Truthscript Tuesday: Slander and Gossip

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Welcome to the TruthScript Tuesday podcast.

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It is that time of the week again where we review the articles on the TruthScript website.

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We have three wonderful articles for you today, and the first one is by Seth Brickley.

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Seth Brickley has written for us a few times.

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He is a pastor.

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In fact, soon I will be announcing we're going to have a Be Not Conformed conference, a TruthScript conference at his church in Wisconsin.

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I don't have the details already to go public with yet, but pretty soon we're going to have that for you.

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We're also going to be in Idaho next year as well, so those details will come soon.

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But Seth Brickley is a great guy, a great pastor, and he wrote this article entitled Watch Out for Wolves.

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He says one of the most dangerous animals in the north country of the U.S., in Canada, are wolves.

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While wolves may seem like a distant, nearly extinct animal, they have started to make a comeback and are showing up places they haven't populated for quite some time.

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When a wolf is the predator, few animals stand a chance.

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A particularly vulnerable animal to wolves are sheep.

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They're unable to defend themselves, so it's the responsibility of shepherds to stand between them and the wolves.

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Of all predators, shepherds probably have the most concern over wolves.

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Without the shepherd, wolves have a field day as they prey on the sheep.

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Now, I don't know if any of you have traveled or maybe you have some farming experience.

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I've traveled.

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I don't have sheep, but my wife's family actually did raise some sheep.

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But what I've noticed, because they did this in an area where there weren't wolves, what I've noticed in areas though where there are, there are sheepdogs, I guess, or a shepherd.

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I've never really seen a out there with his sheep, but I have seen sheepdogs.

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In fact, I remember one time in California, I had pulled over.

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This is an area that I suspect maybe there could have, I mean, it's north.

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It was northern California, so maybe there's a possibility there could be wolves.

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I don't know.

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There's other things there that also could threaten sheep.

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I remember I was probably half a mile away, at least I thought.

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Maybe a third of a mile, right? But I was off the road.

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I pulled over and this sheepdog came running towards me.

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I still remember that.

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It's very vivid in my head that there's this sheepdog that really cared about sheep that he was supposed to be guarding.

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Anyway, it is well known that Scripture compares followers of Christ to sheep and pastors who lead them in a local church are referred to as shepherds.

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Pastors carry with them an enormous responsibility not only to feed their sheep through the preaching and teaching of the Word, but also to protect the sheep in their charge from those who teach falsehood.

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This, of course, gets to the qualification for elders that they should be able to refute those who contradict.

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They have to identify false teaching and then expose it and defeat it and lead their sheep away from it in order for them to be safe.

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So what do you think, what do wolves look like according to Scripture? That's a good question.

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Those are that—wolves are those who pose as shepherds but are really working for Satan according to 2 Corinthians 11.

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Jesus preached in the Sermon on the Mount and he warned listeners in that sermon to beware of false prophets who come to you in sheep's clothing but inwardly are ravenous wolves, Matthew 7.

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And then Acts 20 says, fierce wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock, and from among your own selves will arise men speaking twisted things to draw away the disciples after them.

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So when Paul writes about wolves, he's writing about something within the experience of the early church.

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He saw this firsthand, the disciples saw this, they graduated from evangelical seminaries today, they're hired by churches, they come from ministries you think are established, but they're wolves, and their true colors will start to show over time.

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Because instead of helping the flock, what they do is they harm the sheep, they lead them away from the truth.

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In fact, that's not really their concern so much as it is allegiance to themselves or to their organization or others, they're not concerned about the well-being of the sheep.

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In fact, sometimes they don't even want to get to know the sheep, that's a pretty good sign that you might have a wolf.

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They don't—they're a pastor, but knowing the sheep among them that they're supposed to be caring for, the souls among them, they don't really actually do care for.

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They don't spend time with them, they don't invest in them, they're unavailable.

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So that's one—I'm not saying that's the only metric, but that's one metric that you can look at that should allow at least arouse some suspicion, what's wrong here? Because there are dangers out there, and a shepherd who's derelict isn't a good shepherd.

