that gossipping does, gossip also wastes time that is better spent in more profitable directions.
You would never gossip, of course. Or listen to gossip, either. Or tolerate those around you participating in this disgusting practice. -Jim MacIntosh