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When Jesus entered the Temple and saw vendors profiting on worshipers, his infuriated response was rooted in his clear perspective on worship. Worship should be unhindered and should stir disappointment or guilt on the way to the altar. In churches today, we rarely see such blatant parallels and affronts to the holiness of worship. But there are seasons in the life of a church where community behavior hinders us on the way to worship.

One such area is gossip. Gossip (in my own definition) is the spreading of information about another with the goal of causing ridicule or disgust. The motive here is important; we can share news (i.e. “John and Sue had their baby!”) and it is not gossip. It becomes gossip easily when we attempt to stir someone to mockery or anger based on a self-righteous opinion:

• “John and Sue had a baby… have you seen it? That’s one funny-looking baby!”
• “…John went back to work that same afternoon!”
• “…I can’t believe they have 12 kids! Can you imagine?!”

The letter of James expresses a strong pastoral concern for believers’ tongues. He describes is as a fire – a contagious, forest-consuming fire. James’s passion for action is magnified by his caution to using speech as a weapon. Even in his 1st-century perspective, the Church of Jesus would be known for something better than unwholesome speech. For the Church of tomorrow, we must guard ourselves against the ways that gossip might eat away at our community health. If you need a reminder of what gossip can do, here are a few possible outcomes.

1. Fosters doubt in leadership – When we gossip we tend to gossip about the people of influence – whether it be the influence of social groups or entire communities. The danger, of course, is that we begin to treat someone as objects of ridicule. With leaders, our gossip burns through the layers of trust and encourages others to deny their authority.
2. Fosters distrust in community – If we have the awareness of gossip in our own communities, most likely it is because someone has been caught in gossip – even about yourself. When this happens you begin to consciously or subconsciously distance yourself from others. Insecurity in our relationships is the death of peace and not the will of God.
3. Disrupts biblical peacemaking – We tend to gossip because of hearsay from someone “in the know” OR because we have personally witnessed behavior that causes concern. As brothers and sisters, we have an obligation to confront each other when someone’s behavior unsettles you (Matthew 18:15-17). Now, if you’re like me, you justify this behavior by saying “I just need to vent” or “I just need to confess to someone”. In doing so we fail our neighbor by subjecting them to our version of right-ness. Peace – as Jesus would demonstrate – would come at the cost of self-sacrifice and others’ edification. Therefore, we honor Christ and his church by facing our brothers and sisters head on when we are in disagreement.
4. Promotes self-righteousness – selfishly we speak of others with or without the facts and manipulate moments of conversation to make ourselves look important. Gossip always seems to have a motive: to tear someone down in the eyes of another, or elevate ourselves. I confess that many times in my life, both motives come into play. But no matter how I look at it, I am confronted by the truth that I am playing into a power struggle that I have created or nurtured. Jesus said, “he who is first shall be last…”
5. Corrupts healthy intercession. When we spread gossipy news – even in the hope of inviting others to prayer – we fail to intercede for others with God-centered intentions. To be clear, I am referring to both intercessory prayer and intercessory mediation. Many times, we are thrust into moments of communication on behalf of another. But by becoming bearers of news, requests, apologies, or explanations, we dance into temptation with the false feeling of security – neglecting the reality that we might subconsciously choose a side. Our words, then, well-intended or not, might carry inflections or other nonverbal cues that invite your listener to be influenced or tempted to react, instead of pray.

For the Christian, gossip falls into the biblical understanding of sins of the tongue (along with deceit, slander, blasphemy, complaining, mockery, foul language, sarcasm, etc.). In this category, we are constantly fighting a raging fire – an untamable beast (James 3). We cannot begin to imagine the results of playful match wielded above dry straw. Yet one glance to the left and we rivers of gasoline; to the right, we see the dry timbers of our well-built cathedrals.

One never imagines the catastrophes of gossip and therefore we must return to the disciplines of silence, meditation, journal-keeping. We must embody direct communication fueled by gentleness and eagerness to forgive. And the hardest of all – we must rebuke gossip with expediency.

Remember, the tongue is a flammable instrument – yet one that can “build up” and give grace.

(Eph 4:29). Let us therefore be people who speak life, practice discipline, love our neighbors and call the community to accountability in speech. You never know whose character (or even life! Leviticus 19:16) you might spare, including your own.