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In fact, oftentimes, in the church setting, that could be a wolf.

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Possibly.

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Sometimes you just have weak shepherds too, you have hirelings.

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The grim reality is that modern American evangelicalism is flooded with false teachers.

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Boy, you can say that again.

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Though we obviously don't have an exact number.

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Still, when you consider that much of American evangelicalism is essentially a syncretistic synthesis of Christianity and worldly ideas, it's no surprise secular ideas were introduced into the church by wolves and then accepted and spread by deceived leaders who may be truly born again, but let down their guard.

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So how do you spot them in our day? False teachers belong to the world and therefore push the world's agenda.

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False teachers are passionate about this passing world and what it's passionate about, and the world approves of their teaching.

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But Jesus told his followers they would not be approved by the world.

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This life is a life of opposition to the world, not one where we link arms with the world for secular causes.

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And this is a great point, because the world, the flesh, the devil, the forces of evil, the lust of the eyes, lust of the flesh, boastful pride of life, right? That's the world.

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It's not the same necessarily as culture.

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Seth Brickley's actually written some great pieces for us on culture, and he's very in tune, I would say, with his heritage and his region and his people and those kinds of things.

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When he talks about the world, that's not what he's talking about.

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He's talking about this system that has set itself up against God.

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And evangelical leaders who are in that system, who have set themselves up against the Lord and the Lord's truth, they're going to be revealed in time for who they actually are, because their priorities will be shown.

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You will see it in their actions.

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You will notice where they spend their time, some of the things they say that aren't true, that might just be a little off.

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The way that they will fleece the flock will sometimes say, taking money, or sometimes if it's a predatory man, they may take other things from the women of the church.

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I mean, this is unfortunately a common story.

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And often, immoral behavior accompanies bad teaching.

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I've often thought that some of the bad teachers that we don't know we're not aware of immoral behavior, I thought it's probably covered up sometimes.

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It's there, but we just haven't been made known.

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But in time, these things tend to be revealed.

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And it's unfortunate, because it seems like every year there's multiple major evangelical figures that get exposed for faking it somehow.

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And the people around them wonder how they could have been taken in.

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Well, they were wolves.

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And unfortunately, often they didn't have their own shepherds around them, their local church pastors to defend them and protect them.

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Thank God for your pastor, if he is a true pastor who does defend you from those things.

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I mean, it might sound harsh at times, but if they're speaking against false teaching, and they don't mince words, and they not only speak against certain false teachings that are in vogue in the world, for example, the prosperity gospel stuff, that's not going to get you in trouble with the world system as far as—and I think the prosperity stuff is actually part of the world system in a way, but it's not the overriding narrative of the pagan world that is emerging right now.

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They love to show the hypocrisy of Christians.

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They love to point out those things.

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And I think you should point out those things, but maybe it won't look the same as the pagans pointing them out.

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But I do think that when there is actual heresy, according to the Bible, you should point that out, even if pagans are against that same person or group or whatever.

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But what about when it comes to things that the pagans actually worship? What about the God of diversity? What about the God of equality? What about the God of democracy and these liberal frameworks that we're so used to? These are things that should be—when we see them in obvious ways subverting the sexual ethics of the church, for example, leaders should be calling this stuff out and in no uncertain terms.

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When Christian leaders regurgitate mainstream propaganda, it causes us to question the genuineness of this shepherd.

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Do they belong to the world of Jesus? Teachers mixing secular philosophies with Christianity are either worldly or much worse, a wolf disguised as a shepherd.

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Either way, there is no question that in these later days, wolves surround us.

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These wolves fill pulpits every Sunday, headline Bing conferences, sell books, and are known and admired by professing deceived Christians.

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But do not be fooled by them.

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They come as messengers of light but are really ravenous wolves.

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Watch closely.

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Are shepherds linking arms with the causes of the world or aligning with the holy cause of the good shepherd? Jesus tells us how we will know them.

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You will recognize them by their fruits.

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Tend to the sheep, follow the shepherd, and watch out for wolves." Really good article by Seth Brickley.

