Have you ever experienced gossip? Were you the target or the gunman? Most of us have been on both sides of the gossip gun at some point in our lives. Unfortunately, we make excuses for our actions rather than deal with the real issue. Our society loves to see failure, success, lows and highs in other's lives. The success of Reality Television is due to our love for turmoil - watching it, not experiencing it.
My personal favorite intro to gossip is, "We should pray for.....because......." In our world today, husbands talk about wives, wives talk about husbands, both talk about children, neighbor about neighbor and it seems there is no one immune to the gossip campaigns. Lindsay Lohan's story seems to appear on the morning news daily. Wouldn't it be nice if just one person would make a stand to leave this young woman's life (and many other people's lives) out of the press? How can we stop it?
Gossip is a modern day stoning. If we say something to enough people and convincingly enough, a person's life will be impacted. The impression people have of them will change. Sadly, our perspective may be oddly warped and as we gossip, others perspectives may well influence how the story is shared and how often.
Remember the game we played as children, "Gossip" or "Telephone". One person would start by whispering in the next person's ear (only once, no second chances) and each child would whisper down through the 10 or 20 children until the last was to share what they heard. Inevitably, what started out as, "We have a large class" became something like "We have a lot of grass". It had changed along the way because we were only allowed to communicate once and our individual perspectives or expectations distort the original message.
The same distortion happens when we consider another's life. A glass of wine with dinner each night for one may be described as alcoholism by another. Seeing someone on a shopping spree (with saved money) may be deciphered as she must have a credit card problem by the person working to eliminate debt. Seeing through our own life lens distorts another's reality. Besides (and something to consider chatting about another day), what business is it of ours in the first place?
What if we encourage each other to share about something different? Better yet, what if we make a pact not to gossip anymore as a group and hold ourselves to it? How would the world change?
Challenge: Make a decision to no longer share in conversations of gossip. Decide now how you will handle it - walk away, simply say nothing, or change the subject. Do something! If you are bold enough, ask your group to refrain from gossip. Support each other in pursuing the goal.
My prayer, "Lord, help me not gossip, and walk away from groups who gossip."
"Love does not delight in evil....."
1 Cor 13:6.
1 Cor 13:6.
Gossip is a modern day stoning. If we say something to enough people and convincingly enough, a person's life will be impacted. The impression people have of them will change. Sadly, our perspective may be oddly warped and as we gossip, others perspectives may well influence how the story is shared and how often.
Remember the game we played as children, "Gossip" or "Telephone". One person would start by whispering in the next person's ear (only once, no second chances) and each child would whisper down through the 10 or 20 children until the last was to share what they heard. Inevitably, what started out as, "We have a large class" became something like "We have a lot of grass". It had changed along the way because we were only allowed to communicate once and our individual perspectives or expectations distort the original message.
The same distortion happens when we consider another's life. A glass of wine with dinner each night for one may be described as alcoholism by another. Seeing someone on a shopping spree (with saved money) may be deciphered as she must have a credit card problem by the person working to eliminate debt. Seeing through our own life lens distorts another's reality. Besides (and something to consider chatting about another day), what business is it of ours in the first place?
What if we encourage each other to share about something different? Better yet, what if we make a pact not to gossip anymore as a group and hold ourselves to it? How would the world change?
Challenge: Make a decision to no longer share in conversations of gossip. Decide now how you will handle it - walk away, simply say nothing, or change the subject. Do something! If you are bold enough, ask your group to refrain from gossip. Support each other in pursuing the goal.
My prayer, "Lord, help me not gossip, and walk away from groups who gossip."
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