Last Tuesday night, I met Justin Langer, the newly appointed Australian Cricket Team Coach. What a job he has ahead of him! He was speaking at a sports chaplaincy dinner – a man of faith, with a clear idea of Jesus’ work on the cross for him, who is charged with a huge “clean-up” job. I got to speak one-on-one with him for 90 seconds. I offered to pray for him – which he accepted with a smile and peace – and said he’d love for people not to believe everything they read or hear.
WOW! His biggest concern is that truth will prevail. Brilliant. He wishes that gossip weren’t the cornerstone of the narrative that currently pervades the newspapers and opinion pieces on radio and TV.
George Harrison, singer-songwriter and lead guitarist of Beatles fame, once said “Gossip is the Devil’s radio”. Whack! This prominent 20th century cultural identity gets straight to the heart of the matter with this statement – I suspect he was hurt by more than a few false rumours during his famous lifetime.
A gentle wander through Proverbs 10, 11, 18, James 1, Romans 1, and 1 Timothy 5 makes it very clear what the Biblical position is on gossip: JUST DON’T!
One can dissect the words of the passages and spend time understanding the context, but the principle is simple – gossip is the opposite of godly speech.
Do we recount stories we have heard as though we know it to be true, when we haven’t checked the facts? What if we can’t check the facts? Do we keep to ourselves that we don’t know how true it is? If we don’t know how true it is, why are we mentioning it? Will it build up the people we are talking about?
Would we say it to their faces? Would we be prepared to be less “the focus of attention” by not saying something we are unsure about? Is what we are saying completely respectful and honouring towards others? Why are we talking about someone else not present at the time? What would happen if we didn’t say anything?
Sometimes, when we hear gossip, it seems quite delicious – it appeals to our humanity. Scandal, knowing of another’s downfall, has a deceptively comforting aspect to it – it’s almost a “thank God that didn’t happen to me” moment. We can even dress it up in that piety. It is the antithesis of Psalm 119:103 “How sweet are your words to my taste, sweeter than honey to my mouth!” – a passage rich in the most beautiful descriptions of how God’s word works to build the lives of his people.
A simple antidote to gossip, given to me by my Dad’s Dad, when we were sitting on my grandparent’s lounge together about 45 years ago, could be this: Papa said to me “can you say it, knowing that Jesus is sitting next to you?” He was so right – if I would be embarrassed for Jesus to hear it, I better think about those I am speaking to and whether what I says edifies them, and more importantly, whether what I speak about as well as those I speak about – whether I have any actual authority to speak of their actions and attitudes.
Because, respect and honour can only be truly a hallmark of our talk life if we approach all we say with a heart of humility, mindful that God knows all about our profound flaws and imperfection and, yet, still extends his grace in all its perfection.
When I was in North America, I also bumped into Luke and Joel Smallbone, the two lead singers of the Christian Band, “for King and Country”. They have just released their latest single ‘Joy’. They said that their new album has a simple message – to challenge each of us to consider the choices we make, as Jesus followers, each and every day.
It seems to me that these words from ‘Joy’ are a helpful response to the inevitability of having to deal with what we do when confronted with the opportunity to gossip:
Gotta get that fire back in my bones
Before my heart turns into stone
…
Oh, hear my prayer tonight, I’m singing to the sky
Give me strength to raise my voice, let me testify
Oh, hear my prayer tonight, ’cause this is do or die
The time has come to make a choice
And I choose joy
…
Though I walk through the valley of the shadow of night
Oh, with You by my side, I’m stepping into the light
I choose joy
educating 4 life, too 
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