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Another one is by Nate Hoover.

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I don't know if actually Nate has written for us before.

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I don't believe so.

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He runs the web teaching ministry Jesus People San Francisco, which encompasses a YouTube channel, a publishing ministry under the banner Apocalypse Press, and a newsletter.

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So here's what he writes about.

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The title of the article is The Ruthlessness of God, and it's a gun.

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It's a rifle aimed—it looks like a hunting scenario here.

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He says, I was watching a movie about a Navy SEAL sniper who began his combat career in the Iraq war when it dawned on me that God is ruthless.

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The scene that sparked this revelation was the opening.

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Bradley Cooper playing the SEAL sniper, Chris Kyle, aims at a young boy attempting to throw a Soviet grenade at a convoy of U.S.

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soldiers in Fallujah.

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Cooper struggles with the thought of shooting a mere child in the scene for obvious reasons.

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The child does end up trying to lob the grenade.

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After he takes the shot, Cooper stews over his actions, which is indicated by a pensive thousand-yard stare back at base.

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God is more ruthless than soldiers.

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I don't mean to detract from the horror of war, nor do I mean to say that it's easy to take another life, not to mention children, but I couldn't help but think that God is not like Bradley Cooper.

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God does not hesitate to take the shot.

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In other words, He does not stew over it long afterward.

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Let me qualify the idea of saying God is ruthless.

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The Bible depicts God as compassionate, forgiving, and always ready to turn away from judgment when people truly confess their sin and turn away.

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He says to the wicked and his equal, why will you die? Offering his enemies pity and forgiveness.

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Indeed, Scripture paints God as one that cannot be unjust.

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He prefers a repentant soul over a sinner.

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After all, sinners must be dealt with more severely.

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But if the wicked will not repent, God will take the shot.

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God will not shed further tears.

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He will not contract PTSD afterward.

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He will take the wicked and send them to their place in torment forever.

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And so he talks about God's ruthless apologists, and these are modern theologians who become apologists against the idea of the ruthlessness of God.

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When God commands a slaughter of women and children, for example, during the conquest of Canaan, certain theologians have gone so far as to say the Bible doesn't really say that.

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And I actually have a book on my shelf that's committed to this.

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The whole point of the book is to try to get God off the hook for this.

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And truth be told, there was no conquest of Canaan in the days of Abraham.

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Remember that Abraham promised the land, but God declared that Abraham, his land, would have time to fill the measure of their sins before he would carry out his scorched earth policy on men, women, and children of that place.

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400 years of patience is a lot longer than the patience of a human.

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Nevertheless, the ruthlessness of God enters the picture when it is time for sin to be judged.

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And he pours out his wrath.

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He takes things into his own hands.

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Jeremiah 20 calls him a dread warrior.

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This is—God is someone to be feared, and one of the things I fear is that we have lost, as a people, that fear in ourselves, even in churches.

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Even in my own heart, this is something I have to remind myself of.

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It comes up, I think, more often when there's like a storm or something where I'm scared, and I know God's the only one that can save me from this, and look at the power that he has.

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God truly is powerful, and we're going to—all of us are going to witness that, whether or not we get foretaste of it in this life, which we all do.

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But we—regardless of that, when we die, we will witness the ruthlessness of God.

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Because we are only somewhat good, our indignation at evil is only mild compared to God.

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So his standard is much higher than us, and he goes on about that for a while, talking about how pure and holy God is.

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He quotes Leviticus 26, which—27 through 34, which talks about this.

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I mean, it's got some harsh stuff.

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If ye will not for all this hearken unto me, but walk contrary unto me, then I will walk contrary unto you in fury, and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins.

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And ye shall eat the flesh of your sons, and the flesh of your daughters shall ye.

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And he goes on.

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I mean, it's—these kinds of things are all throughout Scripture.

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We sometimes forget.

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Does God ever say, you know, that was a little harsh? No.

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He told them beforehand the consequences for their sin, and he would not turn back.

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Now, the ruthlessness of God is actually a good thing, because it means that we actually have a just, right, and good God, and we cannot see clearly how horrible the transgressions of God's laws are.

