Charles Spurgeon on Gossip
Something interesting happens in the latter half of Romans 1. Paul describes mankind’s casual disregard of his Creator and his consequent descent into sin. “…although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools” (vv. 22-23).
As a result, “God gave them up to a debased mind” (v. 28). Paul then lists some of the characteristics of a debased mind.
What sort of person do you imagine when you think of a debased mind? A brutal serial killer? A dangerous psychopathic stalker? A pedophile? Fascist dictators torturing and executing Christians?
Paul, inspired by the Spirit of God, imagines someone like us.
“…full of envy…gossips…disobedient to parents…heartless…” Characteristics we might consider relatively harmless, Paul considers the product of a debased mind.
“Gossips” (tale-bearers)
Gossip is probably one of the most accepted sins in the church. Charles Spurgeon was blunt in his sermon on Psalm 15 regarding the sin of gossip:
“Nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.” He is a fool if not a knave who picks up stolen goods and harbours them; in slander as well as robbery, the receiver is as bad as the thief. If there were not gratified hearers of ill reports, there would be an end of the trade of spreading them. Trapp says, that “the tale-bearer carrieth the devil in his tongue, and the tale-hearer carries the devil in his ear.” The original may be translated, “endureth;” implying that it is a sin to endure or tolerate tale-bearers. “Show that man out!” we should say of a drunkard, yet it is very questionable if his unmanly behaviour will do us so much mischief as the tale-bearers insinuating story. “Call for a policeman!” we say if we see a thief at his business; ought we to feel no indignation when we hear a gossip at her work? Mad dog! Mad dog!! is a terrible hue and cry, but there are few curs whose bite is so dangerous as a busybody’s tongue. Fire! fire!! is an alarming note, but the tale-bearer’s tongue is set on fire of hell, and those who indulge it had better mend their manners, or they may find that there is fire in hell for unbridled tongues. Our Lord spake evil of no man, but breathed a prayer for his foes; we must be like him, or we shall never be with him. (HT Ray Van Neste)
That is a fairly stinging rebuke. Not only is gossip a sin, Spurgeon says, but so is tolerating it. Have I ever been guilty of either spreading gossip or tolerating it? I’m afraid so.
Some questions are in order.
What exactly is gossip? When is talking about someone gossip, and when is it not? There are many instances in Scripture when Paul says something critical about either an individual or a group of people. Is that gossip? Why or why not?
How common is gossip in the church? What should be done about it?
I’m not sure I know the answers to all of those questions. I welcome your comments.
Barry Wallace
theoparadox
pijohnson
It helps if you refer to gossip as prayer requests.
Just kidding, but not really. Sometimes we hide behind the practices of the church to engage in what we know we shouldn’t.
I think it is a problem at times, and is due to the fact that we are, after all, nothing more than sinners forgiven by the grace of God.
Not an excuse, and I am not using it as such. I have gossiped and had to ask forgiveness. I ask Him daily to shut my mouth when I feel the urge to do so again.
One rule of thumb that comes to mind for me is to ask myself how I would feel if that person walked into the room while I was saying what I’m thinking of saying. And, since gossip starts in the heart I can also ask myself the same question of my thoughts – how would it affect that person to hear what I’m thinking about them at this moment – or better yet, remembering that God knows exactly what I’m thinking and even why I’m thinking it and will hold me accountable.
It gets dicier when we are asking for prayer for someone, or a situation. We may then feel that we need to say things we wouldn’t necessarily want someone to hear, for instance when in your prayer group you pray for unsaved loved ones, or a family member who is in a terrible situation, or is treating you terribly, or some such thing. At that point I guess we have to listen carefully to our conscience and remember that God is aware of the situation, so everyone in the room doesn’t necessarily have to be.
Andy and Laurie,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts. One thing my pastor emphasizes, and which I think is quite right but often neglected, is that we should learn to talk to people rather than about them, as in Matthew 18. That alone, I think, would eliminate most gossip.
Yes, good point, because that goes to the heart of the matter of loving your neighbor, which is a whole lot easier to do when you’re actively building a relationship with them. Thanks again.