We know gossip is wrong. It’s using negative information to build rapport with someone on the basis of mutual superiority by marginalizing a third person who isn’t present. It’s cowardly because we would almost never talk the same way in the presence of that person. And it’s cancerous because it is springs from malice and treats other people’s flaws as a delicacy to be consumed for our pleasure.
And yet, it’s entirely likely that most of us have never recognized the most common form of gossip because we’ve been thinking of it as a definition rather than as a collection of hideous features. See, everything that’s wrong with gossip is just as wrong with the gossip which does not even involve a second person: that which we perform within our own heads.
When we silently scoff at other people’s flaws, misdeeds, or annoyances, we are engaging in an act every bit as community-destroying as gossip. The only difference is that no one can catch us because we do it secretly in the most hidden place of all. So here’s the question to ponder: would you speak of someone in his presence the way you think of him in your mind?
1 comment:
Now that's a challenging question! Certainly if we could tame our thoughts - our lips would be tame as well. Since God judges the thoughts and intents of the heart this is a serious matter.
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