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We tend to downplay sin because it's common, but to God this is actually serious, and it's only because of our darkness and the darkness that we're surrounded by and we're used to that we actually normalize it.

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I mean, I think of even just, you know, 20 years ago, because I was around, I remember, I was a teenager, and I do remember that homosexuality, even among people who were not Christians, was seen as very immoral.

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There was even a gag reflex associated with it, and now it is so normalized, you're used to it.

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Even people who are against it in practice, they're so used to it, and that's part of the lulling of ourselves.

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He quotes a number of other verses on this point.

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He says, from Exodus 9 verses 12 through 21, give an order now to bring your livestock and everything you have in the field to a place of shelter, because the hail will fall on every person and animal that has not been brought in and is still out in the field, they will die.

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Those officials of Pharaoh who feared the word of the Lord hurried to bring their slaves and their livestock inside, but those who ignored the word of the Lord left their slaves and livestock in the field.

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So God gives you, there is a mercy here, there is a warning here.

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When the Israelites heard that they had built the altar on the border of Canaan at Gilath near the Jordan on the Israelite side, the whole assembly of Israel gathered at Shiloh to go to war against them.

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This was the response of the second generation after they had conquered Canaan, and when they heard of the idolatry of the two Israelite tribes on the other side of the Jordan, they became the judgment of God.

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There's a number of other passages, I would recommend you going and reading these, because you have so many examples here, from Exodus especially, but from Joshua in Exodus, of the way that God responds to and the people interact with God when it comes to this standard that he has of holiness, of righteousness, of judging sin.

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And submission will, submitting to God in humility is the only response, it really is.

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And you will obtain mercy, but you will not obtain mercy if you disregard God's commands and you decide to go against him.

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And so fearing God, you know, to connect it to the last article we talked about wolves, fearing God, you think about it like fearing wolves.

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A pack of wolves is dangerous, and there's a harshness to wolves, right? And obviously this is not a complete parallel, but wisdom would be to fear wolves, to take precautions, to make sure you aren't aggravating them, and right, that's just a wisdom thing.

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Well, when it comes to God, I mean, he's dangerous, he is a consuming fire.

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What do you do in the face of that when you have violated his will? The only thing you can do is submit, humble yourself.

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And so that's just wisdom.

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So that's the ruthlessness of God.

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And then the article that's featured right now on the website is by none other than myself called A Primer on Gossip, A Primer on Gossip.

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And this is actually a reworking of something that I had written in like a long time ago.

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I want to say at least 15 years ago, maybe.

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But I reworked it a little, and it's short, and it's about gossip.

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And really, the whole purpose for me writing this was someone, or someones, I don't remember, it was a long time ago, they were very offended.

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I don't know if it was me, I think it was someone else, but whatever the case was, they were sensitive to the fact that sometimes, I guess, they were talked about.

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And, of course, you don't want to be talked about if it's a negative thing, right? When you're not, when you don't know you're being talked about, right? And they were hurling accusations of gossip, that anyone who talked about their issues were gossiping about them.

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And I kept thinking about this, and I don't remember the exact scenario, it was so long ago, but I think it had something to do with going to a leader in a youth group, I don't remember, but college group, something like that, and notifying them about some behavior that was bad.

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And, of course, this kind of thing happens all the time, right? Kids do drugs, let's say, in a college career group, and they're hiding it.

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What's the right thing to do for the kid who knows? Well, go to the leaders, right? But is that gossip? So this was the problem that I was dealing with, but I expanded it beyond that, because I realized that there's just so many inadequate understandings of what gossip is.

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Not just inadequate, just plain erroneous.

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So I just start off by saying gossip is an often misunderstood sin.

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Some people think of it as a harmless sharing of personal information for entertainment, like newspapers, tabloids.

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Others consider it sin to ever share negative information about someone else.

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So to establish what gossip is, first we need to talk about what it is not.

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And I go through a number of passages here that really take down this idea that gossip is talking about someone behind their back.

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That could be gossip, but that is not necessarily gossip.

