After living a while and seeing the hurt and division caused by backbiting behavior I feel compelled to offer this short essay by a favorite musician singer/songwriter. I offer this as a reminder of our responsibility to each other and FOR each other. This is to us all ... me included. We could say this is HIGHLY recommended!.
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Gossipers Kill Mark 7:31-37 The more he ordered them not to, the more they proclaimed it. v. 36 There is a principle at work in modern office communications: If you want to make sure that the whole office finds out about a decision, call a confidential meeting behind closed doors! If you want a policy followed in a half-hearted, lazy way by your employees, announce it publicly as common knowledge. What does this say about human nature? Unfortunately, it says that the tendency of modern society is toward sin. Gossip is usually communicated with more zeal and interest than open and honest dialogue. As St. Paul said so long ago: There is no just man, not even one; all have taken the wrong course not one of them acts uprightly, no, not one. Their throats are open tombs; they use their tongue to deceive; The venom of asps lies behind their lips. Their mouths are full of curses and bitterness (Rom 3:10-14.) So it was, and so it is, that the tendency to gossip is related inherently to the universal bondage of sin. That this sin is truly destructive, Paul continues: Swiftly run their feet to shed blood; ruin and misery strew their course. The path of peace is unknown to them; the fear of God is not before their eyes (Rom 3:15-1.) As Dietrich Bonhoeffer once said, the gossiper is the same as a murderer It is only the device that is different. One uses the tongue. The other resorts to an external tool. But the effect is the same: death, murder, destruction. We have found that this is one of the more difficult problems in building intentional Christian community in America. It is so problematic that we take special pains to fight it. We fight it with the clear teaching of the gospel. If you have something negative or critical to say, say it directly to the person. If they will not listen, then bring in another person directly involved with the issue. If they still dont listen, then bring in leadership. If you go outside of this procedure, then you are guilty of gossip. Of course, you may discuss anything with a spiritual director or confessor. But even discussion among friends quickly degenerates into gossip in the name of concern or counsel. Gossip is a grave and serious moral offense. It kills. It is verbal murder. Do we get more excited about a secret story than we do about an open truth? Why? Do we tend to gossip? Have we tried to verbalize this sin under the guise of conversation among friends? Let us simply be obedient today. When Jesus tells us not to say anything, let us simply be silent! [] John Michael Talbot A Passion for God Reflections on the Gospels Copyright © 1991 by Little Portion, Inc