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Galatians 2, 11 through 13 records Paul confronting Peter in Antioch, and he really goes after him pretty harshly, and he uses that.

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This is an example to the Galatians about someone that they hold in very high regard, an apostle, right? And so is he writing, this is not a letter, this is a letter that circulated, but this is a letter to a specific group of people, and they're reading about this, and you know, is this wrong? Is Paul in violation of this? Because he's gossiping, and Peter's not.

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Is Peter there with him as he's writing this? Is Peter approving his words? Is Peter receiving the letter? No.

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This is something Paul's writing, and he's giving an example of Peter's error, so they learn from it.

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You have Philippians 4, Paul names names, I urge Odia and I urge Syntyche to live in harmony with the Lord.

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He just says it.

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He singles them out before everyone.

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Can you imagine the apostle doing that to you, writing a letter to your church, and you're named in it, but it's not a favorable mention? First Corinthians 5, it's actually reported that there's an immorality among you that doesn't even exist among the Gentiles, that someone has his father's wife.

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Well, they would all know who he's talking about.

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He doesn't have to name the name, they know, but he's singling someone out.

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You know that everyone in the province of Asia has deserted me, including Phagellus and Hermogenes.

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This is from Second Corinthians 1.

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He's naming people.

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He's telling them.

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He's saying this is what these people have done.

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Demas, having loved this present world, has deserted me.

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So the examples just keep going, but Paul was not a gossip, though.

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Here's the thing.

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Paul includes the term gossip, alongside murder and deceit.

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According to Strong's, the term refers to someone who is a whisperer, secret slanderer, or detractor.

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So gossip must be more than sharing unflattering information when someone is not around.

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Someone obviously told Paul about situations he corrected that he was not present for.

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Jesus also spoke about people in negative ways at times behind their back.

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Matthew 19 is a good example of this.

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When the rich young ruler comes, what must they do to inherit the kingdom of heaven? Jesus asked him a question, he goes away while he's leaving, right? So he's out of the scene now.

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That's when Jesus decides to...

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He's already rebuked him once, now he's going to privately talk about him and use him as a negative example to his disciples.

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You have the passage, though, in Matthew 18, often referred to as the steps of church discipline today, that if your brother sins, you should go to him, right? And if he listens to you, you've won your brother.

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This is often actually used as, you know, you have to come to me first, otherwise it's gossip.

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But consider this.

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Actually, the passage shows you the exact opposite.

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If he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you.

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Now, how in the world are one or two more people going to find out about this brother's sin if you have not told them? That's right, you have to tell them.

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You have to talk, you have to have a conversation behind that brother's back, potentially, to get them to come with you.

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So, you know, I think we need to retire that definition.

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It's not talking about someone behind their back, or even saying negative things about someone behind their back.

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Any manager knows, even in the world, and I don't mean world by, you know, sin, flesh, devil, but even in society, just functioning in society, you must have someone in authority in a management position in most jobs, and there's going to be negative things said to them about other coworkers.

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They need to make decisions.

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Should they fire that person? Should they discipline them? These are just unavoidable.

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So what gossip is? What is it? Scripture gives us a clear picture of what gossip actually is.

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Proverbs 20, 19 says, he who goes about as a slanderer reveals secrets, therefore do not associate with the gossip.

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And the Hebrew word pathah, translated gossip here, is largely defined by its context, but its context includes this word rakil, which translated means slanderer, and can also be translated tailbearer or informer.

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So someone who tells stories that they should not is a gossip.

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According to Strong's, the word for gossip here can be defined to be spacious, to be open, to be wide.

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So if you think of the common expression, loose lips sink ships, that expresses this idea.

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So you just reveal stories that you shouldn't.

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Proverbs 26, 20 states, for lack of wood the fire goes out, and where there is no whisperer, contention quiets down.

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And the word here, ragan, is translated whisperer, and it tells us something about the nature of gossip.

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It is defined by the action of speaking low to others.

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So they don't hear what's being said.

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So you're whispering.

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That's actually what the icon for the article is.

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It's someone whispering to someone else.

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So gossips are not only loose with their information, right? They are only loose with certain people, right? They're not only loose with their information, they're just loose to certain people.

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A gossip does not want you to know what they say about you.

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So they're not revealing their gossip to the people they gossip about.

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This is actually the opposite of Paul's example in Galatians 2.11 when he opposed Peter to his face.

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And this is key.

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Paul didn't say, you didn't hear it from me, don't tell Peter.

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You know, Jesus didn't say that about the rich young ruler.

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No, they were willing to confront these people to their faces, but they were also willing to talk about them behind their backs if it served a higher purpose.

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And I think that's the question, one question we should ask ourselves.

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Are we willing to say it to that person's face? And if you are, it may not be gossip.

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If you're not though, it may be.

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And that's, this is, I think, a good key diagnostic question.

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Jesus tells us exactly where gossip comes from in Matthew 15.

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He says, for out of the heart comes evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, witnesses, slanders.

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And according to slander, to the word slanders here, according to Strong's, is the word blasphemia.

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And it means detraction, speech, injurious to another's good name.

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So when it comes to God, this attribute, the slandering means to take away from God's attributes or attribute to him characteristics that don't belong to him.

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And that's what blasphemy is at the root.

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You're subverting God.

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And you could apply this to people.

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When you apply it to people, in the form of slander, it is the same thing.

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We lie by attributing false attributes to someone else's character or making us feel self-righteous because they're, you know, we're better than them.

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So we can sometimes even do this by sharing the truth, but not the whole truth.

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So here's my working definition for gossip.

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You ready? My working definition for gossip is the act of secretly sharing damaging information about someone else for the purpose of elevating oneself.

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And it often includes lying and produces slander.

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That's what I think gossip is.

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That's a better, I think, more biblically sourced definition than just talking about someone behind their back.

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So some practical advice here.

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1 Timothy 5.19, Paul tells a young pastor to not receive an accusation against an elder except on the basis of two or three witnesses, which means there's going to be some talking behind backs, right? You're going to be, there is going to be conversations to know how to intake these concerns that are not with that person.

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Sometimes it is a sin to say nothing when we can prevent harm to others by being honest about what we know.

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Asking ourselves if we are part of the problem or the solution will help determine whether we should share information or not.

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So if you know about someone's sin and don't say anything, it could be a pastor, you need to say something.

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Now, if someone else says something and someone else, then you have two or three witnesses and it needs to be looked into.

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But if you just keep your mouth shut, how are you helping anyone, right? That's the point.

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1 Timothy 5.13 associates gossips with idleness and being a busybody.

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It says this, at the same time, they also learn to be idle as they go around from house to house and not merely idle, but also gossips and busybodies talking about things not proper to mention.

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So according to Strong's, the word fluoros translated here is gossips, as gossips, refers to a person who utterly is doing silly things.

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So if you take what you share seriously, chances are you are not going to gossip.

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So here are some questions to help you.

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This is my flow chart.

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This is what I ask myself or I try to.

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I fail sometimes, but this is what we should ask ourselves, I think, when we have the question in our heads, is this information for me to share or not? So here you go.

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First of all, is it any of your business, right? Proverbs 26.17.

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In fact, I'll look that up real quick because I didn't quote it and I want to quote it exactly here.

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It says this, it says, like one who takes a dog by the ear, so is the one who passes by and meddles with strife not belonging to him.

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So this is what you need to consider, I think, when you're looking at gossip.

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Is it first, is it any of your business? Now, I think a great many things are actually our business that we sometimes assume because maybe we're lazy or we want to avoid conflict aren't our business.

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Now, there's other people, there are people who certainly will make way too many things their business.

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But I think often is the case, especially in our personal lives, a lot more things are our business than we tend to realize.

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But it depends, it could go either way.

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But establish that first.

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If you say, no, it's not my business, then do not say anything and pray to God on your own.

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And maybe you can share it with your wife or husband since the two are one flesh.

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But even there, be careful because you don't want to overburden your spouse.

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Now, the other answer, of course, is yes, it is my business because it directly affects something I'm responsible for.

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I mean, that could be your family, it could be your church, that could be your community, it could be your country.

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I mean, it could be a lot of things.

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But this is, I have a responsibility here.

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I sense an obligation, whether it's because of my job or because there's, I need to talk about this.

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And if this is true, then this rule takes some wisdom.

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But most of the time, the answer is obvious.

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I think, for example, if you're trying to protect someone else you are connected to, you have a responsibility.

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If someone, let's say, who wants to commit suicide, tells you their plan and says, you know, makes you swear beforehand or promise beforehand, you can't tell anyone else.

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You know, are you obligated at that point? I mean, you should probably never just say, I promise I won't tell.

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But, you know, what's, you made a dumb decision.

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If you promise that, you need to probably just break your word and do the right thing and protect that person and apologize for lying.

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But it's, I mean, these things are not necessarily easy to parse out, but the safe bet is just to not ever make those kinds of, don't ever say that you're not going to, you promise you won't tell.

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I never do that ever with anyone.

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I do not, I never say to them, you know, I'm going to tell you, but promise you won't.

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Because I realize there could be situations I haven't even foreseen in which they need to use that information.

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So I'm just wise with who I tell certain things to.

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I try to be at least.

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In the past, I have not always, there are times, I think everyone relates to it, I have misjudged people's character and I've told them things that were personal in nature, or, you know, maybe I thought they were part of the solution and they ended up not being, and it's sad when that happens.

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But I try to avoid that.

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So anyway, so as a general rule, we have a responsibility to confront a brother in sin.

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There are other times we must notify spiritual authority.

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When it comes to those who are dangerous, like heretics, we must warn those who they could be, who could be harmed by them.

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And sometimes you may also need to warn people about slander against yourself.

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Jesus did this actually in Matthew 5, 17.

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So it's okay to defend yourself.

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And when in doubt, talk to someone godly who can offer counsel.

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That's the first thing to ask.

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Where's my response? If you answer the question already that, yes, this is my responsibility, is my business, then to what degree? That'll determine what you do.

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The other thing is, what's your motivation? If you have a pure heart and you want to warn someone about someone else, or warn someone themselves about their own personal sin, then do it.

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But if you know your heart is wicked, trying to elevate yourself and put them down, consider whether you should share that information.

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So a wise general practice for most situations is asking whether what you say, if you're concerned with what you say, might get back to the person you're talking about.

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So if you're concerned that, man, if I say this to this person, they're going to tell this person, I don't want the person I'm talking about hearing that I'm talking about them, you might want to be careful there.

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You might want to start checking, am I gossiping? Leonard Ravenhill says, notice we never pray for folks we gossip about, and we never gossip about folks for whom we pray, for prayer is a great deterrent.

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So pray about them, and that will be a good way to shape your motivation, so you're part of the solution and not the problem.

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Proverbs 16, 28 states, a perverse man spreads strife, and a slanderer separates intimate friends.

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Plain and simply put, gossip is wrong because it reveals a prideful heart that results in destruction.

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And many of us have experienced this.

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I know I have.

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Hardships of broken relationships due to gossip.

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In fact, I mean, there's one person I'm thinking of right now who's gossiped about me to multiple people, said things that are blatantly untrue, totally unwilling to talk about it with me.

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I've actually a few such cases, and I know other people that I'm friends with, they have their own stories like this, and it's just, it's exceptionally sad when that happens.

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There's a lot of very arrogant people who are blind to their own sin, frankly, and it's a sad thing when that happens.

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So there are wounds that we need to give at times, tell people the truth.

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There are wounds we need to hear at times.

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We need to be careful though what we say, and we need to check our motivations.

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James 3.6 describes the tongue as a fire, a very world of iniquity, which defines the entire body and sets on fire the course of our life.

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So if we can master our tongue, we can master our body.

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And the health of our relationships does depend on doing this, on knowing what to say, when to say it.

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So hopefully that there's some wisdom in that for you.

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That's the last article we have today.

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I hope this was helpful for all of you.

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God bless.